About

Private Practice

I work with many kinds of people generally ranging in age from 18 to 75. These include women, men, professionals, lawyers, homemakers and students, in college and from graduate and professional schools. About 20% of my practice is working with couples in all age ranges.

Practicing Solution-Focused Psychotherapy means I focus on what a person or couple wants to change, develop or improve and how best to get there.

Lots of Experience

In my work, experience counts. It means that I have seen many people and their problems over the year, and I have been able to see what works. Lots of experience means I have learned how to tailor the Solution-Focused Psychotherapy to the individual, the couple, or the group.

The early 1990’s were pivotal for me as I launched a  private practice, began consulting at William Mitchell College of Law, and trained in hypnosis. I am pleased to say I continue in all three areas.

Education

My Master’s of Social Work (MSW), at the University of Minnesota, focused on clinical work and family therapy. I am licensed at the highest level of practice in social work, a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW).

The Culture of Law

It was at William Mitchell College of Law, now, Mitchell Hamline School of Law, that I helped design an effective, short-term counseling program for students. As anxiety generally runs high in law schools, I developed a strong treatment base in working with anxiety and in particular performance anxiety, whether we’re talking about test anxiety or public speaking.

I taught workshops in stress management and performance enhancement. My work with law students and lawyers for over 20 years has familiarized me with the culture of law, enabling me to work effectively with the particularities of their issues.

Hypnosis

My interest in hypnosis originally came from a sense that it would offer me a  more creative approach in psychotherapy and offer my patients a deeper experience. Indeed, it has. As one develops increasing skill in hypnosis, it offers a fine tuned focus on use of language, timing, and delivery that seeds change.

I served on the board of the Minnesota Society of Clinical Hypnosis (MSCH), for 8 years including 2 years as president of the organization. MN has one of the largest component sections in the country that is under the rubric of the American Association of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH).

Speaking – Teaching – Workshops

Stress Management – Having taught workshops for years at WMCL, I have a wide range of topics in stress management that I teach including mind/body perspectives on stress, time management, and building coping skills. Academic performance problems/enhancement is another topic.

Hypnosis – I have been training professionals and presenting workshops for MSCH since 2004 and ASCH since 2006.

The Breath – As I am interested in “all things breath”, I have developed material and present on the breath from a variety of perspectives. It is a core area in stress management. I blend it with hypnosis. Like an anthropologist, I explore the breath the world over, looking at how different cultures and philosophies think about and use the breath.