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By what truths do I live? Where do I invest your life during this brief time called life? By whose definition do I understand who I am? Am I living the life that I want, or am I living someone else’s for them? By what point of reference do I make my decisions? Can I see my life as symbolic? Can I find healing even in the darkest corners of my life? How do I define the messages of I life? These are questions that life has asked me to answer.
I am a graduate of Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio Texas. I hold both a BSW and MSW from The Lake. I am licensed in Texas as a LCSW. I received my training in Spiritual Direction and Pastoral Care from The Anglican School of Theology, Dallas, Texas. Using my psychotherapy skills, I have worked with individuals, families, and groups in a wide variety of agencies and hospital settings as well as having been in private practice. I have provided supervision to other MSW graduates who are preparing to sit for their clinical license exam. I have experience as a mental health consultant for nursing homes, adoption agencies and for pain management clinics. I am involved in an active ministry offering Spiritual Direction, Pastoral Care in my local Episcopal church. I have been a speaker at workshops and at personal retreat weekends. My newest adventure is that I am in a two-year program, offered by The Haden Institute, Flat Rock, NC, that is preparing me to facilitate small groups of persons who desire to understand the meaning of their lives through the study of their dreams. The more that I study and read about dream meaning, the more passionate I become for the understanding of those dreams as they apply to our health and wholeness within myself. A native Texas, I continue to make Texas my home. My husband and I live on a small lake in East Texas. After a long career as a psychotherapist, I wrote my life's story, "Hidden in Pain,” as a way to share the mystery of transformation found in the claiming of one’s life through story. I skillfully draw the reader into the sorrows, agonies, abuses, challenges, and triumphs of my struggles with educational, physical, psychological, and spiritual pain over my life span. I guide the reader through my determined and yet painful quest for spiritual and emotional wholeness, culminating with finding profound peace. My ability to story-tell in "Hidden in Pain" keeps will keep the reader enticed. As a practicing psychotherapist, Spiritual Director, Pastoral Care assistant, and a Dream group facilitator for the interpretation of dreams, I share my unique insight into my own struggles, as well as the stories of others as told to me. I end by encouraging others to consider their story and to share the wisdom found with others through writing, poetry song, dance or any expression that feels natural. It is my hope that the reader will be inspired to face the issues and challenges that life presents at any given time. This book is about hope, love and about courage.
Accomplishments: Because I struggle with dyslexia, one of my great achievements has been in the writing and having published my book: "Hidden in Pain: a life story of personal transformation."
I have learned to live with chronic pain joyfully. I discovered ways to cope both emotionally and physically with the stress, altered lifestyle and the pain itself. While the physical pain does not always go completely away, the techniques that I use do dramatically reduce to intensity of pain.
I have begun to expand my creative expressions by exploring the beauty of the world from the view of the camera lense. I had no idea how much beauty and detail I have missed over my life thus far. I can not wate to take another picture.
I have a photograpy hanging on display show "Darkness Darkness" in the Three Columns Gallery, Mather House at Harvard University. The information that accompanies the photograph reads: "I am new to photography and all seems wonderful and magical. My photography interest began after a long career as a psychotherapist and recently as an author. I have discovered photography as another way to express the mystery of my soul. My first camera (digital) was a gift in 2006. I remain fascinated and hunger for more experience, training and artistic expression.
I find the parallel of night photography images to the unconscious scenes in dreams especially interesting. The camera is able to reveal details in the shadows on the night while dreams often reveal the “shadow” of our psyche. Time spent with my night images offers personal revelation just as time spent journaling my dreams. The wonder of details discovered is photography’s gift to me."
Learning, growing and change are life long endeavors. I am becoming aware of my innate creative gifts which have opened new doors for photography, sketching and design.
All of the photographs on this website are from my private photography gallery (unless otherwise indicated) and are copyright protected and may not be duplicated. If you have any questions about my photographs in my private collection, please contact me.
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