Sometimes people are looking for deep support for their inner life, and have already done a lot of psychotherapy. They want to grow spiritually and want guidance that is attuned to their own life path. Though psychotherapy can include spiritual dimensions, and spiritual work often includes psychological dimensions, they are different territories or views. People who seek me out for spiritual counseling may already have some sort of spiritual practice or belief system which expands their sense of themselves beyond their personal struggles, yet includes those very struggles. Support for deep inner work can be held within a container of spiritual counseling. 

​

Sometimes people are seeking mentorship support around how they bring their inner life path into an outer offering, as in their chosen area of work. Often, they have some kind of Buddhist, non-dual, or earth-based practice (ie: rites of passage), which is where most of my knowledge, training and experience lies. In addition, I have worked well with people of other faiths, such as Christian, Pagan, shamanic, and African Diasporic.

​

My interest in offering spiritual counseling and mentorship is this: after doing extensive inner work to come to truly know ourselves, how can we practice living in a way that takes us beyond ourselves? Not in a dissociative or bypassing way, but in an authentic, embodied way that makes us more available to our people and our world. I am interested in how we can deepen our wisdom and compassion in order to be a source of healing and transformation for ourselves and others. There is a boundless radiance at the heart of each of us that knows our non-separateness from all of existence. Ultimately, the psychological and spiritual dimensions must be interconnected if we are to be a light for our world as it is. How might we reveal the gifts that are ours alone to give?

​

My own psycho-spiritual journey has brought me deep into my Japanese ancestry, to the profound and ancient path of Tendai Buddhism. Registered and certified with Enryaku-ji on Mt. Hiei in Japan, I am the first North American born woman to complete the arduous 60-day priest ordination training of the Hieizan Gyoin. In this secluded mountain top area of the greater Enryaku-ji monastic complex, Tendai priests have been initiated in a traditional way for 1200 years. This experience would not have been possible for me without the continual care and support of my remarkable teacher Ryoei Tyler sensei, my grand master Yokoyama sensei, as well as my prior late-teacher Keisho sensei, who first introduced me to this rare and precious path through Tendai Shugendo. The wisdom jewels of the Dharma inform all dimensions of my life and work.