What are your areas of expertise?

As a mentor, I focus on helping clients gain insights and new perspectives about who they are and what they want for themselves using psychology, mindfulness, ancient wisdom, and self-knowledge. 

My background includes a Master of Education in Counseling Psychology, 13 years of Zen practice, hundreds of presentations and public speaking on healthy and unhealthy relationships, 10 years of domestic violence and sexual assault crisis intervention using traditional and alternative behavioral programs, and advanced coaching training with The Coaches Training Institute. 

Both mentoring and counseling use talk and other psychological tools to invite insight and self-discovery. However, the mentoring relationship tends to be more personal and reciprocal than the one that takes place in counseling. As a mentor I aim to be of guide and support to those I mentor, and find strong value in sharing my own skills, knowledge, personal opinions and experiences with my clients.

Mentoring does not focus on the past like counseling, or on future goals like coaching. It rather takes into account both and focuses primarily on discussing everyday situations, the thinking processes that drive our decisions, and the tools and skills we use to solve problems. 

Psychotherapy instead of mentoring is a better choice for people with mental health difficulties that impair their daily normal functioning. Coaching is a better choice to those who know the specific changes they want to make in their lives. Mentoring is about learning, which requires motivation and a certain ability to focus on self-analysis, skill building, and change. The measure of a succesful mentoring relationship is given by the sense of direction, empowerment, and support the client experiences in their everyday life as the mentoring relationship progresses.