Hello
I am an elder in this discipline who has been licensed & practicing as a marriage & family therapist for over 40 years. I specialize in practicing expressive arts, play, & experiential therapies. I am registered as a Play Therapy Supervisor (RPT-S), an Expressive Arts Therapist (REAT), an Expressive Arts Educator-Consultant (REACE), & I am a TIFI (The International Focusing Institute) Certified Focusing Professional. Others have described me as a therapist who leads with the heart & is likewise informed with ‘good food for the thinking’ brain.
My Story
I have been equally engaged in teaching & practicing clinically for my entire career. I taught at Goddard College, serving as Coordinator of the Expressive Arts Therapy Concentration until the college’s closure in 2024. I have served on the board of several professional organizations including SCAPT (South Carolina Association for Play Therapy), CAPT (California Association for Play Therapy), & IASD (International Association for the Study of Dreams). I currently serve on the working Board of Directors of the Global Association for Interpersonal Neurobiology (mindGAINS).
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My work is grounded in the understanding that all people experience inspiration to express themselves creatively; that engaging in this process is healing & transformative; & that the regular practice of visiting these interior landscapes grows our capacity to connect with ourselves, others, & the larger world of nature & other species. Finally, experiencing these connections leads us to a deep & satisfying sense of relatedness & wholeness, accompanied by preferred change.
I view each person as being part of a larger relational world, that we effect & are affected by. We can view any problem in living as involving how we adapt to what we are experiencing; or have experienced in any given context or relationship. When I sit with one person, a couple, or a family, I hold in my mind those who are not there but have affected those who are there, in a way that considers their possible experiences as well. I listen deeply to EACH person who is present, growing an understanding of everyone’s truths, emotion, & thoughts, with loving kindness & an astute awareness of how to connect the dots for growing a coherent narrative of one’s life. And this, in kind, contributes to growing well- being.
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​Focusing is also a practice that I bring into my work. It is one of the first Somatic practices in therapy. Focusing was developed by Eugene Gendlin, a close friend and principal colleague of Carl Rogers, who developed the main principles of client centered therapy. This practice provides people with an opportunity to tap into the knowledge of their body’s wisdom, that takes in far more information than the left hemisphere, thinking brain ever can. For those who wonder what they really want or feel, focusing can be of enormous value! It is also a practice that is uniformly non-directive & safe, providing the person with ‘control’ over how deep to drop into themselves at any given moment.
Most recently I have received training in providing Sound Healing at the Light Spirit School for Tibetan Healing in Ubud, Bali. This is a practice that is separate from the therapy that I provide at the Mindgarden Centre. It is not therapy, as we think of it, though it can be therapeutic for sure!
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​I enjoy sharing the company of family & friends, as well as activities including hiking, swimming, gardening, the cinema, playing with my own dreams, as well as creating art, through mixed media collage, doll & book making, & writing poetry.
