painting

psychotherapy

Barbara obtained her doctorate in psychology from the University of Colorado in 1974. Throughout her years as a graduate student, she taught and directed courses for the Colorado and Northwest Outward Bound schools, and for two years was involved in the formation of an alternative high school in Boulder CO. Following the awarding of her degree, she spent a year studying hypnotic techniques with a variety of practitioners in different settings and opened a private practice in psychotherapy in 1976.

In 1977, she survived a very severe accident that changed the direction of her life. For several years after, she traveled extensively to many different parts of the world to work and study with indigenous healers.  The effect of these travels was profound, not because of the techniques used by these healers but because their world views fostered awareness of a much richer potential in human beings. Returning full-time to her psychotherapy practice, Barbara began the integration of her travels into her work, and continued studies in Hakomi, EMDR, and numerous other approaches to therapy. She taught courses in hypnosis and altered states of consciousness at the Colorado Institute for Transpersonal Psychology, and gave workshops for midwives, pregnant women and others in the use of hypnosis to control pain and reduce complications in birthing. She has been adjunct faculty for Antioch College (Ohio), Vermont College at Norwich University (Vermont) and Union Graduate School (Ohio).

In 1970, Barbara was introduced to the Tarot, and her interest in it steadily grew as she grasped more of its possibilities.  In 2003, she began to offer both instruction and readings using the Tarot and is currently writing on using it as a tool for developing intuition. A book of her poetry, In Another Sense, has been submitted for publication.  She has been a lifelong visual artist and a gardener, whose garden has been a part of a number of community tours, including Eccentric Artists’ Gardens, and the Xeriscape Society garden tour.