ABOUT ME
My Background and Training
I specialize in working with expatriates, people of different nationalities who are living
outside their home countries. This is a natural fit for me given my own background as
an expat. I first left the U.S. at age 13, and by the time I graduated from high school I
had lived in Vietnam, Singapore, Switzerland, Liberia, and Argentina. I continued
traveling as an adult and I have extensive experience living and working in Europe,
Africa, and the Middle East.
I have a Master's degree in Counseling Psychology from Arizona State University in
Phoenix, Arizona. After completing graduate school and obtaining my national
certification (National Board of Certified Counselors), I received further training in
areas including crisis counseling, anxiety, stress management, sex therapy and
addiction, couples counseling, and career and life planning. For a number of years I
worked as a community college counselor and instructor in the Phoenix/Scottsdale
area, dividing my time between college counseling, teaching, and my private practice.
I taught Introductory Psychology and counseling courses including Adults in
Transition and Career Exploration. More recently, I had a private practice in Beirut,
Lebanon, where I also worked as an international school counselor. Last year I
briefly returned to the States, and to teaching, as visiting psychology professor at a
U.S. university.
I opened my private practice in Berlin in January of 2005. I offer individual and
couples counseling, personal development courses, and career and life coaching. I
do special consulting projects as well, along with workshops and occasional speaking
engagements. I have given talks at the American Embassy, the Canadian Embassy,
the American Women's Club of Berlin, and the Berlin International Women's Club,
among others.
Aside from being a counselor and life coach, I am also a professional fiction writer
and have taught English and Creative Writing. My work has been published in
magazines and literary journals in the U.S., Britain, France, Belgium, the Czech
Republic, and South Africa.
My Counseling Philosophy and Orientation
I think of counseling as a little like taking a course in yourself. At the end of the
course you will know more about the topic--you!--and you will know how to apply
what you've learned to feel empowered and be proactive whenever new or similar
challenges arise in the future. Counseling can help you to move forward in your
life with less stress and more joy. It can help you reach for your dreams--or find new
ones. And it can help you feel more at ease with yourself and in your relationships,
and more at ease and self-confident in your personal and professional endeavors.
From a practical standpoint, my goal as a counselor is to work myself out of a job--to
empower you and give you the tools to help yourself. I will provide you with a safe,
accepting, and encouraging environment in which to do this, and I will help you move
through the process in as timely a manner as is possible given the nature of the issues
you are working on.
My counseling orientation is eclectic, holistic, and client-centered. This means I look
at the whole person, and I tailor my approach to fit the individual person and issues
rather than using "one size fits all" methods and treatments. I believe an individually
tailored approach is especially important because I work with people from many
different countries and diverse social, cultural, and religious backgrounds. I strive to
honor those differences in the work I do. I consider multicultural sensitivity to be one
of the hallmarks of my practice, and I have the utmost respect for all world cultures
and religions.
While my counseling approach is eclectic, whenever it's appropriate and beneficial to
the client I use brief therapy models combined with Cognitive Behavioral techniques
(CBT). For some issues, significant results can be achieved in 8-10 sessions. In
other cases a longer commitment is more desirable and will produce a better
outcome. Again, this depends on the individual client and issue.
My Background and Training
I specialize in working with expatriates, people of different nationalities who are living
outside their home countries. This is a natural fit for me given my own background as
an expat. I first left the U.S. at age 13, and by the time I graduated from high school I
had lived in Vietnam, Singapore, Switzerland, Liberia, and Argentina. I continued
traveling as an adult and I have extensive experience living and working in Europe,
Africa, and the Middle East.
I have a Master's degree in Counseling Psychology from Arizona State University in
Phoenix, Arizona. After completing graduate school and obtaining my national
certification (National Board of Certified Counselors), I received further training in
areas including crisis counseling, anxiety, stress management, sex therapy and
addiction, couples counseling, and career and life planning. For a number of years I
worked as a community college counselor and instructor in the Phoenix/Scottsdale
area, dividing my time between college counseling, teaching, and my private practice.
I taught Introductory Psychology and counseling courses including Adults in
Transition and Career Exploration. More recently, I had a private practice in Beirut,
Lebanon, where I also worked as an international school counselor. Last year I
briefly returned to the States, and to teaching, as visiting psychology professor at a
U.S. university.
I opened my private practice in Berlin in January of 2005. I offer individual and
couples counseling, personal development courses, and career and life coaching. I
do special consulting projects as well, along with workshops and occasional speaking
engagements. I have given talks at the American Embassy, the Canadian Embassy,
the American Women's Club of Berlin, and the Berlin International Women's Club,
among others.
Aside from being a counselor and life coach, I am also a professional fiction writer
and have taught English and Creative Writing. My work has been published in
magazines and literary journals in the U.S., Britain, France, Belgium, the Czech
Republic, and South Africa.
My Counseling Philosophy and Orientation
I think of counseling as a little like taking a course in yourself. At the end of the
course you will know more about the topic--you!--and you will know how to apply
what you've learned to feel empowered and be proactive whenever new or similar
challenges arise in the future. Counseling can help you to move forward in your
life with less stress and more joy. It can help you reach for your dreams--or find new
ones. And it can help you feel more at ease with yourself and in your relationships,
and more at ease and self-confident in your personal and professional endeavors.
From a practical standpoint, my goal as a counselor is to work myself out of a job--to
empower you and give you the tools to help yourself. I will provide you with a safe,
accepting, and encouraging environment in which to do this, and I will help you move
through the process in as timely a manner as is possible given the nature of the issues
you are working on.
My counseling orientation is eclectic, holistic, and client-centered. This means I look
at the whole person, and I tailor my approach to fit the individual person and issues
rather than using "one size fits all" methods and treatments. I believe an individually
tailored approach is especially important because I work with people from many
different countries and diverse social, cultural, and religious backgrounds. I strive to
honor those differences in the work I do. I consider multicultural sensitivity to be one
of the hallmarks of my practice, and I have the utmost respect for all world cultures
and religions.
While my counseling approach is eclectic, whenever it's appropriate and beneficial to
the client I use brief therapy models combined with Cognitive Behavioral techniques
(CBT). For some issues, significant results can be achieved in 8-10 sessions. In
other cases a longer commitment is more desirable and will produce a better
outcome. Again, this depends on the individual client and issue.
