The focus of my work and writing is on bringing creativity, spirituality, and healing to my work with clients as well as to the larger challenges that face health care and society. I work at Puget Sound VA in Seattle in Primary Care Mental Health Integration and have an appointment as an Acting Assistant Professor at the University of Washington. I am board certified through the American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology, the American Board of Integrative & Holistic Medicine and the American Board of Integrative Medicine.
I have worked in a number of practice settings over the years. Prior to moving to Seattle I spent three and a half years in New Zealand where I worked in Assertive Community Outreach at Manaaki House and also served as Clinical Director at Buchanan Rehabilitation Centre, a residential psychiatric rehabilitation program. I also started a holistic psychiatry private practice in Champaign, Illinois. Other practice settings were: Omaha VA in the PTSD Clinic, rural community mental health, and Developmental Services Center in Champaign, Illinois, a program for adults with developmental disabilities.
In my first book, Re-humanizing Medicine: A Holistic Framework for Transforming Your Self, Your Practice and the Culture of Medicine, I sought to provide a “counter-curriculum of re-humanization” for health care providers and to support a “compassion revolution” in health care.
My next book is written with co-author Joseph Rael (Beautiful Painted Arrow). Joseph and I plan to continue working together for a series of books after Walking the Medicine Wheel: Healing Trauma & PTSD. Joseph and I are also both artists and we plan to bring this dimension into our work together as well.
