Alumni Profiles

• Adam, Victor, Ph.D., Psychology, '04
• Beyer, Stephan, Ph.D., Psychology, '05
• Bobrow, Joseph, Ph.D., Psychology, '80
• Bogart, Greg, Ph.D., Psychology, '92
• Bonnici, Andrew, Ph.D., Psychology, '78
• Boorstein, Sylvia, Ph.D., Psychology, '74
• Ciornai, Selma, Ph.D., Psychology, '97
• Cooney, Lisa, Ph.D., Psychology, '06
• French, Barbara, Ph.D., Psychology, '99
• Gelb, Suzanne, Ph.D., Psychology, '98
• Giraffe, Viara, Ph.D., Human Sciences, '97
• Henderson, Terilyn, Ph.D., Psychology, '06
• Ives, T. Paris, M.A., Psychology, '05
• Lindblom, Eric, Ph.D., Psychology, '03
• Maine, Margo, Ph.D., Psychology, '85
• Martin, Marc, Ph.D., Human Sciences, '98
• Massad, Sunny, Ph.D., Psychology, '00
• McDermott, Lucinda, Ph.D., Psychology, '78
• Mramor, Nancy, Ph.D., Psychology, '91
• Pappas, James, Ph.D., Pscyhology, '98
• Parker, Julie, Ph.D., Psychology, '04
• Rengstorff, Marie, Ph.D., Psychology, '92
• Rohrer, Marv, Ph.D., Psychology, '96
• Sheias, Helaine, Ph.D., Human Science, '06
• Smull, Jimmy, Ph.D., Psychology, '00
• Vail, Thomas, Ph.D., Psychology, '97
• Vincze, Eva, Ph.D., Organizational Systems, '94
• Weiss, Abner, Ph.D., Psychology, '99
• Wolf, Steve, Ph.D., Psychology, '86

LisaCooney, Ph.D., Psychology, '06

Dr. Lisa Cooney is a licensed psychotherapist, International co-facilitator, Reiki Master, Theta Healer and Director of the LEAP process. She holds a doctoral degree in Transpersonal Psychology and Spiritual Inquiry, Shamanic Training, Advanced Clinical Hypnotherapy certification, Breath Therapy certification and has over 15 years experience facilitating group workshops on interpersonal and intrapersonal dynamics. She is certified as a Dream Leadership Trainer, Group Leader and Universal Life Minister.

She has created a Transdisciplinary approach to healing and personal transformation that originates from a way of living balanced in mind, body and spirit. She models and teaches principles of leadership, self empowerment, and collaborative relationship that transcend cultural and religious divides. These teachings originated from her own deep belief in personal healing and transformation work. Leap was created as a Lived Program as it arises from your own Lived Inquiry which she feels is the cornerstone to and essential for anything that is taught locally and globally.

The visioning of LEAP as a place where individuals safely awaken to their fullest potential while resting in the support of conscious and loving community, began at the age of seven. Dr. Cooney has extrapolated that vision in her published dissertation entitled "Finding and Forming Spiritual Identity through Cooperative Inquiry" and is currently in the process of writing a book on empowerment, the law of attraction and women business entrepreneurs.

She offers you the opportunity to reclaim your personal power and manifest the life of your dreams in a sacred healing cauldron. Dr. Lisa gives practical step by step teachings on living and connecting with gratitude and unconditional love while allowing your business to leap to its greatest success. Her work is balanced in the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual intelligences.

Her rich indigenous healing background, education and diverse training invites individuals to create a haven of hope and a home for themselves from within. She calls her work in service of the core spirituality of love, unconditional kindness and positive regard for all as taught by her spiritual teacher Ammachi. She lives by the words of Ghandi, "we must be the change we wish to see in the world."

Dr. Lisa holds knowledge of business, entrepreneurship, of being an educated woman in the healing arts who is expanding the definition of what it means to be in business for yourself. Her goal is to teach all souls how to empower THEIR life and live holistically balanced in mind, body and spirit. This goal is based on a desire to emerge, engage, and unleash future leaders in every field, and most specifically leaders who are empowered in their own lives, to bring a sustainable group of people, dedicated to change making and consciousness raising in local and global communities.

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TerilynHenderson, Ph.D., Psychology, '06

My experience at Saybrook Graduate School was extremely pivotal both personally and professionally. Humanistic and transpersonal psychology uniquely calls for a reorientation from therapeutic models of individual treatment to consciousness-raising models for group reflection and action, and allows for the focus on the strength and courage of the abused and neglected children and adolescents I work with in foster care. While others focus their attention on the harm that these young adults have suffered in the past, my doctoral education paved the way to view their resiliency in the face of their childhood adversity.

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HelaineSheias, Ph.D., Human Science, '06

Dr. Helaine Sheias, CGF is a certified international group facilitator, eco-spiritual counselor and Universal Life Minister. She holds a doctoral degree in Human Sciences, is the creator of the LEAP Global Bridging Programs and is co-director of the LEAP – Life Empowerment Action Program. Her transformative approach to confronting issues of diversity, social marginalization, and multicultural based conflict interweaves spiritual, ecological and psychosocial attributes. She believes that the true essence of self-realization can be found through acts of love, tolerance and mindfulness. Helaine facilitates processes of maintaining sacredness in one's life by consistently embodying a sense of 'wholeness' - reconnecting one's self to the psychological and eco-spiritual aspects of completeness and being.

Dr. Helaine returns to her homeland in the U.S. after spending more than three decades in Israel. Through her own acculturation process as a new immigrant in the Middle East she accumulated a rich and diverse expertise in transformative learning methodologies which include teaching; program coordination/supervision; teacher/staff training and workshops, mentoring and supervision of teaching teams; special education/programs for the learning disabled; early childhood instruction/developmental seminars; educational reform programs; and consulting within the field of early childhood special education.

After the completion of her doctoral studies she opened a private practice. Her goal was to provide a transdisciplinary approach to counseling that revolved around eco-therapy, spiritual counseling, transpersonal psychology and ethno-autobiographical inquiry. Her first clients were young adults who were challenged with an array of learning disabilities such as ADD/ADHD, dyslexia, communication disorders, low self-esteem and lack of social skills. Guided by a diverse assortment of indigenous healing techniques she invited her clients to embark upon a journey of enrichment and self-empowerment which would eventually lead to a dramatic change in their quality of life. Today, Dr. Helaine continues to work with individuals who are struggling with various learning difficulties and dysfunctions.

In addition to this work she has also began to work intensively with women on developing a greater sense of empowerment through authentic reconnection with their bodily, cognitive, emotional and spiritual intelligences. Her life passion is to create an empowering instrument for bringing about spiritual consciousness and awareness of indigenous origins, leading to individual and communal healing amid diverse groups of both men and women. Using cooperative inquiry as the foundation to deepen processes of self-exploration through the "hearing and seeing of others", she facilitates circles of transformation and change by modeling measures of experiential wisdom, social engagement and self-reflection.

Weaving the strands between such aspects of Socially Engaged Spirituality, as compassionate listening, non-violent social action and ethno-autobiographic healing storytelling, Dr. Helaine believes that she can bring about a turn in the cultural and ethnic awareness of the inhabitants of the land she lives in. This process will include, first and foremost, maintaining sacredness by consistently facilitating wholeness, staying in relation and in participation to the land and the peoples where she resides. It will involve the reconnection of individuals to the eco-psychological and spiritual aspects of their own wholeness so that they may incorporate the ethno-autobiographical procedures as part of an in-depth cleansing and healing process. Calling for a sense of ownership of the shadows of our pasts, this process requests of us to reveal, acknowledge, repent and finally shed those aspects of ourselves which can be found to be linked to the oppression and suffering of others, may they be human beings, plants, trees, or animals.

Dr. Helaine's most outstanding interest is in the eco-spiritual connection to the universe that she embodies. She is drawn to nature, to animals, and to the land. She is in constant search for our connection to our indigenous minds and ancestral knowledge. She is an avid eco-feminist, a pious vegetarian, and outspoken southpaw leftist. She is a herstoryteller, poet, and writer. This is her calling; this is her livelihood. Her deepest yearning is to sow the seeds of ethno-autobiography throughout the continents, and in doing so, to gradually transform them into kernels of hope and peace, and into exemplars of sacred healing.

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StephanBeyer, Ph.D., Psychology, '05

After twenty-five years, I have finally retired from the practice of law.

I am continuing to work as a community builder and peacemaker. I am the head of Peacemaker Services, which provides consulting, training, and advocacy in community building, council processes, conflict transformation, peacemaking circles, communication skills, mediation, and restorative principles and practices using indigenous, traditional, and contemporary models.

We have put on our peacemaker workshops for social workers, therapists, social work students, psychology graduate students, law students, residents of intentional communities, churches, wilderness and outdoor leaders, wilderness therapists, nature educators, and middle-school students, high-school students, teachers, principals, and staff at Montessori, charter, alternative, and public schools.

Since leaving Saybrook, I have taken a number of trainings relevant to my peacemaking work -- in active nonviolence, spiritual direction, transformative mediation, restorative dialogue in cases of severe political and criminal violence, and peacebuilding in protracted interethnic conflicts.

I currently teach both an undergraduate course and graduate seminar on restorative justice in the Department of Criminal Justice at Chicago State University. I am developing a course in the theory and practice of nonviolence, which I hope to teach both at CSU and at the School for New Learning at DePaul University. I am working with the Department Chair at CSU to help develop a postgraduate certificate program in Peacemaking and Justice.

I have completed a book entitled Singing to the Plants: A Guide to the Mestizo Shamanism of the Upper Amazon, based on research I did for my Saybrook Ph.D. dissertation, and I am now looking at publication opportunities. I have been invited to present a paper based on my ayahuasca research before the Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness at the next meeting of the American Anthropological Association. I am an editor of a new scholarly peer-reviewed journal called the Journal of Shamanic Practice, which focuses on the praxis of both traditional and contemporary shamanisms.

I also serve on the board of directors of the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago.

Oh, and my wife and I went kayaking in Eastern Greenland last year.

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T. ParisIves, M.A., Psychology, '05

Saybrook was a wonderful experience for me! I had always wanted to return to school for a master’s degree, but I was loathe to attend a traditional school where my creativity and curiosity would be stifled instead of supported and encouraged to grow. At Saybrook, I was incredibly amazed by the faculty and my peers throughout this experience, as even though it is an at-a-distance program, I felt very much included in all that was going on and was able to brainstorm and learn, one on one, with some very amazing people that I adore to this day. And too, because it is an at-a-distance program, I learned very quickly that I am capable of learning anything I choose to learn, that curiosity is a good quality, as opposed to what my parents said, and that information can sometimes come from just about anywhere if one is paying attention.

Of course, in a program such as Saybrook’s, the education we receive from it is completely dependent on how much energy we choose to put into it. I immediately recognized the massive opportunities at Saybrook and went headlong into my passions, only to realize that my passions grew, deepened, and greatly expanded during my few years there. Today I am able to easily research areas of interest, promote new ideas, and better help the people who seek answers of one sort or the other. My field of interest is no longer singular, as at Saybrook I was able to learn how each area of study intersects and adds to every other area of study, which certainly breaks all boundaries and limitations when finding solutions for businesses, individuals, groups of people, and the like. Very recently, the CEO of a well known company has invited me to start an educational foundation with him, which I am currently considering with great interest, as my participation would indeed allow me to actively engage with an organization that, on a national level, would speak directly to and support the basic principles of health psychology and bio-psycho-social medical practices in the recognition and treatment of the disease of chronic pain. In the meantime, I still continue to find ways to help alleviate suffering of any kind, whether through my hypnosis practice, or in other ways, by using my greatly strengthened abilities to research properly and gather information that might inform solutions. These abilities, as well as many others, were enhanced greatly during my time at Saybrook, and I cannot believe how much my life has opened and moved forward in the short time since I graduated.

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VictorAdam, Ph.D., Psychology, '04

I've been working with children who were tsunami survivors and had lost one or two parents and / or siblings in the disaster. Using play, art, dance and talk therapy, I have effectively treated over 180 children. I've also worked with the Thai care-givers, mainly teachers, nurses, psychologists and psychiatrists to help them build group therapy sessions and techniques in disaster mental health intervention.

Saybrook was a wonderful stretch for my mind, body and spirit. Members of my dissertation were great mentors who have become fellow companions in our common journey. Saybrook prepared me to work effectively with the tsunami victims and their care-givers in Phuket, Thailand and also in my present forensic and wellness work.

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JulieParker, Ph.D., Psychology, '04

Saybrook has been one of my ultimate growing experiences. My dissertation research was one of the most interesting and exhilirating challenges I have yet to meet. I appreciate the guidance and encouragement of Saybrook faculty (particularly my dissertation committee, David Lukoff, Stanley Krippner, and Ann Masai), who gave me an opportunity not only to develop my critical and creative thinking and writing skills, but instilled in me an intense desire to learn, write, teach, and continue to grow on a personal level.

In just over one year after graduation, I obtained a full-time faculty position at Halifax Community College in Weldon, NC. Also, an article based on my dissertation, "Extraordinary Experiences of the Bereaved and Adaptive Outcomes of Grief" was published in Omega: The Journal of Death and Dying, Volume 51, Issue 4, Dec. 2005. I am currently preparing a proposal for my book, "Windows to Another World: Extraordinary Experiences that Help Heal Grief."

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EricLindblom, Ph.D., Psychology, '03

My Saybrook program was a highly successful and transformational journey into the professional, academic world of Harvard University where I teach online (4 years now) for a prestigious Harvard think tank. I am also highly involved in research: Project 14: Juarez (Mexico). Happy at work, Saybrook is still with me. Saybrook goes above and beyond commencement. Saybrook is an open system. Hence, Saybrook worked for me and is still working as an alumni. As an academic, I’ve assumed a position in the international community with the skills and knowledge Saybrook taught in a double concentration of Humanistic / Transpersonal and Organizational Systems. Now I am giving back as Saybrook is the best.

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SunnyMassad, Ph.D., Psychology, '00

Sunny Massad has always been an unconventional thinker, so creating a self-improvement therapy called Un-therapy and Wellness Counseling for healthy individuals who aspire toward self-fulfillment was just the sum of many unconventional life experiences for this 2000 Saybrook Psychology Ph.D. graduate.

Beginning in her early twenties as one of twenty founders of a successful alternative community in the San Juan Islands and later traveling to India to study meditation with Rajneesh, Sunny quickly became attracted to alternative modalities of thinking and being. Sunny eventually worked closely with Rajneesh, becoming his community spokesperson for the experimental city of Rajineeshpuram in the 1980’s.

Sunny’s background includes studying hypnotherapy at the Institute for the Re-Education of the Unconscious Mind in Seattle. After moving to the island of Oahu in 1989, she established a successful hypnotherapy practice and created several courses and workshops introducing both hypnotherapy and meditation to professionals. Her workshops entitled, "Being Your Best" and "How to Stop Sabotaging Yourself," which taught people how to use the unconscious to be a service toward a higher vision, became extremely popular. Her work in this area led to a best-selling audiocassette entitled, Hypnosis & Meditation: the Ultimate Form of Relaxation, which is available in book stores.

Sunny promotes the use of hypnosis and meditation or "hypno-meditation" because she believes it to be a powerful tool that works to assist a person to rejuvenate their mind/body from the overload of "noise" that the mind is subjected to. She has adopted the term "techno-stress" to describe the psychological impact and stress that technology places on the psyche. Sunny explains that "hypno-meditation works with the unconscious mind to access calmness and to bring peace of mind which is the epitome of psychological wellness."

The concept for Un-therapy and Wellness Counseling originated while Sunny was working on her Master’s thesis called, "The Psychology of the Buddhas" and her Ph.D. dissertation on enlightenment. Sunny realized that self improvement and happiness can take place when an individual experiences being present in the moment. Sunny explains that happiness comes from bringing the heart and soul back into balance with the incessantly busy mind in order to nourish the spirit.

Sunny states that "Un-therapy and Wellness Counseling differs from traditional therapy because it is designed for individuals who do not require treatment for diagnosable conditions but who still need a boost forward to move beyond old patterns that are holding back their personal potential." The theory of William Glasser’s Reality Therapy which advocates personal responsibility for one’s own feeling, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors is central to Sunny’s work.

Sunny has also taught 14 courses at Kapiolani College in Hawaii, and was senior educator of Openings Seminars and Consultation, and the motivational speaker for Satori Hawaii Fitness Corporation. Currently she is working on two books: one based on her present work called, Untherapy: For Ordinary People Seeking Extraordinary Transformation and another entitled, Dispelling the Myths of Enlightenment which includes many candid interviews of individuals claiming to be enlightened.

Sunny Massad completed both her M.A. and Ph.D. at a fast pace. She describes her Saybrook experience as "the right place to pursue an interest in the study of consciousness and the enlightened mind, in a nurturing environment." What words of encourage-ment does Sunny have for currently enrolled students? "Follow your passion and let that energy propel you through your program."

Sunny can be reached at www.hawaiiwellnessinstitute.org

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JimmySmull, Ph.D., Psychology, '00

I graduated from Saybrook in 2000 with a Ph.D. in Philosophy of Human Science. I chose Saybrook because of their cutting edge approach to the innovative type of qualitative research that would lend itself well to giving the human experience the validity it deserved. By using the heuristic method, along with Dr. Stanley Krippner and Dr. David Feinstein's personal mythology model, I had the opportunity to explore the subject of women who had left Christian Fundamentalism, but I also was able to provide women with the tools to make positive changes in their lives. My dissertation is now a book called "Healing Eve: The Woman's Journey from Religious Fundamentalism to Spiritual Freedom".

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BarbaraFrench, Ph.D., Psychology, '99

Before coming to Saybrook, Barbara French was a Registered Nurse teaching nursing at a Merced, California, community college. Her determination to learn more in order to be more effective led her to Saybrook where she earned her doctorate in psychology. Her dissertation was "Homophobia, Fear of AIDS, and AIDS Stereotypes in Nursing Students and Their Instructors.

Since graduating, Dr. French has worked in forensic psychology, doing psychological testing of inmates, and doing outpatient sex offender treatment. She worked for two years as a clinical psychologist for a major health provider in Fresno, California, before returning to her role as a teacher. As a psychologist she was a point person for gay, lesbian, and transgendered clients as well as clients dealing directly or indirectly with HIV and AIDS. She supervised an HIV positive support group as well as a weekly group for individuals diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder utilizing Dialectical Behavioral Therapy methods. Barbara is currently Director of the Registered Nursing Program at Mendocino College in Ukiah, California and continues to teach. Dr. French is also enrolled in a Nurse Practitioner training program which will allow her to utilize her nursing background as well as her psychology degree. She hopes to do therapy with individuals and offer medication therapy through the Nurse Practitioner role after completion and certification. "I will always continue to teach, but it is my hope that working part-time as a Nurse Practitioner and Psychologist will round out my career and allow me to utilize a variety of my skills.

Barbara believes that her Saybrook experience has empowered her to work with a variety of populations in a holistic and healing way. Barbara has met professional challenges "head on" and has taken her educational achievements into a diverse set of job roles. Barbara's Saybrook experience has impacted her personally. "I truly believe that my interaction with individuals at Saybrook has enriched me personally as well as professionally. The resources are there if one wishes to seek them out. Personal growth, inner peace, and great friendships have come via this experience. Barbara was encouraged and supported by Saybrook faculty to pursue research areas that interested her but were considered somewhat taboo by society, like gender issues and homophobia. The resulting knowledge in these areas has led to many professional referrals and has allowed her to do what she loves. "It is a great thing when you can do what you love and go home at the end of the day knowing that you have made a difference. I am so glad that I took the risk and enrolled in Saybrook.

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Rabbi AbnerWeiss, Ph.D., Psychology, '99

Early in my book, Connecting to God: Ancient Kabbalah and Modern Psychology, I describe my original encounter with psychology as an undergraduate in Johannesburg in the late 1950s. It was a soul-less experience, either mechanically behaviorist/experimental or dogmatically Freudian, enough to turn me off to the field. Happily, psychology underwent a transformation, reclaiming the soul. This encouraged me to reenter the field. My doctoral experience in Saybrook was strikingly different from my undergraduate encounter. Saybrook's openness to spirituality, transpersonal and humanistic psychology resonated profoundly with me. My years at Saybrook enabled me to synthesize the mystical theological training I had received in working on my first Ph.D. with my study of human behavior and experience. What I learned at Saybrook was transformative and clearly a segue into my study and application of kabbalistic psychology.

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SuzanneGelb, Ph.D., Psychology, '98

Suzanne Gelb, Ph.D. earned her doctorate in Psychology in 1994. She is a Hawaii Licensed Psychologist in private practice in Honolulu; she is also a Registered Psychologist in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Dr. Gelb has a second doctorate in Human Services, and holds a Diplomate in Clinical Hypnotherapy. She has written two books, Welcome Home: A Book About Overcoming Addictions and Real Men Don’t Vacuum and Other Misguided Myths That Cause Conflict in Relationships.

Dr. Gelb co-hosts a weekly talk-radio program called "Are You Listening?" which addresses healthy living issues. In addition, she teaches at the University of Hawaii at Manoa Outreach College and serves on a subcommittee of the ‘Patient's Rights and Responsibilities Task Force.’ Dr. Gelb counsels individuals, couples, and families with a focus on stress, pain, anger, weight management, relationships, addictions, and phobias.

About her Saybrook experience, Suzanne Gelb says, "I appreciated Saybrook’s distance learning format because not only did it enable me to pursue my studies without interrupting my established private practice, but I was able to draw from my clinical experience to support my studies…I continue to draw on my work with people who are struggling with this complex problem, and Saybrook’s emphasis on humanistic psychology’s commitment to the growth potential in people forms the cornerstone of my work."

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MarcMartin, Ph.D., Human Sciences, '98

For close to thirty years Marc Martin worked as an artist. He had his own studio and his life’s passion was painting, lithography, and watercolor. Little did Marc know that a new passion would soon find its way into his life.

A friend encouraged Marc to volunteer as a mediator in a local neighborhood community board program. It was then that he became fascinated by conflict resolution.

Initially, Marc worked with issues of conflict involving barking dogs, disputing roommates, and noisy neighbors, which eventually led him to resolving differences at higher levels. He began working with a local gay and lesbian community, a youth guidance center, and San Francisco Juvenile Hall. Shortly thereafter, he worked with the Department of Social Services in San Francisco, mediating child custody cases. He eventually developed a private practice specializing in separation, divorce and custody disputes.

"While most of the custody cases I worked on were dreadfully sad involving parents fighting over children," said Marc, "I still remember a case – just as emotionally charged – involving custody over the family dog."

Marc's community work inspired him to seek a Master’s degree in conflict resolution from San Francisco State University (SFSU). Marc custom-tailored a conflict resolution program at SFSU, entitled Special Major Masters of Arts in Conflict Management. The program is still in place today.

After completing the master’s program, Marc decided to go on for his doctorate. He choose Saybrook because he was attracted to its flexibility and academic diversity.

Said Marc, "I researched other programs and they all seemed to offer the same traditional degree with a slightly different title. I choose Saybrook because I wanted to avoid a cookie-cut education. I wanted to be challenged by the latest information, and I wanted a program that allowed me to do self-directed study."

Continued Marc, "The three best things about Saybrook are the students, the faculty, and Saybrook's agenda and mission statement." He added that if he were able to continue his education and become a professional student he would go back to Saybrook because "Saybrook allows its learners to take flight and flutter their wings without rigid boundaries limiting thought."

Marc received his Ph.D. in Human Science with a concentration in Peace, Conflict Resolution from Saybrook in 1998. Since graduating Marc has been involved with conflict resolution at local, national, and international levels. He is an active member of several professional conflict management organizations including the Society for Professionals in Dispute Resolution, the Academy of Family Mediators, the International Association of Conflict Management, and Division 48, Peace Psychology, for the American Psychological Association.

These days Marc travels around the world lecturing at different universities, presenting papers on dispute resolution, and offering trainings in conflict resolution, community development, and labor mediation. He recently gave a lecture at the Psychology Department at Moscow State University, and at the U.S. Embassy in Honduras and Guatemala. In addition, Marc is a professor at San Francisco State University and is considered the school’s "Conflict Management Guru" by students and faculty for his work in handling grievances and in negotiating labor disputes.

Marc concluded that the knowledge he acquired at Saybrook contributed significantly to the level of confidence he now has in his teaching and in his private practice. His plans for the future are to continue doing what he loves best: painting, writing, teaching, conducting research on conflict handling styles, practicing mediation, and lecturing at different universities and organizations around the world.

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JamesPappas, Ph.D., Pscyhology, '98

Throughout my undergraduate studies, I was interested in learning how to apply a scientific method to the study of consciousness, specifically expansive states of consciousness in the context of trauma and self-identity. After receiving my Bachelor of Arts in 1996 with a double major in Psychology (Honours) and Sociology at the University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, I entered Saybrook in 1997. I found the program to be methodologically pluralistic as well as epistemologically broad-scoped in that it offers an arena by which to critically examine, ameliorate, and synthesize both positivist and post-positivist approaches.

I was truly amazed by the scholarship and mentorship during my graduate studies and as a result published articles related to trauma and dissociation (from my master's research) and transpersonal measurement (from my doctoral research). I found my doctoral dissertation process to be the most profound scholarly and liberating experience during my graduate studies at Saybrook. This was due to the effective leadership of my mentor, Dr. Harris Friedman, as well as my committee members, Dr. Stanley Krippner and Dr. Katie McGovern, who provided me with the opportunity to acknowledge my limitations and transcend them.

Having now received my PhD, I am currently employed as a sessional professor of psychology at both Luther College and the Department of Psychology at the University of Regina. My educational experience has provided me with the scholarship background to design and implement an interdisciplinary learning-centered approach that allows students to realize and envision education as a transformational and emancipatory process. My immediate goals are to publish my dissertation research in a number of journal articles with Dr. Friedman and perhaps others of my committee, continue teaching, apply for registration as a psychologist, begin a clinical post-doctoral internship, and apply for a research grant to conduct a follow-up study of my dissertation research that will further focus on the construct of self-expansiveness. My long-term aspiration is to pursue a career as a clinical psychologist, professor, and researcher-scholar.

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SelmaCiornai, Ph.D., Psychology, '97

Doctor in Clinical Psychology (Saybrook Institute, US), Master in Art Therapy and Gestalt therapist (San Francisco Gestalt Institute, 1980). Born in Rio de Janeiro, during the years lived in the US, Ms. Ciornai worked at Clinica de la Raza – in Oakland, California -- a community health clinic geared towards first and second generations of Latino immigrants, mostly from poor regions of Mexico. She returned to Brazil in 1983, and had since worked as teacher and supervisor of Art therapy and Gestalt therapy trainings and study groups in Brazil.

Co-founder of the São Paulo Gestalt Institute, she pioneered the introduction of the Gestalt approach to Art Therapy in Brazil. With several articles published in Brazilian and International journals on subjects such as Personal Mythology, Gender, Art Therapy, Gestalt Therapy, Quantum Physics and Contemporary Paradigms in Psychotherapy (The Gestalt Journal, Gestalt Review, Cahiers de Gestalt-Thérapie, Figura-Fondo, Revista de Gestalt, The Arts in PSychotherapy etc), Ms. Ciornai has been an invited conferencist in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Italy, Spain and Portugal. She was also one of the initiators of gt-latina, an internet network of communication among Latin American Gestalt therapists. As a psychotherapist, she has specialized in working with adults and groups.

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ViaraGiraffe, Ph.D., Human Sciences, '97

Viara Giraffe has been actively involved in the education field since she graduated from Saybrook in 1997. She typically works as much as 60 hours a week. Despite the long hours, listening to Viara talk about her work you can tell how much she loves what she does by the excitement in her voice.

As the Dean of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences and International Programs for Grossmont College in El Cajon, CA., Viara Giraffe evaluates instructors and courses, and mediates faculty and student issues. She is also developing online courses for the college.

After receiving her Ph.D., in Human Science, Viara jumped right into the academic world, leading the Diversity of Vocationally Challenged Program for the severely disabled at Grossmont College. Shortly thereafter, she was appointed Dean of Business and Professional Studies, which led to her present position.

Viara’s involvement in educational and cultural issues extends across the country through the Victory over Violence Campaign. Additionally, she recently emceed a television panel discussion about the dynamics involved in creating quality teachers for the future.

Viara believes her experience at Saybrook affected her personally and professionally. "Often in higher education we talk about inspirational teachers that do things to change the way we relate to others. I had such an experience with Dr. Jeanne Achterberg."

She described her relationship with Dr. Achterberg as humanistic and personal. She said Dr. Achterberg did two things that changed her way of being. First, she gave Viara an unsolicited evaluation of herself as a scholar. Secondly, Dr. Achterberg listened to what she had to say and by doing so, modeled for Viara how to be a good listener.

Said Viara, "I currently have to listen and mediate very serious student and faculty issues on a daily basis and every time I do so I am reminded of Dr. Achterberg and how she listened and respected me for what I had to say. She really had an impact on me."

Avocationally, Viara contributes to her community by playing an active role in welfare reform. She has also helped her community by obtaining a $247,000 economic development grant. Additionally, she is involved with the promotion of Social and Behavioral Sciences with an international and multi-cultural focus.

Viara’s plans for the future include continuing to pursue her academic career, enjoying her love of opera, and world travel.

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ThomasVail, Ph.D., Psychology, '97

Interdicting change within a total institution requires a reasonable understand of the multidimensional nature of the organization and the internal and external forces that influence the organization flow. My educational journey at Saybrook aptly prepared me for this challenge and opened new vistas for influencing multicultural, cross-cultural and intercultural change. In addition my deployments to Bosnia (98), Kosovo (99-00) and Southwest Asia (03-04), were excellent proving grounds for my studies at Saybrook where I labored to establish positive and constructive dialogues with indigenous peoples, our coalition partners, non-governmental organizations and the military. From my perspective, our future lies in our ability to dialogue and find solutions to the frictions of culture, ecology and economics.

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MarvRohrer, Ph.D., Psychology, '96

I've been working for Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), provided a live-in office in their clinic. I've also been involved with the Kuwait and Arabic organizations; the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent developing psychosocial rehab programs; obtaining and distributing supplies; doing diagnostic medical screening and referrals (identifying symptoms and treating ones a non-MD can handle); been part of a medical mobile unit; canvassed organizations to request aid; helped with the move to bigger, better quarters; and given English instruction. Mostly though I've done individual/family/couples therapy, my preference. There is a rapidly increasingly need for people there to tell, process, and thereby release their stories. And hair-raising, incredible stories they are, most tragic, many inspirational and heroic. Due to cultural conditioning and context, there's an an inherent socially-sanctioned reluctance by Indonesians to express strong emotions, especially those with negative content, but rather to accept their lot with stoic resignation: a brave, smiling face masking a grieving heart. The destruction and poverty in Aceh are appalling, but the people cope with dignity, courage, grace, and unfailing good humor, even optimism for the future.

This has been the best, most challenging, satisfying, and exciting professional experience of my life. The universally humanistic values and trans-personal perspective Saybrook helped develop and nuture in me have been invaluable in this job.

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EvaVincze, Ph.D., Organizational Systems, '94

Eva Vincze didn’t always know she wanted to be psychologist. After she earned her Masters degree in psycho-social science, her sense of adventure spoke loudly to her. For several years after earning degree she worked in undercover narcotics, tended bar, did promotional work for a modeling agency, renovated houses with a group of friends, and even developed shelters in Israel. Her adventures eventually led her to the decision to return to school and earn her Ph.D.

From the beginning Eva was clear that she did not want to learn in a traditional manner. She did not want to sit in a classroom; she did not want to be regimented. She did not want to be taught by professors who were scholars and had never experienced the "real world." She wanted to find a special mentor whom she could connect with and learn from, who actually had some practical field experience.

Said Eva, "In a Zen sort of way…when I became ready to learn and clear on how I wanted to learn, a mentor came my way. I met a friend of a friend who was a Saybrook student who told me about Dennis Jaffe and raved about what an incredible teacher he is. For the next year I went to every seminar that I could find that he was giving, and read every book he had written. I listened closely to what he had to say and felt clear that I could learn from this man. After that year, I made the decision to join the Saybrook community."

Eva received her Ph.D. in Psychology with a concentration in Organizational Inquiry in 1994. Until recently, Eva has been working as a Contract Administrator and a negotiator for a construction management company, during which time she developed a consulting practice. For the last two years she has also been an adjunct faculty member in the Forensic Psychology Department at George Washington University, teaching courses in Organizational Behavior, Organizational Development, Violence in the Workplace, Threat Prevention, and Corporate Social Responsibility.

Currently, Eva is the Program Coordinator (and a faculty member) in the Security Management Department at George Washington University. In addition, she is developing the International Institute for Security Management. The Institute will do research and development in the areas of professional security management for corporations, and the investigation of computer fraud.

Eva is also working with the Fullbright Foundation doing a series of Women’s Leadership Forums to empower businesswomen in a variety of countries. She just completed two seminars with Greek and Turkish Cypriots that focused on leadership, peace-making and domestic violence, and will be going to Cyprus in November for some follow-up sessions. Eva’s plans for the future are to continue to grow, evolve and follow her intuition, and most importantly, she hopes to continue to learn new things and meet new people each day.

"Whenever I recommend Saybrook to anyone," said Eva, "I tell them be prepared to change. Saybrook has a way of taking your nice safe life and turning it upside-down in a good way. I met some of the most incredible people at Saybrook. I explored the most interesting things in an environment that was open and accepting. That type of experience tends to affect your entire life. I use the tools, techniques, and models for my professional life, but the human experience of Saybrook is so much more valuable."

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GregBogart, Ph.D., Psychology, '92

In what has become an increasingly difficult field to navigate due to the complexities and restrictions of managed care, Saybrook Alumni Greg Bogart, has chosen not to go the traditional route. Instead Greg, a 1992 Ph.D. Psychology graduate in Consciousness Studies, pursues what he feels has become his niche: depth psychotherapy.

He is a Licensed Family Therapist in Berkeley, California, who specializes in working with people involved with a spiritual practice and who want to integrate their spiritual life with everyday living.

The work Greg does is called integrative depth psychotherapy. Greg explains that integrative psychotherapy is rooted in traditional methods of therapy (telling our life’s story, examining family of origin, working through difficult emotions, free-associating to fantasy and dream material, strengthening our resolve to change). In addition, Greg utilizes methods derived from the ancient tradition of yoga, such as yoga postures, breathing practices, and meditation.

"These practices remold our awareness and cultivate inner tranquility and attunement to inner guidance," states Greg. Another focus of his work is therapeutic dreamwork. He sees that the wisdom of dreams reveals important insights into relationships, recurring emotions and behavior patterns, and necessary next steps. Greg encourages clients to connect with the rhythms, textures, sounds, and smells of nature to promote their healing.

Integrating one’s spiritual practice into a vocation has become an interest to Greg. The decision to become a therapist came from his own experiences. While a young yoga teacher, a significant dream led him to see the importance of dreamwork.

Greg has authored several books including Find Your Life’s Calling: Spiritual Dimensions of Vocational Choice, which started as his Saybrook dissertation and later became the basis of the book, The Nine Stages of Spiritual Apprenticeship: Understanding the Student-Teacher Relationship.

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MarieRengstorff, Ph.D., Psychology, '92

Marie Rengstorff’s first taste of humanistic psychology was in an adolescent psychology course she took from Abraham Maslow at Ohio State University. Marie had heard about Maslow’s reputation for being a great professor, and that he inspired a lot of hot debates on campus. Marie took the course to explore her own personal interest in psychology, which began as a young girl. Marie’s mother, sister, and grandmother all suffered from schizophrenia.

From an early age, Marie was an exceptional learner. By the age of thirteen, she received a federal research grant in genetics to study the patterns on guppies’ tails to verify that chromosomes were inherited.

Marie’s interest in research eventually extended to studying the genetics of schizophrenia. She attended UCLA where she studied genetics within the framework of psychological/physical anthropology until she accepted a full-time teaching position in the Sierra’s.

Marie called the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) to see if there were any programs that would allow her to finish her Ph.D. at-a-distance, while pursuing her interest in neuropathology and genetics, and allow her to go beyond the scope of the traditional behavioral model of psychology. Said Marie, "WASC said there was only one school that would match my criteria: Saybrook."

Marie enrolled at Saybrook and connected with the faculty who encouraged her interest in exploring the neuropathological etiology of schizophrenia. She also investigated how the biology of schizophrenia interacted with the environment and created negative senses of self-worth. Marie said, "At Saybrook I learned that humanistic psychologists do not cut biology and genetics from their awareness, even if they usually do not use neuropathology as their starting point."

Marie taught college for thirty-four years at Lake Tahoe Community College and was division chairman of Behavioral Science (psychology, sociology, anthropology, and child development). Marie said of her time at Saybrook, "Saybrook really helps you develop the skills to be a good writer." She is now a published author.

The State of California published two of her papers on college teaching. Most of her papers were published in-house at Lake Tahoe Community College. The focus of her papers ranged from the development of the human brain over the last 2 million years to papers on environmental causes of anorexia nervosa. One of her most poignant in-house papers at Tahoe was on the disadvantages of females in the classroom, which lead to some actual behavioral changes in both students and teachers.

Marie’s first book was science fiction and was published just after she graduated. It was a Star Trek novel. Around the same time she had an article published in "The Best of Trek: 18," published by Penguin/ROC, on self-destructive behavior in social relationships (she used some old Star Trek character to illustrate her points). The story relied heavily on her knowledge of cloning and neurology and blends elements of psychology and science fiction.

After Marie retired in July 1999, she moved to Hawaii and has a nice house on the beach with a one hundred and eighty-degree view of the ocean from the chair she writes in. She grows fruit, snorkels, and writes under the name Marie Ming. Her latest piece was published in Analog, Science Fiction/Science Fact Magazine, the January 2000 issue.

Marie has two other books in progress. One is a story about animals (domestic and wild). Her other book is an attempt to turn her dissertation, on the competent offspring of schizophrenics, into popular literature. She used 20 subjects and found they are all especially interesting people. As E. James Anthony pointed out, 10 to 12 percent of the offspring of schizophrenics fall into the category of "gifted or genius," while only 1 to 2 percent of the offspring of other (i.e., "normal") parents do. Marie’s thesis explores the genetic/biological base of schizophrenia. To Marie, the most important part of her book is to share, especially with people who are the offspring of individuals who suffer from schizophrenia.

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NancyMramor, Ph.D., Psychology, '91

When I chose Saybrook's Ph.D. program in psychology, it was because they offered the concentration in Health and Psychology. I had been studying and practicing psychology, mind, body and spirit locally, so it was the perfect and the only choice for me. I was able to do a dissertation study on Stress Management for Children through educational television that was presented nationally and internationally, which would also not have been possible at another institution. The experience and reputation that I gained as a speaker enhanced my credentials and assisted in securing the publication of my book, Spiritual Fitness in 2005.

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SteveWolf, Ph.D., Psychology, '86

Steve Wolf completed his doctoral coursework at a traditional psychology institution before he concluded that psychotherapy was becoming obsolete. He dropped out of school believing that his educational goals could never be met, and pursued a professional path instead. Years later he discovered Saybrook (then called the Humanistic Psychology Institute) which allowed him to work independently while exploring the therapeutic issues that had meaning to him both personally and professionally: combining psychology and spirituality. Out of his studies emerged The Village Circle Project.

Steve conceived The Village Circle Project to enable like-minded people to safely explore themselves within a "conscious community." These groups, typically made up of 9-10 people, would meet weekly, and run without a therapist’s constant intervention. Steve’s intermittent interfacing with the group (the "group" becomes his client) challenges them to face the inevitable issues that arise from a leaderless group. The group then discusses these and other issues amongst themselves. Issues include: the inability to form consensus, the inability to deal with psychological and emotional commitment, the inability to deal with power, authority, and leadership issues, the inability to deal with personality conflict, and the loss of reason to meet together.

"The circles are not therapy groups," said Steve. "They are leaderless communities of people who are committed to exploring their level of consciousness, spirituality, and shared ideas of community."

To ensure the group’s health, Steve screens group members before the circle is formed. He looks for group members who have had personal therapy for at least a year, who have a spiritual orientation, who understand that there will be a certain amount of projecting onto others in the group, and who have a strong desire to become a vital part of a community. Psychologically unhealthy persons are guided elsewhere.

Recently, during a presentation at the Association for Humanistic Psychology, Steve was approached by a group of therapists eager for him to teach them how to create leaderless therapeutic communities in their areas. He has since designed a workshop for therapists interested in forming new consciousness communities. Training will involve the understanding of group selection, the group experience and purpose, and the crises that inevitably result from a psychological/spiritual community.

Saybrook students/alumni who are licensed therapists, either at the master’s or doctoral level, and want to be trained should contact Steve Wolf at 310.479.1143.

How has the Village Circle Project changed peoples’ lives? "It’s influenced group members’ willingness to risk authenticity in relationships outside of the group, and it’s given group members a sense of belonging and connection," said Steve. "The group helps people recognize the sacred and value this is in their lives."

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MargoMaine, Ph.D., Psychology, '85

Margo Maine’s dissertation research at Saybrook began her life-long career in the field of eating disorders. Since then, Dr. Margo Maine has become an eminent expert on the subject and speaks nationally about treating eating disorders.

"We have to raise awareness in order for people to get better and to prevent eating disorders," Margo contends. "Eating disorders, for many patients, can become a chronic illness. Even if people do recover, there is a long period of illness before they get better."

Margo reflected that the political state of the world has, in some cases, contributed to the onset and subsequent guilt feelings associated with eating disorders. She explained how some patients feel guilty talking about their own problems in light of the sufferings of the women in Afghanistan or the people who lost their loved ones in the World Trade Center attack.

Said Margo, "I tell my patients that their suffering is something that can be worked on, and that it’s okay to focus on their needs and pain, even if others are also suffering."

Margo’s eating disorder research drew her to an area within the field of eating disorders that had not been explored previously: how fathers contribute to eating disorders.

In talking to patients and other clinicians at the conferences she frequented, it seemed to touch the core for a lot of women who struggled with self-esteem and body image problems. This led to the publication of a book on the subject.

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JosephBobrow, Ph.D., Psychology, '80

Dr. Joe Bobrow became interested in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis in an introductory course in his freshman year in college. He was inspired by an open minded, non-medical Freudian analyst/professor who had the ability to captivate a lecture hall full of college-aged students, spellbound with tales of the unconscious.

Later, this same professor sparked Joe’s interest in meditative inquiry. Joe was introduced to Krishnamurti’s writings on meditation. His interest in meditation was further fueled when he visited his sister on Maui and visited a rustic Zendo, a Zen retreat site. Soon thereafter, Joe began to meditate regularly and he eventually moved into the retreat center.

Over the years, whether in private practice with children, families, or adults, in Zen practice, teaching, or in doing psychoanalysis, Joe’s interest in facilitating emotional and spiritual growth in his clients deepened. He also kept up his meditative work on Maui and began doing therapy in a nursery school he started at the Peahi School.

Joe said, "Therapy work and Zen practice evolved side by side and never conflicted for me. I realized that psychotherapy was a natural, synergistic complement to spiritual practice."

Joe eventually chose Saybrook for his studies because he wanted the freedom to pursue his interests and study with renowned faculty. He said, "Saybrook allowed me to follow my own deepest interest with the heartfelt kinds of intention, which made my studies more vital, relevant, and meaningful. At Saybrook I learned the value of an open mind. I learned that intellectual work could be a vehicle for my deepest personal, emotional and spiritual interests and that scholarly work could be deeply satisfying."

Joe graduated from Saybrook in 1980 and was the first person in Hawaii to achieve licensure after graduating from a distance learning school. Joe spent the next four years in a group private practice, while completing his formal Zen studies with Robert Aitken-Roshi. After that he traveled to southern France and spent two summers with Thich Nhat Hanh co-translating his Guide to Walking Meditation into English.

In 1985, Joe moved to San Francisco and began to teach Zen, founding the Harbor Zen Community. He also began a private practice and worked as Chief Psychologist and Director of Training at the Department of Psychiatry at Kaiser in South San Francisco.

Since Joe had always wanted to study psychoanalysis in more depth, he attended the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California (a contemporary, post-Freudian institute). He was attracted to their comparative approach, including an object-relations perspective, which fit with his long-time interest in the work of Winnicott Marion Milner, and the British Independent tradition.

Thereafter, Joe received formal Dharma transmission as an independent Zen master in the Diamond Sangha tradition from his teacher, Robert Aitken-Roshi. Concomitantly, it happened that Joe completed analytic training as a certified psychoanalyst.

In the early 1990s, Joe began putting his ideas, drawn from nearly three decades of experience in Zen and psychotherapy, onto paper. He has published four books: Coming to Life: The Creative Intercourse of Zen Buddhism and Psychoanalysis: Soul on the Couch (1997), The Fertile Mind: The Couch and the Tree (1998), Moments of Truth- Truths of Moment: Dialogues in Zen and Psychoanalysis (2001), and Reverie in Zen and Psychoanalysis: Harvesting the Ordinary (2001).

Joe recently founded the Deep Stream Institute, which is devoted to exploring and researching the creative interplay of mediation and psychotherapy, and developing a learning community interested in this field. The Deep Stream Institute will soon be on the web. Currently, he and his colleagues can be reached via e-mail at DeepStreams@mindspring.com, or at 415.751.4604. He anticipates that many of their programs will be approved for continuing education credits for psychotherapists of various disciplines.

Joe’s plans for the future are to continue to write, teach Zen, practice psychoanalysis, and develop Deep Streams into a vital learning community which can help examine and explore new ways to apply the insights from depth psychotherapy and the meditative tradition and practice in a broader cultural context.

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AndrewBonnici, Ph.D., Psychology, '78

I am a 61 year old Doctor of Applied Meditation Psychology, a Zen priest, a minister of Faith, a published author and artist, a web designer, a Zen gardener, & a temple home maker. I am grateful for 39 years of marriage to a wonderful woman, for two loving adult sons, for their two precious wives, for a wondrous granddaughter, and for 2 new grandchildren on the way.

I received my Master's degree from Francisco State University with special emphasis in Carl Roger's "Client Centered Therapy", Abraham Maslow's "Psychology of Being and Self-Actualization", & Alfred Korzybski's "Psychobehavioral Science of General Semantics."

In 1978, I became the third doctoral cadidate to graduate from Saybrook Institute for Graduate Research and Applied Psychology. My doctoral studies, dissertation, and intern experiences focused on the integration of Asian Meditation Psychology with Jungian Depth Psychology and the Humanistic Psychologies of Interpersonal Growth, Character Development, Bio-Energetics, Self-Actualization, Somatic Integration, and Transpersonal Ways of Living and Being.

In my professional face-to-face & telephone counseling practice, I work with individuals, couples, and groups from all religious beliefs & walks of life. My fee based telephone counseling practice extends throughout the USA & to all countries around the world. In worldwide phone counseling, I educate, train, counsel, and mentor individuals and groups in the behavioral skills, cognitive techniques, and mindfulness principles of Applied Meditation Therapy (r),---an "integrative somatic embodiment therapy" that promotes optimum health, personal growth, loving relationships, spiritual fulfillment, prolific creativity, enhanced sports performance, peak states of embodiment competitive integrity, visionary leadership, and multidimensional life success.

My therapeutic methodology of Applied Meditation Therapy (r), or (AMT) represents the distillation of thirty-nine years of my academic study, invesigative research, and diligent somatic inquiry into the deepest pre-historical roots of that enduring human life science known as "embodied meditation". My somaitc inquiry and training in the seated and engaged body of meditation is deeply influenced by the Japanese Zen Buddhist priest, Shunryu Suzuki-Roshi. From 1976 to 1987, I trained and practiced at Genjo-Ji Zen Temple of Sonoma County, California. In 1985 I received Jukai (lay-monastic ordination) through the embodied life teachings of Jakusho Kwong-Roshi, a Soto lineage descendent of Suzuki Roshi. In 1988, I was formally ordained as a Zen priest by my immediate family, affirmed my responsibility as a Dharma holder, & accepted my inner calling to independently teach the Way of embodied Zen Meditation. In 1988, I also established Jotoku-Ji Temple, a Zen training and counseling center where I have taught, mentored, and counseled a sangha of Buddhist meditation practitioners for the last sixteen years. On January 28, 1996 I extended my meditation life teachings as a Zen priest & my professional counsel as an Applied Meditation Psychologist to the global Internet community. Thus, the Internet domain of ZenDoctor.Com was born and continues to serve people worldwide to this day.

As of January 28, 2005, my family and I have relocated to the Big Island of Hawaii. Here, I continue to counsel individuals, conduct workshops, maintain and develop my global web site, publish a monthly newsletter to a growing internet community of 9,000 people, and author a variety of articles in Europe and the USA to educate, inspire and guide others in the daily practice of Applied Meditation Psychology and Applied Meditation Therapy (r).

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Reverend LucindaMcDermott, Ph.D., Psychology, '78

The Reverend Lucinda M. McDermott, Ph.D. is an alumna of Saybrook. Dr. McDermott is the founder and director of the Newport Beach Ecumenical Center in California. The Center provides non-denominational education and guidance in life-styles, personal integration and integrity, as well as spiritual services for the religiously unaffiliated.

Dr. McDermott is a major donor to Saybrook through her family foundation, the Boand Family Foundation. She supports Saybrook because, "It is forward moving and incorporates Eastern philosophy in a very practical way with Western living in order to create a balanced way of being."

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SylviaBoorstein, Ph.D., Psychology, '74

Sylvia Boorstein is a co-founding teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, CA and a Senior Teacher at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. She has been a psychotherapist since 1967, a Behavioral Sciences faculty member at College of Marin from 1970-1984, a regular panelist at American Psychiatric Association conferences discussing the interface of psychotherapy and meditation, and has had a number of articles published in the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology.

In 1996, she was part of the 26-member delegation of American Buddhist teachers meeting the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala to discuss issues of teaching Buddhism in the West. She has spoken at many Jewish meditation conferences about the integration of mindfulness and loving-kindness practice into Jewish religious practice. She helped design the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, was a member of its first faculty, and co-leads an annual training retreat for rabbis who teach mindfulness.

Dr. Boorstein has written five books on meditation and Buddhism, the most recent being Happiness Is An Inside Job: Practicing for a Joyful Life. She was honored as Noted Humanist Scholar by Saybrook Institute, has been elected to the Marin Women’s Hall of Fame, and most recently awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. Since 1991, she has taught an ongoing weekly class at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and she has written a column for The Shambhala Sun magazine since 2002.

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