In 1973 I graduated with a B.S. in psychology from Colorado State University.

In 1986 I completed my Masters in Counseling at the University of South Dakota. In my course work, I focused on the change process and addiction recovery. I am certified in South Dakota as a School Specialist qualified to counsel students K-12.

After completing this degree and working as a counselor for a short period of time, I began working with Dave Ellis, founder of Life Coaching from Falling Awake, and decided to move to the path of Life Coaching rather than Counseling. While some counseling is very similar to Life Coaching, as a Life Coach I do not consider myself a counselor or take on clients who are looking for counseling. I consider my psychology and counseling degrees to be valuable in my understanding of my client and discovering possible avenues of change.