The Center Within

A Time of Reflection and Reimagining
Present
After many meaningful years of clinical work, I am taking time to pause, reflect, and listen for what wants to emerge next. This season of renewal is helping me reimagine a therapeutic space that feels even more grounded, safe, exploratory, and supportive of emotional transformation and self-regulation.

Closing a Meaningful Chapter
2025
Closing Pacific Psychological Care Clinic in Rockaway Beach marked the completion of a deeply meaningful chapter in my professional life. I carry forward gratitude for the children, adults, and families I had the privilege to serve, and for all that this work taught me about healing, resilience, and human growth.

Building an Integrative Practice in Pacifica
2002–2025
Beginning in 2002, I built an integrative private practice in Pacifica serving children, adolescents, adults, and families. Over time, my work came to include psychotherapy, family therapy, PCIT, EMDR, Emotional Transformation Therapy, Sensora, school advocacy, and supervision of a doctoral intern. What mattered most to me was creating care that felt deeply individualized, relational, and open to both established and emerging paths of healing.

Serving in Public and Community Settings
2004 and beyond
Alongside private practice, I provided consulting psychological assessment services in public and community settings, including Golden Gate Regional Center and San Mateo County. This work deepened my respect for careful evaluation, collaboration, and the importance of meeting people within the real conditions of their lives.

Leading Programs for Children, Youth, and Families
2000 to 2002
As Program Manager for Family and Community Enrichment Services in San Carlos, I helped lead a child and youth evaluation clinic that combined multidisciplinary assessment, trainee supervision, outreach, and direct care. This experience strengthened my commitment to supporting children and families not only as individuals, but within the larger systems of school, community, and relationships that shape development.

Advancing Nutritional Psychology and Whole-Person Care
1994 and beyond
My work in nutritional psychology grew through counseling, research, teaching, and writing on the links between diet, brain function, mood, and behavior. Particularly influential were my studies with Jeffrey Bland, Ph.D., and Bill Walsh, Ph.D., whose work deepened my understanding of functional, biochemical, and nutrient-based approaches to mental health. This chapter helped shape my long-standing commitment to whole-person care and integrative healing.

Early Roots in Self-Regulation, Biofeedback, and REST
1982 and beyond
My early professional path included directing the Rest and Self-Regulation Institute in Ohio, where I worked with biofeedback, flotation REST, and mind-body approaches to healing. Those years sparked a lasting interest in self-regulation and autonomic balance, later deepened by neurotherapy studies with Nick Dogris, Ph.D., and Tiff Thompson, Ph.D. Also central to this foundation was yoga instruction with B.K.S. Iyengar in Pune, India, followed by years of study at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco.

Training Across Diverse Clinical Settings
1985 and beyond
My clinical training took place across psychiatric hospitals, community mental health clinics, family therapy settings, child therapy programs, and substance treatment environments. Working with children, adolescents, adults, and underserved communities gave me a broad and grounded understanding of suffering, adaptation, and the many paths people take toward healing.

Becoming a Licensed Psychologist
1984–1992
I earned my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies and became a licensed California psychologist in 1992. Since then, I have continued to grow through ongoing study in EMDR, Emotional Transformation Therapy, neurofeedback, sensory-based approaches, and other integrative methods of supporting change. For me, professional development has never been only about adding tools, but about deepening presence, discernment, and care.

Foundations in India and Experimental Psychology
1978–1982
The deeper roots of my path began with an interdisciplinary undergraduate major in anthropology, psychology, and religion at Lawrence University, along with extended study in India. Graduate field research at Pune University and later a master’s degree in general Experimental Psychology helped shape my lifelong interest in consciousness, culture, science, and human transformation. These foundations were further enriched by an introduction to Tibetan Buddhism, with meditation, teachings, and practices that continued over several decades.

A new beginning . . .