Poem by Adrienne Rich

fused glass installation, Maura Singer

 SPIRITUAL DIRECTION & SOMATIC COUNSELING

I offer individual sessions in person, in my garden or therapy room in Temescal, Oakland and on Zoom.
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I specialize in trauma-informed work with grief and loss, death and dying. I work with people affected by cancer and other illnesses, their friends and families, and professional caregivers. I work with those dealing with other loss and pain: separation, divorce, LGBTQIA struggles, shifts in identity.

Ten years providing spiritual care for patients and their loved ones at the Alta Bates Comprehensive Cancer Center allowed me to become intimate with the complexities of the western medical system and the challenges of navigating it with skillfulness.
Fifteen years as an Integrative Medicine Educator at the Cancer Center has shown me that it is possible to weave a holistic approach to wellness into each person's care.
Nine years as the director of Maitri AIDS hospice in the early 1990's taught me to be fierce, to seek justice—and face illness, death and dying with clarity and compassion.

My guidance in Spiritual Direction comes from thirty years working in health care using the traditions of medical qigong, Buddhism, transformative arts, dreamwork, Self-Compassion training, earth-based Judaism and yoga.
I am a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP), trained in a state-of-the-art approach to trauma. I use SE as a guiding principle in accessing the deeper wisdom of the body in our work together. 
Depending on the client, I might use SE and a variety of modalities in a session.

I mentor those on ancestral journeys—people seeking to heal and discover connection with their ancestors through research, dreamwork, and making the journey back to their ancestral home.  My guidance in this work comes from the shamanic Jewish tradition. If you'd like to read about my own ancestral journey to heal my maternal Polish ancestors, click on my thesis Healing Mother Earth in Poland.

I am an artist and musician guided by the intersection of creativity and healing. This allows me to support my clients in discovering their innate creative resources for healing.  To find meaning and richness in the light and the darkness—in the mystery of being alive.

My hourly fee is $108, and I have a commitment to offering somatic counseling and spiritual direction to those who seek it, so I offer a sliding scale when needed.  If you are interested, please call or email me for a free initial 20 minute consultation.
​[email protected]     510 652-0560