Let me begin by telling you about the beliefs that guide me. I prefer to begin this way, so that you can tell whether you and I are a match to work together. I’ll cover what I have done in a brief list at the end.

I deeply believe that we all exist as integral, unique parts of a Mystery that we cannot ever fully understand. We do our best to make sense of our lives and our place in the great scheme of things, but we can never really see the whole picture, or understand life in anything other than a human way.

The great mystics have come closest to understanding our existence within this Mystery, and as a result of their spiritual journeys, they have fallen deeply in love with Life with a capital “L”. Part of my work has to do with helping people to experience the essence of this same journey, and to fall in love with Life – no matter what’s going on – in all its messiness and unpredictability.

The paradox of this Creative Power is that while it is largely unknowable to us, it is more intimately connected to us than any part of the material universe. It lives within our very cells, it knows our every thought and it loves us. Most especially, it loves those parts of us that we most neglect or disown. This is one of the many, great paradoxes of spiritual truth.

I have come to understand that you don’t have to be anyone special to enter into the sacred realms described by the mystics. You just have to want to do so, and to be prepared to make some sacrifices – perhaps to sacrifice your old ways of thinking – in order to do so. But the root of the word sacrifice is to make holy, so perhaps to sacrifice something isn’t such a bad thing.

As a coach, I know that although we usually can’t make something happen just by wishing it so, we can reach our goals through a process of learning. As a Spiritual Director I seek to combine my understanding and experience of the spiritual journey with my expertise as a coach. The outcome will be up to you. The process will be exciting, difficult, different, possibly fun, and definitely unpredictable. Who was it who said, “if you want to make God laugh, make plans?"

So I promise to be a true companion on this journey. I have traveled with many people over the years, dealing with issues of health, family, relationships with friends and lovers, career, values, spiritual longing, abandonment, rejection, self-esteem - you name it! To arrive at this place where I am bold enough to claim that I am both a coach and a spiritual director, I have done the following:

• Managed a non-profit learning center based on the original model of Attitudinal Healing
  
• Facilitated in a nationwide diversity program funded by the Fetzer Institute of Kalamazoo, Michigan
  
• Managed graduate programs and acted as a Mentor Coach for Newfield Network, accredited coach training school
  
• Practiced as a coach for eight years and as a spiritual guide for sixteen years
  
• Been a member of Unity of Fairfax for 20 years
  
• Practiced as a cranio-sacral therapist (Upledger) and neuro-muscular therapist (St. John) for fifteen years
  
• Listened to my inner guidance and become an artist, an activity that enhances both my coaching and spiritual direction.
  
  

Current professional groups and affiliations:

• Member, International Coach Federation
  
• Member, Spiritual Directors International
  
• Graduate, “Entering the Castle,” Caroline Myss’s program of modern mysticism based on the teaching of Teresa of Avila