I earned my B.A. in Anthropology in 1972 from the State University of New York at Albany. I attended divinity school in Rochester, New York from 1974 to 1977 and earned a Master of Divinity degree. After I was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1978 I received pastoral counseling training at the Toronto Institute of Human Relations from 1979 to 1981. I worked as a pastoral psychotherapist at two different agencies and, later, in private practice, in Buffalo, New York.
In 1990 I began serving as Chair of the Task Force on Sexual Abuse by Clergy in the Diocese of Western New York. We developed policies and procedures and a response team with response protocols for investigation and ministry when there are allegations of abuse by a clergy member or religious leader. In the Diocese of North Carolina I served for a number of years as clinical consultant to the diocesan pastoral response team. For almost fifteen years I have provided training on the prevention of abuse of children and adults in churches and church-related organizations. In addition, I have provided healing consultation for many congregations and judicatories of various denominations that have been affected by sexual and other ethical misconduct by clergy. I have served on the American Association of Pastoral Counselors’ Judicial Ethics Panel and regional ethics committees for a number of years.
My current work in this area of clergy ethics, prevention training, response team training, and healing consultation is in my role as trainer and consultant for the Seattle-based FaithTrust Institute formerly known as the Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence.
In 1991 I returned to the divinity school in Rochester to begin my Doctor of Ministry degree, which I received in 1994. My dissertation focused on the spiritual healing of adults who were sexually abused as children. Three survivors of sexual abuse who had attended healing retreats I offered allowed their stories to be told in the dissertation. These stories are the basis of my reflections on the healing process, signs of God’s presence in the midst of the evil of abuse, and recommendations to the religious community to take seriously the needs and spiritual challenges to the church that survivors of abuse bring forward.
I have led many healing retreats for women. And I have led many group-building retreats for church councils and judicatory staff members; a number of these retreats utilize the Myers-Briggs Temperament Indicator as the foundation for greater understanding of self and one another among the participants.
I moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in the summer of 2001 and am in private practice. I work with individuals, couples and families. My specialties include family and relationship problems; depression; loss and grief; sexuality and spirituality issues; trauma and abuse; and life and vocation transitions.
MY CREDENTIALS
My certification as a North Carolina Fee-Based Practicing Pastoral Counselor enables me to practice within the State of North Carolina. I am certified as a Diplomate in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors and as a Diplomate in the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy. The Diplomate credential is the most senior certification in these organizations and enables me to teach and supervise pastoral psychotherapists at any level of training and credentialing.