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My
Perspectives
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We are discovering a great deal about human
beings. Some of the knowledge comes from genome studies, some from observation,
some from working with those who are ill. My insights
come from a combination of studying the work of others, doing my own researching
and working with children.
A total of 36 youngsters called me Mom for some
part of their lives. I also worked in shelters for juvenile offenders, rehab
centers, and with youth in a State Hospital setting. I taught in several public
school settings K-12. I worked as a child advocate, spent nearly a decade
in welfare work, was a counselor in behavioral health, and provided family
and juvenile counseling. I currently teach at Northern Arizona University
and provide proactive discipline and parenting classes around the state.
My children are a diverse group; one youngster with Downs,
another with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and one with Fetal Alcohol Effect. Schizophrenia,
drug babies, conduct disorders, ADHD, gifted, and various forms of personality
and behavior disorders were common for most of them. Some of my children came
from abusive or neglectful situations, and in my home they were deeply loved.
Most of my youngsters were adolescents when I began to parent them, but I have
a "homemade" child, raised two from birth and several from early childhood
to adulthood.
I am grounded in these experiences and my training in education,
child development, family systems and psychology. I see myself as a humanistic
psychologist who pools important ideas from many sources -- philosophy, religion,
science, psychology and I find valuable pieces of truth about people and the
human condition from diverse writers, theorists and researchers..
These courses reflect my perspectives and what I have come
to believe in the past 50 years. I am including links to some of my previously
published and original articles. Feel free to copy them and use them to help
youngsters.
