(610) 742-6419
About
How swiftly the strained honey / of afternoon light / flows into darkness / and the closed bud shrugs off / its special mystery / in order to break into blossom / as if what exists, exists / so that it can be lost / and become precious.
— Lisel Mueller, “In Passing”
The ingredients are within reach
You’re hungry and wondering whether you have the proper ingredients to make something worth eating.
And then it hits you.
You know what you have and what you can make of it – and that it can be tasteful and filling.
The ingredients were always there.
Move forward at your pace
The space that we co-create will feel sacred and peaceful. There will be a laser focus on what you need and what you’re ready for.
We will carefully monitor the pace of the work to move to your cadence and capacity. You will feel completely comfortable in your own skin.
The work will require patience and stamina, no doubt. We’ll navigate our work together with intelligence, care, and grace.
Solace and renewal is achievable
Finding the inner and outer resources to face loss, change, or challenging life circumstances may feel out of reach.
I want to assure you it’s not.
I’m confident that through this work you’ll find increased opening and extra space to listen generously and with acuity to yourself and the things that matter most.
You’ll also find find solace, renewal, and hope.
Are you ready to feel less alone? There really is a lighter place.
About My Journey
Bread, ball, and poetry
I love making sourdough bread from a starter and am particularly enamored with the bread making process used by Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. Bread making and baking is a magical process. More recently, I’ve been experimenting with making bagels from scratch.
I am an avid basketball player, and it’s a sensational game, especially when there’s endless running and friendly, competitive players who have a passion for moving and defending. The design and choreography of the game are compelling and restorative.
I came to poetry later in my life. Since 2017, I have collected poems of searing beauty and accessibility that address existential questions of loss, bewilderment, attentiveness, vulnerability, and loneliness.
Part of my practice, especially when working as a chaplain, was to read poems aloud to hospital patients and families to provide comfort, nourishment, and grace. I published an article, “A Chaplain’s Notebook: Poetry as Spiritual Nourishment,” in the Journal of Pastoral Care and Counseling in 2020.
A seminal loss
My parents died five weeks apart in 2014. It was a profound honor to spend the last nine months of their lives with them − something for which I’m eternally grateful.
Their death gave birth to this encore work providing counseling to those experiencing difficult emotions and life circumstances out of illness, loss or life transitions.
Influences
I have a master’s degree in school counseling and fell in love with family systems theory, especially the work of Murray Bowen, Jay Haley, and Virginia Satir (pardon the name dropping; it’s sweet to honor them.)
Since then, I have traveled down several professional pathways − the most enduring was 20 years with a non-profit, aging services organization. After my parent’s respective deaths in 2014, I initiated the process of becoming a board-certified chaplain and counselor.
My work with hospice connected me to death and dying in profound ways. I integrate the writing of philosophers, psychotherapists, and other practitioners, particularly from the specialized field of grief and loss.
I am married to a remarkable woman and life partner. We have three affectionate and talented sons who are grown men now.