My education has been varied and eclectic, following along my personal path of healing. I forged much of my own way, learning and synthesizing numerous approaches as they showed themselves to be effective. I’m a life-long learner and have experienced a lot along the way, blessed to study with many gifted teachers.
As the daughter of holocaust survivors, I’ve journeyed deeply into ancestral healing, particularly via systemic constellations. I immigrated to the US from Paris with my family when I was 5 years old. Life has taught me that integration of what I hold in my body is what allows me to evolve into the Self that I am beyond my personal self.
My work is trauma-informed, and body-based. I honor each individual in finding within themselves the path that is right for them. It takes courage to follow your inner calling, to be true to yourself. I support you in trusting and honoring your intuition.
My curiosity and desire for trauma integration drew me to Compassionate Inquiry (CI), the work of Dr. Gabor Maté and Sat Dharam Kaur, a somatic psychotherapeutic approach for healing trauma, including mental and physical illness, by safely reconnecting body, mind, and feelings.
CI’s understanding is that trauma is not what happened to you, but what happened inside of you, the disconnect with your essential Self, and with those around you. We are relational beings, trauma results when we had to survive without a healthy connection from our caregivers. Healing those early wounds is best served in a field of safe relating.
The good news is that we can re-establishing the connection to ourselves and others (which I experience as authentic vulnerability), bringing us into our bodies, our neurology, breaking the spell of shame that has kept trauma frozen in time and space. Compassionate connection liberates and reconnects us to ourselves, so we can allow the feelings that have been stuck in body to move, and frees us from the conditioning that’s been in place to not feel these feelings, so we could survive.
Our wounding holds the keys for our evolution into more of who we truly are, the possibility of coming home, by reconnecting with our essence. We are not broken or a problem to be fixed. Our wounding is a doorway to our evolution.
As a highly sensitive person and empath, I continue to learn and unfold my unique qualities in a culture that judges against sensitivity, feelings, and the feminine. I love exploring with others because it opens me more deeply to myself. The mutual exploration connects us to what’s been in the shadow, with the opportunity to experience the magic of our evolving nature.
I honor each individual as the ultimate authority in what is right and true for them. I am grateful for life’s insistence that I respect this essential truth. I’m deeply moved and honored to be present when another unfolds themselves to the inner truth that’s been waiting for them, to connect with their essential self.
I live in the rural mountains of Northern California, Mendocino County, with my best friend and healing partner of 40+ years, Eric, my fellow traveler in the big adventure of love and life.
Education & experience:
Back in the 1970s, my first practice was as a Bach Flower Practitioner. This tickles me when I think of it now. It was so lovely to tune into the essence of flowers and how they could gently support someone in harmonizing their energies.
Attended home births for 30 years, supporting women, and their families, in having the most loving, gentle, and sacred experience of pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum possible. Here is an interview on The Midwifery Model of Care.
One of the early pioneers of water birthing in the U.S. and featured in the documentary by filmmaker Karil Daniels, Water Baby: Experiences of Water Birth.
The first midwife licensed (LM) in Arizona through apprenticeship in 1988, then was state-licensed as a midwife in California in 1997.
The sacred feminine has been my guiding inspiration. I was part of a community, that honored the sacred feminine, in the backwoods of British Columbia, where I lived close to the land, connecting with nature, the earth, and plants as my teachers.
Learned with Native American teachers, including Sun Bear, Grandfather David, and Telus Goodmorning.
Studied and was certified as a Rebirther, a type of breathwork. Taught workshops in childbirth preparation and healing birth trauma for women and couples preparing for birth.
Studied Body Enlightening, a synthesis of Feldenkreis, Alexander bodywork, and Gestalt Therapy.
Studied Gestalt Therapy and facilitated group workshops.
Studied Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) with John Grinder, one of the founders of NLP. My husband and I started the Oregon Center of Neuro-Linguistic Programming, sponsoring trainings in NLP.
Was certified as a Practitioner of Hypnosis Using Neuro-linguistic Programming, and Master Practitioner of Neuro-linguistic Programming. We designed, marketed, and administered a l0-day residential cross-cultural modeling seminar in Bali, Indonesia.
Practiced as a Classical Homeopath (CHom), after graduating from the Pacific Academy of Homeopathic Medicine in 1995, and continued study with homeopathic masters worldwide. My special interest has been women's and children's health, as well as trauma healing.
Studied the art of Systemic Constellation Facilitation beginning in 2003. Completed a two-year training in the theory and application of Family Constellation work as developed by Bert Hellinger, with Reinhard Lier. Also studied the constellation work of Franz Ruppert, Marta Thornstein, Vivian Broughton, Stephan Housner, and Michael Reddy.
In 2004, I began facilitating Identity Process Constellations, a group process where we explore the inner patterns and blocks in our lives, including our inherited ancestral patterns, so we can make evolutionary changes.
Co-founder and owner of Full Circle Wellness Resource Center in Ukiah, CA from 1999 to 2006.
Full Circle Wellness Resource Center was a facility of holistic health practitioners that functioned to support, educate, advocate for, and empower individuals in all areas of physical, mental, and emotional health, enabling them to make wise choices in enhancing their overall health. We recognized each person as an individual with distinct values, needs, and desires. We honored each individual as the ultimate authority in all decisions affecting the quality of their life.
Co-founder and Director of Redwood Wellness Resources Inc., Ukiah, CA from 2001 to 2021.
The 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization's purpose was to provide informational resources, support, and advocacy to encourage responsible and informed wellness choices for all people in our rural community. We had an angel fund, funded via grants and personal donations, for individuals and families wanting financial assistance to gain the services they needed towards maintaining their wellness.
In 2003, after certification as a Process Coach, I integrated coaching into my private practice, working with individuals and couples. I was also certified as a teacher, and taught many classes and workshops, mentoring others to do the same. I was the director of Process Coaching from 2017 until 2021.
In early 2021, there was a rupture in the Process Coaching field, sending me (and many others involved) reeling and ‘realing’ into deeper layers of shadow, a dark night of the soul. And here I take a deep breath, as I reorient myself to the challenges of becoming more of my true self, in the world of COVID, and other changes calling for our awakened presence.
In early 2022, I completed the Internal Family Systems Circle Program, with Dr. Richard Schwartz, along with other IFS advanced workshops. My work is IFS informed.
In May 2022, I completing the year-long Compassionate Inquiry Professional Training, the Mentorship Program in early 2023, and was certified as a Compassionate Inquiry practitioner on July 11, 2023. Compassionate Inquiry is a psychotherapeutic approach developed by Dr. Gabor Maté that reveals what lies beneath the appearance we present to the world. This work is a deep dive into becoming trauma-informed. It has completely transformed me and how I support others.
I have also studied Internal Family Systems (IFS), shifting from fragmentation to embodying the wholeness of our essential Self. IFS was developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz. My gratitude also for the work of Thomas Hübl on healing collective trauma, Stephen Porgas’ Polyvagal Theory, the grief work of Francis Weller, Ann Weiser Cornell’s Inner Relationship Focusing, Wounds into Wisdom with Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, and many others who continue to inform and inspire me.
My journey continues with gratitude for all that I have experienced and learned. I’m deeply grateful for my friends, colleagues, and family, whose loving connection from heart sustains me. I’m grateful for my clients for they continue to teach me.
With all the dark and difficult situations currently in our world, a movement for the healing of trauma, the brokenness of inner and outer connection, is also happening. May we be graced to be a beacon of compassion and possibility for each other.
