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About me
I was raised in California in the tumultuous 1960s -- an activist protesting the war in Vietnam and rebelling against the restrictive mores of the previous generations. As a teenager I began practicing buddhist mindfulness meditation but struggled with finding a balance between confidence and humility. I eventually found a career that suited me, designing and directing healthcare learning communities but felt ensnared in hierarchical relationships and perfectionism rather than fully expressing the decency and compassion I had learned and practiced. Friends and colleagues often asked me for advice, but I somehow felt like an impostor. Companionship in deep inner-listening work eventually brought it together for me, and I began to find an internal balance. Having trained as a youth coach, I'm bringing together my personal, professional, creative, and spiritual development to support others during these vastly challenging times.
My background
I am a certified youth resilience coach* specializing in research-based life coaching services for teens and young adults. I have completed over 60 hours of training from accredited coach-specific training providers and am working towards the Associate Certified Coach (ACC) credential from the International Coaching Federation (ICF).
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I come from 40 years of working in health care, where I focused on mind/body health and wellness from an individual and community perspective. As a public health professional, I have been on the cutting edge of creating learning communities that build personal and organizational will, employing learning principles and data collection to produce breakthrough advances in clinical outcomes. I continue to use my expertise and many years of experience in needs assessment, plan design, and successful implementation – including adapting to external challenges and opportunities that arise along the way. While my approach uses some techniques drawn from psychology, I am not a therapist and I am not practicing psychotherapy using these techniques.
I have a Certificate in Counseling as well as training and practice as a mindfulness meditation instructor, certificates to teach Japanese Tea Ceremony, and an extensive practice of Focusing (a practice of allowing our bodies to guide us to deeper self-knowledge and healing).
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My formal education includes:
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New York University, NY - Bachelor of Science in Nursing
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Hunter College, NY – Master of Public Health
* Youth Coaching Institute​ (youthcoachinginstitute.com)
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