I am a Gestalt Practitioner

I trained with Chris Price, John Soper, John Heider, Robert Hall, Dorothy Charles, Eric Erickson and Seymour Carter. I have been at Esalen Intstitute since 1994 and had many excellent teachers. I have a certificate from the Gestalt Institute of Santa Cruz and Morgan Goodlander. In 2002 I took coaching courses through the Coaches Training Institute. I am excited about the marriage of Gestalt and coaching.

When I first studied Gestalt it was in the vein of trust process, follow process, get out of the way. Sessions could be very long and circular and it was not uncommon to leave people in a muddle. It was a matter of Organismic Self-regulation - if I hang long enough with them and give them the time to integrate they will find their own answer.

When I watched a coaching session at first I was flabbergasted. Where was the space for following emotion and allowing the client to have their own experience? You have œ hour and you have set up a goal for the session. I could not imagine doing this!!Then I experienced different aspects of coaching and felt very at home when it came to what CTI refers to as Process Coaching. This is one of the many types that can all fall under the umbrella of coaching. Ah, here is where the skills of connecting and picking up the emotion underlying the conversation and tuning into body sensations was very useful.

Then there was the relational aspect of coaching: I am not a therapist here to fix you - we are a team looking at what will bring you the most fulfillment and joy to your life.

I can share my reactions and observations and I ask you to do that also.

The field is often over a phone line which was also a major difference as I was very attuned to noticing movement and skin color and other indications of body reaction.

I had to shift to noticing voice changes and asking questions about body sensations and coaching the person to track their own body and share that information with me.

My life experience has led me to be particularly effective in coaching people who are aging and find that they are caught between care for their families and their elders. I have worked with Hospice and midwifed members of my family through the transition from life to death. I am a recovering Catholic and can relate to the challenge of being brought up in a strict religious household. I have raised 2 wonderful sons and am a grandmother.

I am an RN and I run the Workstudy Programs at Esalen Institute.

I came to Esalen in 1994 and went on an amazing journey to heal from Psoriatic arthritis and to find my voice and purpose in life. I want to work with people to help them negotiate their own healing and find their life purpose operating from their highest potential. I am excited to discover that magnificence that is present in every one of us!