About Me

Background

Born in northwestern Ohio (the oldest of four children), I grew up in a small farm town.  I was named after my great-grandfather Michael, who reportedly had the first Ford dealership in the State of Ohio (he ran it out of his hardware store).  Eventually, I escaped the farm and made it to the big city of Cincinnati, where I earned a B.A. in Personnel and Group Development. 

After graduation, I moved to London where I worked at a punk clothing store in Covent Garden and at a variety of other (illegal) jobs: yes, I was an illegal alien.  During much of my 20's, I lived in Egypt, Denmark, Greece and (the former) Yugoslavia and hitchhiked all over Europe.  After returning to the USA, I earned a Master's Degree in Developmental Psychology while interning for "Sesame Street" in New York City. 

In San Francisco, I was the Clinical Director for the Homeless Children's Network, a counselor for Aptos and Potrero Hill Middle Schools and Clinical Consultant for COLLAGE (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere) while earning my second Master's Degree.  In San Diego, I've worked as a licensed psychotherapist for Kaiser Permanente (Point Loma Psychiatry), Psychiatric Centers at San Diego and San Diego Hospice.  I opened my private practice in 2002.

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Workshops

In recent years I have facilitated - or co-facilitated - workshops on the following topics:

• Balancing your Heart, Mind and Body
• Blame, Revenge and Forgiveness
• Can you Buy Happiness? Unhooking from Consumer Culture
• Cultivating Self-Esteem
• Curiosity and Passion
• Dating with the Buddha
• Finding and Keeping Your Perfect Partner
• Gay Sons, Straight Fathers: Acceptance and Healing
• Getting Along with Difficult People
• Healing your Father Wound
• HIV, Depression and Grief
• Men and Depression
• Men and Grief
• Men and Stress
• Men and Work
• Stress Reduction in the Workplace
• Thriving – not just Surviving – in our 40’s, 50’s and beyond
• Taking a Chance on Happiness
• What do you do when you’re not young and cute anymore?
• When Things Fall Apart