As I reflect about my life, I see the encounters that changed it, the people who came, literally adding connection, awareness, growth, love, meaning and expansion of my world. With gratitude for the richness of my life, I bring those qualities to share with my clients.

It was always the people I was fascinated by from the time I was a nurse’s aide in high school. And I saw the power of caring in healing. I still see that.

I am touched by and respectful of the drive for growth in my clients, the effort they engage in to heal from very difficult childhood trauma, their passion for their own dreams and relationships.

I am touched by their openness to me, to let me be with them in their pain and struggle. And I celebrate with them their accomplishments.

I have been unrelenting in my own drive for growth, to experience more in a wider and deeper way, to make a difference in people’s lives.

My first career came from my dream to be a nurse. It took me to my passion as a community health nurse, working in diverse cultures, becoming a university professor of nursing with a passion for students’ learning and growth. I became dean of two schools of nursing, experienced in the complexities of vision, university life and organizational dynamics.

My discovery of Carl Rogers’ writing on the Person-Centered Approach informed my teaching and my practice as a psychotherapist.

"It is the client that knows what hurts, what directions to go, what problems are crucial, what experiences have been deeply buried."

-Carl Rogers On Becoming a Person 1961

I have made difficult choices in my life, taken risks – and won. I had two beautiful daughters in a young marriage, early in my life – and later a son when we adopted each other as adults. I loved my husband’s children and celebrated with all of them the arrival of our ten grandchildren, who bring continuous meaning to my life.

I met Armin Klein at the First International Forum on the Person-Centered Approach in Mexico in 1982. We left, knowing we wanted to be together. He was a gifted therapist, the poetic one, I the one who made things happen. We made a wonderful life together, both of us healing old wounds and growing in a deep and intimate relationship with many challenges. We loved to travel and discovered Provence and Tuscany together. We remained a part of the person-centered community, attending meetings in various countries over the years. Knowing Armin and being known by him is the greatest gift of my life.

The dream I shared with Armin for our Center for Human Encouragement led me to my second career as a psychotherapist. Our workshops on Empowering Nursing and on personal growth, the place of healing and community we made in our home, the place of our practice, all became a part of our vision for the Center as a place of connection and healing.

Writing poetry and painting emerged for me at a very difficult time in my life and became new avenues for finding and expressing my voice, leading me from loss to healing and new life. I found my voice – and continue to find it -- in a long and continuous process of growth.