: About Me

In the 90's, I went back to school and earned my Bachelors at Marylhurst College here in Oregon. Following that, I went to work at a residential treatment facility for extremely emotionally disturbed children, 8 to 18, as on-line staff. Each day when I arrived it felt as if my rocket had just landed on another planet.

Then I worked for an agency doing early intervention with at-risk children, 6 to 12, and again, experienced a world few have the privilege of knowing. This was an outpatient program, where we used a van to pick up and bring home children who spent several hours per day with us doing organized activities, eating lunch, going to the park, and being redirected, hopefully, to gain self-esteem and impulse control. My most vivid memory of that period is comforting a 12-year old being told that her foster parents had taken all her things to a new foster home where she would be going after the program. She literally shook so hard she would have fallen to the floor if not leaning on my shoulder.

In 1998 I graduated from George Fox University with a Masters in Counseling Psychology, and since then have worked in community mental health-non-profit agencies where counselors are fed to the recycling bin after about three and a half years. I worked with low-income, but not necessarily low-educated, families whose children displayed problem behaviors or were in foster care because parents had failed to be able to take care of them. Some were not salvageable, but many were. It was the bright and beautiful kids who got better when they talked, and the parents who loved them through it all, that kept me coming back from day to day. I became known for my good outcomes with whole families, especially faith-based folks, and that remains my favorite work.

Now, I am semi-retired. Widowed in 1998, I have come to terms with grief. I have an adopted daughter who is grown, and two lovely granddaughters who light my days. I continue to learn and grow as a therapist with a small private practice and ongoing education required to maintain licensure. Life experiences as well as formal training sometimes gives me a unique perspective on particular issues, but I also value being part of a team. I am looking forward to intereacting with the helium team in producing writing that will help others, and allow me to express myself in new ways.

My passion is ...

Helping people find ways to be healthier-their way, not mine.

I know too much about ...

Grief and loss, trauma recovery, how many families struggle to be healthy.

My parents always told me ...

If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well.

My childhood ambition ...

To have a happy home and family, write a great book, and learn to play the piano. Hey, one out of three is good!

My favorite memory ...

A great many to choose from, but top of the list is the day we brought home our adopted baby girl.

Why I write ...

Because I cannot not write...

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

Great variety-love good drama, classical, rock, alternative...

My first job ...

Bookkeeping in a shoe warehouse.

My best moment ...

When I see that "AHA" on a client's face... old or young.

My inspiration ...

Carl Rogers, my grandmother, my late husband who just loved people unconditionally for no reason whatsoever.

Health & Fitness > Emotional Health & Wellbeing Simple meditation techniques for children

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Children, even those who are emotionally challenged and at risk for serious behavioral problems at school, can engage in simple meditation.  I know this because I have seen it done by a gifted and caring therapist in a group setting.  We can define meditation in this context as being quiet, focused, physically still, and able to participate in an exercise of looking inward peacefully and with full concentration. In an outpatient program working with youngsters from five to eleven, usually having six to eight children in a group, both girls and boys, the therapist part of our team...

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