Professional Background

In 1996, I made the decision to return to school and become a therapist. I attended Portland State University for the next two years, and received my B.A. in Psychology in June of 1998. I chose to attend John F. Kennedy University's Graduate School for Holistic Studies (see www.jfku.edu for details) and began my graduate studies in the fall of 1998.

I spent the following two years in the classroom, studying various topics such as individual development, addictions, and various methodologies that facilitate client self-knowledge. The nature of my school is such that all students are encouraged to explore each topic from a personal point of view. For instance, in studying individual development, we were all expected to explore our own families of origin, to tease apart the factors that caused us to become who we are. To this end, a school requirement was that we spend at least one year in therapy ourselves while in graduate school. Previous therapy didn't count toward this requirement. In part, this was to allow us a place to process the feelings that would inevitably surface from such close and deep examination of our families and ourselves. But also, this requirement made it virtually impossible for any of the students to have an "us" and "them" attitude toward clients because it ensured we had been clients.

I chose to focus on Expressive Arts in learning various methodologies. My professional specialty is helping people who are coping with major life transformative events (including but not limited to transition issues), and a big component in undergoing any transformation is getting to know who you are all over again. Expressive Arts provide a direct conduit to unconscious, deeply held emotions and feelings, and are a wonderful method for helping clients get to know who they are and where their feelings and reactions are based. Such a powerful process requires a skilled, knowledgeable guide, to create the safe container necessary for this kind of deep exploration. For this reason, I chose to study Expressive Arts extensively during my graduate school program.

The third year of my graduate program was spent in an internship, seeing clients at Pacific Center for Human Growth in Berkeley, California. Pacific Center has served the GLBTQ community of the East Bay since 1973. At Pacific Center, I saw a wide variety of clients with diverse issues, from grief due to multiple losses due to AIDS to the anguish of a painful breakup. Most of my clients were not trans, and did not know I was trans. Since gender identity was not their particular issue, I saw no reason to bring my "trans-ness" into the room. The client's session is about their issues, not mine.

In addition to my work at Pacific Center, I co-facilitated a weekly support group for trans people at any stage of transition. Group members ranged in age from 18 to 63, and spanned the gender spectrum. Some were in the early stages of transition, others identified as transgendered and were not necessarily planning to transition. The group's co-facilitator was Valerie Igl, MFT. She is not trans herself, and felt it important (as I do) that at least one of the facilitators be trans. This group has continued since I left to move back to Portland, as Valerie was able to locate another trans therapist intern to co-facilitate the group with her.

In July of 2001 I presented my thesis ("Gender Dissonance: A New Paradigm") and received my M.A. in Counseling Psychology (specialization Transpersonal Psychology) in September, 2001. On the strength of my thesis presentation, the Dean of the Graduate School for Holistic Studies approached me about the possibility of teaching a practicum class on gender identity and trans issues.

Another component of my work involves individual presentations, panels, and workshops on trans issues. Some of the appearances I've made include:

• A panel of trans people for a gender class at Lewis & Clark College, Portland OR (1996)
• A panel of trans people for a sociology class at Portland State University, Portland OR (1997)
• A panel debating trans inclusion under the Oregon Health Plan, on the local television talk show Town Hall, Portland OR (1998)
• An individual presentation for a Human Sexuality class at John F. Kennedy University, Orinda CA (1999)
• I was the sole guest on the local television talk show Points of Interest, Alameda CA (2000)
• An individual presentation for a Human Sexuality class at Las Positas College, Livermore CA (2000)
• An individual presentation for The Continuum, on trans youth issues. (The Continuum is a consortium of non-profit agencies that serve street youth.) Portland OR (2001)
• Quarterly individual presentations for Women's Studies and Human Sexuality classes, Clark College, Vancouver WA
• In-service training for the staff of the Multnomah County Health Dept. STD Clinic. (2002)