Then came the master’s degree in integral counseling psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies, which has a spiritual East/West slant to it. This program was like being in private and public therapy for 20 hours a week. I sort of developed the made up diagnosis of OPD Over Process Disorder. The school and education were great, the OPD kinda sucked, and I’m glad I did it. It made me a solid psychotherapist, (if I do say so myself) who doesn’t freak out if someone is in deep pain and suffering.

Becoming a licensed MFT (Marriage and Family Therapist) was a humbling and illuminating journey. Because most internships are unpaid, I experienced the stress and desperation of not being able to cover my bills or buy food. This taught me discernment. I learned what I really need in life, versus unnecessary indulgences.

This has also informed my style of helping people more directly get to the core cause of their suffering. What does that mean for you? A higher percentage of my courses goes straight to healing your past versus giving you more concepts for your mind. 

I was drawn to being a therapist and energy healer because I spent years truly believing I was deeply deficient. This led me to attend many week-long silent meditation retreats over the years.

After being with myself for so long, and becoming utterly bored with my inner dialog, I finally learned my negative thoughts have no credibility, which is great because regularly recycling nonsense was time consuming!

In addition to meditating, I found relief from my inner torment by helping as many people as I could heal their own emotional pain, as I was healing mine. 

Turns out being a workaholic and trying to save everyone gave me adrenal fatigue, which caused depression, which limited my life and also led to Netflix sending me an email saying, “We have no more recommendations. You have actually watched everything.” Okay, the Netflix email is a lie, but you can see the hole I was in. Since then, I unsubscribed to Netflix. (True statement.)

With my glass half full, I learned a lot about digestive health, neurological health, hormones and epigenetics, and so much more. Now when a client comes in, I can easily recognize symptoms and confidently say, “You are experiencing XYZ. Here is what you need to do, and go see this doctor.”

After moving to La Jolla California, I quickly learned that I still have an urban agro amygdala, which means the back of my brain quickly fires up when people at the Whole Foods parking lot leisurely walk in front of my moving car. I have come to understand that people in La Jolla have something I’ve read about once. I think it’s called being relaxed. I am relaxing.

I regularly receive acupuncture and massage, and do meditation. I like to think of these activities as part of my public service. Now I can wait 10 whole seconds sitting behind a car with a green traffic light before using my horn. (Hey, 10 seconds is a long time. You try it! I grew up in a city after all.)

With my, one might say, obsession (gasp) to alleviate my emotional and physical pain and the pain of others, I have created a healing modality called

Invoke and Release®

Trying many healing modalities on my clients, and myself I found that

Invoke and Release®

helps more people release stored trauma in their body, more often, in a gentle non-overwhelming way. Yup, I have learned to hack your health and your haunting past.

Now my new obsession is to help EVEN MORE people, help human rights organizations, and to do all of this without losing my soul; hence the online group class format. 

I’m so excited for all of you to move through the healing material available in the Invoke and Release® Healing Circle, and discover your own treasure in the mirror, that is, be brave enough to take your rightful place in the world.