There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
–Albert Einstein

Professional
I hold an MS in Chinese Medicine (2007) and a PhD in clinical/community psychology (1997), and am a licensed acupuncturist and licensed psychologist in the State of Alaska. I also hold hold national diplomate status in East Asian Medicine (DiplOM), and a Master Addiction Counselor (MAC) credential.

I received my clinical psychology training at the Native American Health Center, the National Asian American Psychology Training Center, and the Kaiser Department of Addiction Medicine (San Francisco), and have served on the faculty of UCSF School of Medicine, California School of Professional Psychology, and The Psychotherapy Institute.

I received my bachelors degree (1988) in liberal arts, with concentration in film and music, from Sarah Lawrence College.

I received my academic and formal clinical training in acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, and tui na manual therapy at American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ACTCM).

I have had the great good fortune to train under Dr. Eduardo Duran and to apprentice with Dr. Joseph Ng, both of whom I consider important mentors; I remain deeply indebted to them, as I continue to be influenced by their work and their guidance.

My book, The Trusting Heart: Addiction, Recovery, and Intergenerational Trauma was published by Chiron in 2012.

Personal
I am dazzled on a daily basis by the play of light in Alaskan skies and spirit.

I was born in New York City, but grew up primarily in rural Hawaii, in the town of Waimea on Moku o Keawe (the Big Island). I lived in New York and New England for a number of years, and in the Bay Area for over twenty years. Now a devoted Alaskan, I continue to be deeply moved by the culture, community, lifestyle, and physical surroundings of my home, and enjoy taking time away from the office for fishing, foraging, and exploration of all kinds.

By descent, tribe, and ancestry, I am an Ashkenazi Jew; my exploration of my own heritage, culture, spiritual tradition, and family lineage continues to inform my life, my work, and my understanding of historical trauma of which I write in my book.

Beginning with my personal recovery from heroin addiction in 1988, my path of spiritual, psychological, and bodily transformation has taken me through an array of spiritual practices, healing processes, and embodied and energetic disciplines; foremost among these has been the practice of taijiquan (t’ai chi ch’uan), qigong, and meditation in the Daoist and Buddhist tradition, chiefly under the auspices of Dr. Benjamin R. Tong, to whom I owe a debt beyond my ability to express.

Some of the other teachers in the worlds of spirit, psyche, and body to whom I am most grateful are: Liu Ming, Dr. Randy Sugawara, Dr. Steven Joseph, Dr. Nan Fink Geffen, Rabbi Avram Davis, Eve Soldinger, Sat Chuen Hon, and Diane Montoya.

My capacities for intuitive guidance and energy medicine are in part innate, in part bestowed through the grace of beneficent beings, and in part cultivated through contemplative and energetic practice.

As a practitioner and in my personal life, I am deeply committed to the path of the heart; I feel privileged to be a part of people’s process of healing, which I consider to be a sacred task, and am grateful to my teachers, to my ancestors, to my family–especially my wife and son–and to all those who have helped me on my own path of healing and recovery.

My family and I live and work on unceded Dena’ina land.