More About Me

I am a woman, (grand)mother, wife. I'm heterosexual, Jewish and white. I am a teacher, psychotherapist, life-long student, writer, actor. I've lived significant parts of my life in Canada, Israel and now the U.S. I like to read novels and go to movies. I love live performance.

I try to write in my journal everyday. My latest writing for academic publication is a chapter in 'Handbook of Transpersonal Psychology': Transpersonal Art: From the Chauvet Cave to Occupy Wall Street' and a chapter,'Musings on Anomalous Experience in a Therapeutic Context'' in the book 'Mental Health and Anomalous Experience'. I've published two novels and am working on a memoir.

The last stage performance I was in was 'Vagina Monologues', a production at ITP ( Institute of Transpersonal Psychology) and am presently shooting a short grad student film. I am a member of SAG and commercially was in 'American Graffiti' (Girl in Dodge), and Clint Eastwood's 'Magnum Force'. That was back in the day. I still get residuals.

In my free time I tend to dwell in disturbing images and search for other people of a similar bent. I always seem to look for things that don't fit into a given narrative: from everyday conversations to therapy sessions to the Holocaust. My Ph.D. dissertation is now a book you can get on Amazon 'Engaging Disturbing Images of Evil Events'. This is a video on YouTube showing my arts-based research for my diss.

I do my best to be in the light. I don't think the dark can be avoided. It's real and there. I try to find moments of beauty and love and at the same time not turn away from what is painful. There are always human actions I'll never understand. I'm not searching to 'make meaning' of what happens in the sense of squeezing experience into a frame that fits a pre-determined category. I find it most interesting to explore what doesn't fit. On the other hand, sometimes it's a relief to have a ready-made answer.

I like stories. I like other people's stories. I like changing stories around and mixing up the pieces. I like asking 'Why?' and 'Why?' over and over. And of course, 'Why not?' I wonder how people think - me too. I like groups of people together making art, like theater. I like the intimate relationship 0f therapy and trusting so we can be ourselves, the parts we know and don't know. I like to help others find out about more parts of themselves so they can help more people do the same. I like acting in shows. I think by making art we can inspire social action out there.

I want to change the world and save the planet. I believe communities searching and creating artfully is the way to do it as I felt in the empowering pro-immigration rally at the SFO airport: