A very wise person, I think it was Robin Williams, once equated a painful early life with becoming an interesting adult.  Like Lucy in the Peanuts comics, I was constantly trying to fix things in my childhood home. Driven by that desire to heal the suffering around me, I studied counseling psychology at Sonoma State University and earned my masters degree. I studied ancient cultural traditions, world religions, and numerous psychotherapeutic modalities, including Reichian Therapy, Gestalt Therapy, and Jungian Analysis. I continued my yoga and meditation practices along with entering therapy with several extraordinary practitioners. I knew I was on my right life path. Most importantly, I’ve pursued a lifelong interest in Anthropology and Archaeology to further understand the human condition.

When I started to work with a therapist, I discovered how wonderful psychotherapy was for enriching my life and teaching me more skillful ways of dealing with things than I’d learned in my early home. I continued to work with different therapists and to study different modalities for the next forty years, all of which have given me a passionate interest in sharing with people all the joy this has given me.

Because I’ve had the privilege of exploring my own psyche and of listening to clients as they share their lives with me, I’ve learned many things, one of which is that psychotherapy truly works!  This process is not only about alleviating suffering, but about opening oneself to who we really are. In Jungian language; The Self, and through that lens, the wonders of life.

I am a scholar of ancient cultures, spending time every year traveling and researching other cultures beliefs and practices to learn what they believed and how their histories contributed to the development of their people.  Always looking for what is essential; what is shared that supports the archetypal unconscious of us all. As I studied and traveled to places with different points of view on the psyche, each of them, and there have been many, has given me invaluable insight that has broadened my western point of view.  It has also reinforced what I was learning from Carl Jung’s work regarding the unconscious and its universality for all humans.  The gods and goddess’s do live within us.

Contact Me

Not only do I see clients at my office but I also work with people online through Skype or the telephone, so if you’re out of the area, consider working with me virtually.  I’d love to hear from you so please do contact me with thoughts, feelings, and questions about me and my work. I’ve developed this website to introduce you to a full picture of what I have to offer as a counselor and creative. You may email me at coletteobrien11@comcast.net. I’m located at 14 Skylark Drive #302, Larkspur,Ca.94939

Why Write

I began to write as a way to describe the process of healing for individuals whose early home life was inadequate for them to function as whole healthy people.  At that time, 1990, I had been working as a psychotherapist for ten years and believed, which I still do, that stories have a more direct impact on the psyche as we tend to be less defended than when we’re “told” things.  My specialty as a therapist was in depth psychology; dreams, myths, and the unconscious, which had led me to study ancient matriarchal cultures–a time when the collective religious beliefs and values formed a strong container for the growth and health of its individuals. I’ve chosen to use those ancient times as a platform on which to demonstrate healing.

Bare bones Biography

1964, my first son was born, 1965 my second son was born.

1970-1980:

1972-My daughter was born.

Studied meditation and philosophy with a Sihk Guru. Traveled to India to learn about the many Indian religious systems of thought.
Completed a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Sonoma State University.
Entered therapy with a Gestalt therapist.
Studied comparative religion, Reichian and Gestalt therapy.

1980-1990:

 

Created private practice as a counselor with emphasis on depth psychology and somatic healing.
Took courses in creative and travel writing. 

I made several trips to the Yucatan to learn about the ancient Maya: their views of cosmology and the human psyche. Wrote and published, Time and Transformation, A novel of Mayan Mysticism, based on Mayan mythology and spirituality.

Hosted trips to India and Nepal to introduce clients first hand to how these cultures beliefs differed from western thinking, and given those views, how the people lived.

Studied feminism with an emphasis on ancient matriarchal cultures, which took me to Greece; to the infancy of western thinking where I learned that Pre-Greek philosophy was based on a whole different system of thought about creation and the gods.  It was matriarchal.

At home I continued to study comparative religions plus mythology and fairy tales as they relate to the depth psychology and the unconscious.

 

1990-2000:

Integrated weekly groups and week-end workshops to private practice geared to depth psychology, spiritual growth, couples counseling, feminine development, dialogue, and creativity.

Entered Jungian analysis. 

 

2000-2016

Continued private counseling practice. and workshops.

I returned to the Yucatan for further study and to India and Nepal.  Over the years, I’d been able to integrate the knowledge I’d gained from foreign cultures into my work at home.  It was invaluable.

Wrote and published, The Nobility of the Robe, an historical novel based on the real life story of an abbess in 17th century France.

Developed Memoir course. Taught courses in meditation and Yoga as well as Women’s groups and workshops on creativity and relationship.

2016

Continued to search out more tools to integrate into my therapy practice: Buddhist teachings, new forms of meditation, issues of death and denying, Hameed Ali’s somatic therapy techniques.

Published, Echo the Ancients, an historical novel of Minoan culture on Crete 1550 B.C.E.. A revision of Time and Transformation; The Jaguar’s House, and a revision of The Nobility of the Robe.

2017

 Safari to Kenya.  Of all the trips I’ve taken, only a few were life-changing.  This one really, “blew my mind”.  Though I have believed for a long time that we are all one, being on the savannah in Africa exhibited that concept big time.  All manner of creature lived together on the plain in harmony.  Yes, there are predators and prey but that’s part of the story, everyone has what they need.  Since that trip I’ve been attempting to bring that reality home to my clients.

 

2019

Continuing my private practice with individuals and couples.  

You can find reviews from my clients on the page:  My Clients’ Words.