When I graduated from high school, I went on to achieve a PhD in Educational Psychology with a specialty in Counseling, and began a career as a school psychologist. As a part of that training, service, and my ongoing study, I learned and practiced a multitude of psychotherapy techniques including cognitive-behavioral therapy, behavioral management, social and communication skills, collaborative problem solving and mediation, art and play therapy techniques, photo-therapy techniques, Sandbox therapy, ROPES techniques, trauma/de-escalation techniques, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT),  Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) psychotherapy technique, and movement therapies, to name a few. 

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In my early 40s following over two decades of formal study and practice in psychology, counseling, and educational psychology with a 12-year career as a school psychologist, I became disillusioned by the limitations of that field and retired in 2005. From there, I immersed myself in the study and practice of more ancient healing wisdom rooted in energy-based and nature-oriented traditions, such as Native American, shamanic, yogic, Buddhist, Wiccan, Tibetan Bön Buddhism, and the Toltec Eagle Knight lineage. I also studied sound, energy, crystal, and Reiki healing methods, became a certified life and spiritual coach, was certified to teach kundalini yoga/meditation, and became a certified hospice volunteer. Today my work is seeped in wisdom from my formal study of psychology, counseling, educational psychology, and life coaching, plus specialties from these more intuitive, spiritual, and interpersonal traditions. 

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It was a powerful near-death experience in my mid-thirties, plus a pattern of painful breakups and other losses in my life, that inspired my journey into a more broad scope of healing technologies and teachings. With focused dedication and intention, I went after, learned, and also created specific techniques to evolve out of the emotional pain and struggle I'd been living in. Today I share this wisdom to support clients via Therapeutic Coaching sessions, teaching, and writing.