ABSTRACT
My thirty-six-year-old mother died a sudden death when I was fifteen years old and alone. Her death was a pivotal event in my life and a traumatic loss that, along with cumulative experiences in childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood, served as the impetus for my career choice as a psychotherapist. It changed my basic beliefs about self, other, and the world. Since 1992 I have maintained an active general psychotherapy practice in San Anselmo in the San Francisco area, Marin County, San Francisco Bay Area, working with individuals, couples, families, and groups. I provide support to a diverse population with many life challenges. My specialties are loss, trauma, motherless daughters, and high-demand group or cult education and recovery. “Motherless daughters” refer to women who have lost their mothers through death, illness, separation, or estrangement in childhood, adolescence, or adulthood. People who seek my help in the field of cult education and recovery are former members including those born and raised in such groups, family members of someone currently involved, and mental health professionals.
