Biography

When life brought me to my knees, I had to find another way to live. For me, this way included following my dreams. Leaving a successful career as an educator and becoming a student of the unconscious was not something I would have predicted for myself. But, that is how the mystery unfolded. Today I am delighted to find myself working as a Zurich trained Jungian Analyst in private practice in Guelph, Ontario, CA.

With respect to qualifications and regulations, the list is long. I have a C.A.A.T. Diploma in Child and Youth Care from St. Lawrence College, a B.A. in Psychology and Literature from the University of Guelph, a B.Ed. in primary/junior/senior education from the University of Toronto, a M.Ed. in curriculum from Brock University, and a Doctorate level diploma (Dipl. Analyt. Psych.) in Analytical Psychology from the International School of Analytical Psychology, Zurich. I also hold additional qualifications in Guidance Specialist, Co-operative Education Specialist, Principal Certification I and II, Teaching Writing, English as a Second Language, and Media Arts. I hold or am qualified to hold membership in the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT), Association Graduates Analytical Psychology (AGAP), and the International Association of Analytical Psychologists (IAAP). I hold a clinical membership with the Ontario Society of Psychotherapists (OSP). I am a member of the Interregional Society of Jungian Analysts (IRSJA).

My more informal education has included apprenticeship and participation in Deep Memory Process©, ancestral healing, storytelling, shamanic journeying, drumming, soul painting, creative writing, psychodrama, sand play, bodysoul rhythms, authentic movement, yoga, pottery, and yes, even a try at violin!. My teachers have included traditional elders, colleagues, and guides from Switzerland, France, Germany, Brazil, Canada, U.S.A., Nepal, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, Denmark, Sweden, Australia, Finland, Italy, South Africa, and more. I have been blessed with the variety of modalities, myriad of personalities, and well honed skills of my teachers. I bring this wealth of personal and professional experience to my work as an analyst. By far, one of the most rigorous and essential requirements of my training to become a Jungian Analyst has included well over 1000 hours of personal analysis and training supervision. I have often sat in the chair of the analysand, student and apprentice and have learned to greet each new situation and each new analysand with a 'beginner's mind'. I am open to the richness of the deep unconscious and well equipped to guide those who are at the trail head of their own journey.

Studying Analytical Psychology at the C.G. Jung Institute and the International School of Jungian Psychology gave me the opportunity to integrate my innate knowing within the framework of a rigorous classical education. I studied dreams, fairytales, myths, comparative religion, ethnology, psychopathology and psychiatry, attachment theory, trauma, creative arts expression; including: psychodrama, sand play, body/soul rhythms, soul painting, and authentic movement. My dissertation explored dreamstory and was called, "Thirteen Moons: Active Storying and Primitive Soulmaking. I also wrote major research papers on the symbolism of the Fish, the Mithratic Bull, and Vision Questing. My post-graduate writing has included: "Dreamstory Circles: A New Look at Ancient Wisdom", published online at www.ijhc.org.

I began my private practice as an affiliated analyst with Norfolk Psychological Services in Guelph. I have since opened myPraxis along the Speed River valley in Guelph. My work as an analyst is informed by my own on-going psychological process and professional development. I continue to work with tribal elders, Jungian teachers, and mainstream psychological theorists. I balance my analytical work with a love of nature and the outdoors, reading and writing fiction, my family, and my community locally, nationally and internationally.