A Little Bit Of Background

For me, in this lifetime, self-care and self-development are inextricably entwined. I embrace the Buddhist concept of “right work” which, for me, means that my work is my life and my life is my work. Work is my meditation, my path to personal growth and awareness, and an expression of my life’s meaning in service to others. I have never been afraid to change my “work” as my needs for growth and change have demanded. 

As a teenager and young adult I was very physically active with more than enough energy to burn (fire element). I enjoyed “sports” including track, football, surfing, expert skiing, hiking, backpacking, camping, biking, running, swimming, horseback riding, etc. I taught horseback riding at a summer camp in Maine which included two overnight trips with eight horses.

I have always enjoyed working with my hands and tools. I learned how to fix mechanical things.The first six cars I owned were my “mechanics school”—I did all the mechanical work including completely rebuilding two engines in two of the cars. I owned a construction company for ten years renovating houses in Key West, Florida (for one year) and (9 years) in Princeton, NJ. I have enough carpentry tools to build a house from the ground up including cabinets and furniture. I ruptured a disc in my lower back in the last year of my construction business (1994). I followed my chiropractor’s suggestion that I do daily back exercises (Cox protocol) instead of surgery. After doing those exercises daily for two and a half years (so I could walk)…I finally had a pain-free day. I continue to do those exercises regularly (now for 32 years) and have minimal symptoms. 

I learned meditation and yoga at 19 y.o. (Self-Realization Fellowship) and while in college and became a vegetarian (now for 57 years) after studying diet and nutrition so I could be a healthy vegetarian (a necessity for such a physically active person). I now eat almost all organically grown foods. My diet is mostly gluten-free and dairy-free. I have many years of fasting experiences.

After leaving the Episcopal church of my youth (in which I had been very active, acolyte, etc.) because they refused to speak out against the Vietnam War, I searched for a spiritual practice for three years until I discovered Buddhist meditation. In the 90’s I spent two weeks at a Buddhist monastery in upstate New York and considered full-time residency.

I had a full-blown Kundalini opening experience in May, 1996. It took me 18 months to be able to manage that powerful energy. I started a Kundalini group for those who had similar experiences (through Spiritual Emergency Network) which ran for 1 ½ years. I continue to consciously manage that (uncontrollable) energy on a daily basis.

I graduated from college in 1973 with a teaching certificate (K–12). I taught for one semester then decided to manage a non-profit natural foods store in Princeton, NJ for almost four years. In 1980 I and my wife Harriet became the owners of an 80-seat restaurant in Princeton, NJ where we offered an eclectic menu introducing natural foods to Princeton customers. We were well-received and even had a very favorable review in the Washington Post, in Washington, DC. After six years and 1,000 employees (50 on the weekly payroll) we were exhausted and sold the restaurant.

In 1990 I returned to graduate school and earned a Masters degree in Social Work in 1992. I started a private psychotherapy practice with another psychologist in Cranbury in 1992. I am now (as of 1996) a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. While in Social Work School I attended Robert Wood Johnson Medical School’s (required) Course in Human Sexuality, and then became a trainer for the course for six subsequent years (training medical students about human sexuality in daily group sessions). To maintain my license the State of New Jersey requires 40 CEU’s per 2-year License renewal. I have taken more than 560 hours of Continuing Education courses so far. But my interest in energy medicine and its effects on emotional well-being inspired me to take many (at least 60 day-long events) additional trainings (not CEU-eligible), some for Certification, some not. The theme of all these additional trainings in “energy medicine” was to help me find ways to treat the many traumatized clients I was seeing in my practice as an LCSW. I know there is an energetic aspect to healing—we just don’t know enough. 

So now, as a professional psychotherapist with 34 years of experience (and good diagnostic skills), I am aware not only of my own energy sensitivities but am also aware of how important the energetic aspect of healing is. There are many “mind/body” treatments but we are way behind, as a society, in fully understanding the process of healing. Energy-sensitive technologies have recently been developed and there is much more scientific research on the neurobiological aspects of disease. And, some scientists are predicting the future of “medicine” will be based on light and sound frequencies (not drugs and surgery). The “discovery” of biophotons (and instruments that can detect them) will be likely be instrumental in future healing treatments.