Kintsugi, the Japanese ceramics-technique that Joins Brokenness with Beauty.
My Journey From a young age I have been drawn towards grappling with the Bitter-Sweet, that borderland where one location does not exist without the other; where opening to heartache as well as joy gives way to Enriching Truths. Loss and love, rupture and repair, empowerment and numbness are terrain I have come to hold with tender curiosity and appreciation, for these places deepen my sense of humanity, compassion, aliveness and beauty. I have found that the practice of somatic wellness provides a supportive and inspiring process when working through areas of despair and overwhelm. Growing up white, lower-income raised by a single white mother, Jewish and the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, I encountered both a sense of belonging and being an outsider. Early on, I understood that I could easily hide my Jewish identity when finding myself in unwelcoming places, and that my white skin is the more advantageous skin color. But this understanding of race privilege and white supremacy socialization was relatively superficial well into my 20s. While earning my Bachelor of Arts Degrees (1986), I read J. Feagin's Discrimination American Style, and Women, Race & Class by Angela Davis. These publications, along with ongoing studies and trainings, have opened up greater insight into how race impacts my life, including how I have been socialized to ignore my racial privilege and maintain complicity (often unwittingly) in upholding racism. My struggles and growths with entrenched and tenacious racist patterns have taught me that antiracism is a lifelong commitment. Continued education, somatic wellness practice, accountability and critique from my white community members anchor my antiracism somatic facilitation as well as my racial justice activism. 
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Academic Qualifications & Professional Experience
I hold a Master's Degree in Psychology from Antioch University (1999) and a BA in Social Work & Literature from University of California, Berkeley (1986) I was granted tenure in 2003 at Cuesta College in the Applied Behavioral Sciences Division. I teach courses in Counseling Skills & Developmental Psychology, including Psychology of Women and Multicultural Psychology. In addition to teaching, I facilitate professional development workshops for campus faculty and staff. Most recent workshop topics include:
Additional Professional Qualifications & Certifications In addition to my work in academia, I have professional experience in providing counseling services within sexual assault and intimate partner abuse support organizations & hospice centers. Currently, I have a part-time private practice supporting individuals face life transitions, identity crises, health concerns, heartache & bereavement/ambiguous grief . Additionally, I facilitate WhiteEmbodied Antiracism Practice ("WEAPing") to educators, mental health services organizations & religious institutions. WEAPing is a process model I developed that introduces participants to Resmaa Menakem's "Somatic Abolition" teachings and Focusing techniques.
Professional Development Concentrations
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