I introduced myself and what I do on the home page, but I also decided to do this page for those who might want to know more about who I am.

I was born in the late 1930s, at the tail end of the Great Depression and before World War II.  I grew up in Burbank, California, which has since become almost as famous for movies and the entertainment industry as Hollywood.  I can remember as a child driving by the Warner Bros. and the Disney studios.  I attended grammar school, junior high and high school in Burbank.  I graduated in 1955.

The 12 years that came after my graduation from high school was like a journey where I was searching for how I could make my contribution to the world, even if it was in a small way.  I started out studying engineering, but then I soon realized I was interested more in people than I was in things.  I left the field of engineering without completing the program, and I entered the seminary, with the intention of becoming a Catholic priest.  I was in the seminary for six years, in Baltimore, Maryland, and in San Fernando and Camarillo, California.  However, I eventually came to realize that God had another plan for me.  I left the seminary and I taught school for two years.  After that, I entered the field of social work, at first working for Los Angeles County.  While I was working for the county, I was fortunate enough to be chosen for a graduate study program where I completed my master's degree in social work.  This was at Fresno State College in California.  While at Fresno State, I did field placements in mental health hospitals.  It was here that I grew to understand the problems that people often have to struggle with.  It was also here that I had finally found my career path.  After I graduated from school social work, I continue to work for Los Angeles County for another 24 years in the field of child welfare.  This gave me an exposure to all types of family problems and an opportunity to involve myself in a positive way in the lives of children and their families.

While I was working for the county, I also obtained my license both as a clinical social worker and as a marriage and family therapist. This opened the way for me to be a marriage counselor and psychotherapist as part of being a Christian counselor.  I did see clients on a part-time basis  while I was working for L A County, from 1973 until 1976.  While I never formally or completely gave up doing private practice, I allowed it to remain dormant while I concentrated on my efforts on rearing a family.  I have been married since 1968, and I have one daughter and five grandchildren.  This means that I not only was working with the challenges that other people were facing but also working to overcome my own personal challenges.  In the early 1990s, I decided to make an effort to revive my private practice, and I have been continuing to see clients regularly since that time.  That was also the time that I moved my private practice out of my home and into an office, where I could be a more effective marriage counselor and psychotherapist.  I have long since retired from the Los Angeles County, but I still work in the field of social work in foster care, working with the private agency in Ontario.  However, I am continuing to see clients on evenings and weekends because my first love really is being marraige counselor and psychotherapist as well as a Christian counselor.

Besides the many years of experience I had with Los Angeles County, I also worked for about three years in group homes for children after I retired.  This was as a social worker and a therapist.  The age range of those homes was from four years to 12, and I did individual and group therapy every week.  Working with children who are seriously disturbed was a challenge, but one that I found very rewarding and gratifying.  This also gave me valuable experience and insight that I could use in working with children in my private practice. 

I do consider myself to be a Christian counselor, and my particular persuasion is Roman Catholic.  I do use what I learned in the seminary as well is what I know from the Bible, for those clients who wish to have such a focus.  However, I do work with clients of all faiths or even no faith at all, and it is never my intention to proselytize or preach.  In fact, I believe it is highly unethical for me to try to change someone's religious beliefs during psychotherapy sessions.  Instead, I will work with whatever my client chooses to believe.  I do believe that anyone, regardless of what they believe, can benefit from seeing a marriage counselor or psychotherapist..  Most important, I do try to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, as he said in the book of Matthew, chapter 7:1-5, regarding making judgments.  I believe it is my role as a therapist to help and is not to judge..