I am a Jungian psychotherapist living on the coast of Maine. I am passionately interested in depth psychology, psychotherapy, feminism and fat studies. My book, The Fat Lady Sings, weaves these threads into a tapestry of personal experience, critique of psychoanalytic theory and treatment of fatness, all in the context of the war on obesity.

I have published essays on Medea, fat politics, and embodiment. I hold a BA in Psychology from Duke University, an MA in clinical Psychology from the University of Connecticut, and a PhD in Jungian Studies from the Union Institute.

In the early years of my career, I worked with schools and with children, especially young children. Along the way, I got training in working with pregnancy and post partum issues, parenting, and working with groups. But the deep love of my work life has been working with men and women in individual psychotherapy. I have attended numerous seminars and workshops at the Jung Institutes in Boston, Chicago and Zurich as well as having had many years of clinical supervision with Jungian analysts.

Thirty years ago, I embarked on a personal Jungian analysis. The work that I have done with the analysts I’ve worked with is the most significant learning of my adult life and served to intensify my interest in depth psychology.

I grew up an Army brat. Having lived in many places, I happily settled in Maine in 1972 and declared myself at home. I live with my husband and 3 cats in Belfast, Maine where I work with patients in psychotherapy, write, read and knit.

Here is my CV, for those who like lots of detail:

Academic Background

Ph.D., Analytical Psychology, Union Institute and University, Cincinnati, OH, 2004

Dissertation: A Woman Scorned: Medea and Betrayal

M.A., Clinical Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, Requirements completed 1970, Degree awarded 1972. All course requirements for Ph.D. completed.

Thesis:  The Willimantic Project:  An Infant Development Program

B.A., Psychology, Duke University, Durham, NC., 1968

Clinical Experience

Community Mental Health: 1972-1975

Private Psychotherapy Practice, 1974-present

— Individual psychotherapy with adults and teens

— Supervision of other clinicians

— Group therapy

— Workshops on dream work, memoir writing, journal                              keeping,   body image, parenting

Research/Scholarly Activities

•  “A Woman Scorned: Medea and Betrayal”, dissertation, Union Institute & University, 2004

•  “Medea, the Shadow and Feminism” Quadrant, Spring 2010

•  “I Know It Wasn’t The Fish: Fat in the Consulting Room” in The Politics of Size: Perspectives from the Fat Acceptance Movement, ed. Regan Chastain, Praeger, 2014

•  “The Fat Lady Sings” in Spring 91: Women’s Voices, 2014

• “Emma Jung’s Pen: Jung, Feminism and the Body” in Feminist Views From Somewhere: Post-Jungian themes in feminist theory, ed. Frances Gray, Leslie Gardner, Routledge, 2016

• The Fat Lady Sings: A Psychological Exploration of the Cultural Fat Complex and its Effects, Karnac Books, 2017

Academic/Research Interests

Teaching psychological principles  to lay adults

Clinical supervision

Application of Jungian theory

Memoir — teaching and exploring its psychological impact

Mythology

Therapeutic frame in counseling and therapy

Fat studies and body image/acceptance

Issues of aging and the end of life

Affiliations/Memberships

International Association for Jungian Studies (IAJS)

Society for the Psychology of Women

International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis & Psychotherapy (IARPP)