My Background
Professional Background
Following my initial training in psychosynthesis, I had the privilege of studying with the founder of this spiritual psychology, Dr. Roberto Assagioli, in 1973 (the year before he died). His teaching deepened my understanding of the principles and practice while he encouraged me to share psychosynthesis with others. I have done so through training programs, workshops in North America and Europe, individual guiding sessions, writing The Unfolding Self: Psychosynthesis and Counseling, 1983 (revised edition Unfolding Self: The Practice of Psychosynthesis from Helios Press, September 2004), and
Growing Whole: Self-realization on an Endangered Planet, 1993, (revised edition, Growing Whole: Self-realization for the Great Turning, 2009), and serving on the Advisory Board and the Professional Development Committee for the Association for the Advancement of Psychosynthesis.
When systems thinking and deep ecology attracted my interest, I had the good fortune to study and work with Joanna Macy, Ph.D., eventually co-authoring a book with her, Coming Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World (1998), and the 2014 revised edition: Coming Back to Life: The Updated Guide to the Work That Reconnects.
Along the way, I earned a master’s degree in humanistic and transpersonal psychology (1979) and a Masters of Divinity (1993) from Starr King School at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA. I have also edited and published two “spiritual” books: Held in Love: Life Stories To Inspire Us Through Times of Change (Psychosynthesis Press, 2009) with Carolyn Treadway, and Lighting a Candle: Collected Reflections on the Spiritual Life (Psychosynthesis Press, 2010).
On a Personal Note
Jim Brown and I married over 50 years ago; we have two grown sons, both married to wonderful women, and two beloved grandchildren. Through the years we have lived in Northern New Mexico, the greater Bay Area, and southwestern Colorado, finding different sources of nourishment in each locale. In 2004, Jim and I moved to Mt. Shasta, California to live in the lap of this powerful Being, and to be closer to our sons and their families. My own personal and spiritual development has centered in nature, psychosynthesis, the Work That Reconnects, and spiritual teachings from many traditions, including Christianity, Buddhism, Sufism, and indigenous and pagan traditions.
