My Story
My whole life I’ve sensed connection is the key to wellbeing. Now, in my second half of life, I know it and so devote my life (work, play, and every day) to cultivating and sustaining beautiful, meaningful, and yes sometimes messy and painful because it’s how we’re made, connections for myself and others. My work on human flourishing through connection takes place in the therapy office, classroom, on the page, in my home, and infuses all I do and am.
Following careers in ballet and film, I began providing and researching different mental health treatment options from psychoanalysis to psychedelics, was a professor of clinical psychology for twenty years, and am now Professor Emerita of Mars Hill University. I’ve written academic books, anthology chapters, and journal articles, and speak nationally and internationally on the topic of suffering and treatment. I’m excited to share these teachings and learnings with you.
Sometimes I miss the incredibly embodied practice of ballet and the powerful visual storytelling medium of the film industry, and then I remember how all these pieces of the puzzle fit together; we live and tell our embodied stories to each other in myriad ways. Career wise, the one that finally stuck, for me, was via psychology.
My latest book and project focuses on mutual-care. Mutual-care is when two people intentionally and actively cultivate and sustain each other’s psychological richness and flourishing, reciprocally. In my upcoming book, The beauty and power of mutual-care, I dive into how self-care makes a positive difference, yet mutual-care offers an even greater advantage to our wellbeing, success, and happiness.
I live nestled in the beautiful blue ridge mountains of Asheville, NC, with my family amidst a very mutually-caring community.
Education & Training
PhD, Clinical Psychology - Duquesne University
Clinical Internship - Duke University
MA - The University of Chicago
Certified in Ketamine/Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies (IPI, LMI, and MAPS)
Professor Emerita — Mars Hill University
(20 years as professor and chair of clinical psychology)
I am also a proud board member of the Western North Carolina Psychologist Association
