About

There are many aspects of my life that I could share here.  When I think about the purpose of the Center for Miraculous Living and what I am offering those who might visit this site, I can’t help but think about the significant transition regarding my life and career that I had to go through to make this a reality. It is a transition that I never would have predicted.  Prior to the transition I was focused on my education and career as a clinical social worker and my spiritual interests were fairly eclectic.  

To begin, I am a life-long resident of Monroe, Louisiana, located in the northeast part of the state.  I live with Jason, my life-partner since 2011, in what I consider to be a beautiful, welcoming, and happy little home.  I was graduated from Northeast Louisiana University with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work in 1999.  I was then graduated from Louisiana State University with a Master’s Degree in Social Work one year later.  I have been a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (#7030) in the State of Louisiana since 2005.  After 27 years as a Louisiana State Employee in the substance abuse and mental health fields, I have retired from State Employment. 

In 2007 I started a small private practice — providing couples therapy, individual therapy, hypnotherapy, and occasional workshops. This practice has recently gone through an official name change – from the “Center for Awakened Living, LLC” to the “Center for Miraculous Living, LLC.” This change of name corresponds to the “significant transition” mentioned earlier.

Professional Training

In my role as clinical social worker, prior to this transition, I actively pursued specialized training in several evidence-based practices, complementary and alternative forms of healing, personal transformation, spiritual awakening, and various contemplative practices.  I have always had a thirst for knowledge and a passion for assisting others on their life journeys.  Over the years I have conducted talks, workshops, and trainings on many of these modalities and practices – most often for audiences of other mental health providers and occasionally for the general public.  Below is a list of most of the trainings that have been significant for me – many being very influential in shaping my approach to therapy, transformation, and healing. 

• Rapid Resolution Therapy (RRT) – (developed and taught by Dr. Jon Connelly, with ongoing advanced training in this approach)
• The Work of Byron Katie – (Graduate of Byron Katie’s Nine-day School for The Work)
• Integrative Restoration (iRest) Yoga Nidra – (Level I and II trainings and two 10-Day silent meditation retreats, all with Dr. Richard Miller)
• Rational Living Therapy (RLT) – (developed and taught by Dr. Aldo Pucci – Levels I and II)
• Rational Hypnotherapy – (developed and taught by Dr. Aldo Pucci)
• Rapid Reduction Technique – (developed and taught by William Tollefson)
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) – Part 1 and 2 training
• Emotional Pain Intervention (EPI) and Brain-Based Hypnotherapy – (developed and taught by Dr. Elizabeth Michas)
• “Transforming Anxiety and Stress by Integrating the Embodied Brain” and “Healing Trauma: Applying the 9 Domains of Integration” – (taught by Daniel J. Siegel M.D. through the Mindsight Institute)
• Memory Reconsolidation – (through The Academy of Therapy Wisdom taught by Juliane Taylor Shore)
• Clinical Certification for Stress, Anxiety, and Self Regulation — (through the HeartMath Institute)
• “You Are Not Your Brain” 4-Step Solution – (developed and taught by Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz)
• Motivational Interviewing – (with several different trainers over the years)
• 12-Step recovery model – (through 10 years of work experience at an in-patient substance abuse facility)
• Non-defensive communication styles – (various versions like the Imago Dialogue and Non-Violent Communication)
• Mindfulness meditation
• Wholeness Work – (developed and taught by Connirae Andreas)
• Religious Traum Certification Course – (through the Global Center for Religious Research)
• Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) – (various trainers)

In additional to these formal trainings, I have read and studied extensively in the areas of comparative religion, the perennial philosophy, mythological studies, Jungian and Archetypal Psychology, alchemy, Tarot Card reading and interpretation, near-death experiences, the history of Christianity and the works of various saints, mystics, and progressive theologians of the Christian tradition, various views on the “Jesus of history,” the “Christ of faith,” and the “Cosmic or Universal Christ,” contemplative prayer and various approaches to meditation, the writings of contemporary non-dual and spiritual teachers, and most of the major religions and mystical traditions such as various schools of Buddhism, Hinduism and different yogic traditions as well as the more mystical teachings of Advaita Vedanta, Taoism, the Islamic mystical tradition of Sufism, Judaism and the Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah, etc. 

I have had an on/off/on/off… relationship with the Baptist Church, and Christianity in general, and I am still a member of a progressive, LGBTQ+ affirming, socially engaged, and unconventional church in Monroe, LA called Northminster Baptist Church, although I have not attended services in a very long time.  I don’t consider myself a Christian so much as a “follower of Jesus.” There was also a brief period of time in high school when I was a member of the New Age religion called Eckankar.  Some would call it a cult.  I would be one of those people.  But, the majority of my spiritual life has been as a “dabbler.”  I liked pulling “this” and “that” from many different paths and traditions.  I would never really commit to any one way.   

Enter the Course  

It was in the midst of all of my years of clinical social work, clinical and professional trainings, and my ongoing personal studies, that I was exposed to A Course in Miracles.  Before even knowing much about the Course and its teachings, I decided it was not for me and wanted nothing to do with it.  I would not have admitted this at the time, but I actually looked down on those who were students and teachers of the Course.  I believed I was beyond such teachings – teachings from a channeled book that seemed “New Age” and kind of silly to me.  I didn’t understand why anyone would take it seriously.  I certainly couldn’t. 

Over the years the Course kept “turning up” in various unexpected places.  I kept coming across quotes from it in many of the books I read by spiritual teachers I admired.  The more I was exposed to its overall philosophy through even these brief encounters, the more I started being drawn to it.  I eventually became embarrassed by how smug I had been before.  I was actually awestruck by the depth, beauty, logic, consistency, and practicality of its teachings.

In 2008, after careful consideration, I officially became a student of A Course in Miracles and began a dedicated and thorough study and application of its healing and transformative teachings.  Almost from the very beginning of my studies, my main companions and helpers along the way have been the teachers, staff, and students of the non-profit organization called the Circle of Atonement (the Circle).  I love how committed the teachers of the Circle are to adhering to “the words on the page” and taking its claims seriously. 

When the Student is Ready, the Teacher Appears  

On day one of my membership with the Circle Course Community (later changed to Course Companions), Robert Perry (founder and main teacher of the Circle) reached out to me with the opportunity to have a personal Course teacher. The person he had in mind for me was Charlie Record from Palm Springs, CA.  Accepting Charlie as my teacher was the best decision I could have made. There’s no doubt that having him as my personal teacher accelerated my growth and comprehension of what can be a pretty intimidating book and confusing thought system when we are new to it.

For over three years, Charlie and I would talk on the phone for over an hour every Tuesday and Friday night (with not many missed sessions) as we read and discussed the entire Text of the Course (the first volume), the Manual for Teachers (third volume), and the two supplements to the Course (Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice and The Song of Prayer: Prayer, Forgiveness, Healing).  I also completed the 365 lessons of the Workbook for Students (second volume) in about 1 ½ years during this same period of time.  Charlie and I continued to have less frequent phone calls once our formal teacher/student relationship ended.  This was so Charlie could read and give feedback on the first “incarnation” of the book I wrote on the Course’s approach to forgiveness – later completely re-written to become Release and Be Released: The Practice of Miraculous Forgiveness.

When the Teacher is Ready…

Following the path of A Course in Miracles has been life-changing.  I have a peace that I never knew before.  Studying and actually using and applying its ideas has been healing and has transformed my relationships with others, my relationship with God, and my understanding of “who we really are” and “why we are here.”  I led a small Course study group for a number of years and I have had a few private clients seek me out for therapy because they knew I was a student of the Course.  Any time I have had the opportunity to share the Course with others or talk about some of its teachings, I am reminded of how profound it is and how blessed I am to be walking its path.      

In the past few years I have been focusing more and more on the Course, with the intention of eventually making it the sole focus of my work with others.  I was blessed to be one of 23 individuals selected to comprise the first ever class of the Miracle Ministry Academy (MMA) taught by Robert and Emily Perry through the Circle of Atonement.  The ultimate goal of the MMA was to equip each participant with almost everything they would need in order to make teaching A Course in Miracles their full-time job.  Not only did we learn invaluable personal study methods, ways to get to the essence of specific sections of the Course, and how to faithfully teach its unique and healing ideas, but we also learned much of the “behind-the-scenes” work that goes into a business dedicated to extending the Course into the world.

Changing the name of my private practice to the “Center for Miraculous Living, LLC” is a direct result of my participation in the MMA and the change in the priorities, purpose, and mission for my career and life.  This is a change from a traditional psychotherapy practice to a ministry and coaching practice dedicated to A Course in Miracles.  It is a change from a more private and personal study and practice of the Course to a much more public and official study, practice, and extension of the Course to others interested in this path.  It also represents a change from an eclectic “grab bag” approach to spirituality to a faithful adherence to one path I believe was made for me and just might be made for you. 

Following the Course’s path leads to a miraculous life, and teaching the Course is learning the Course.  This reciprocal relationship between teaching and learning is made very clear in the Course.  As we read in the Text, “As you teach, so shall you learn” (CE T-5.V.13:2).  I still have a hard time thinking of myself as a Course teacher.  I have been a student of some great teachers and seeing myself in their role is still a little strange to me.  Of course, I have been teaching the Course in various ways for many years now.  I trust I will eventually become comfortable taking on this role in a more formal capacity.

One of the values of the Center for Miraculous Living (see all five values below) is, “Fidelity to the ideas in A Course in Miracles with the highest degree of importance placed on those ideas.”  One challenge for me, and probably for most students or teachers of the Course, is single-minded commitment and faithfulness to its teachings and practices without mixing in the teachings and practices of other paths.  It should be clear by the description of my professional training, personal studies, and experiences with a wide range of psychological, religious, and spiritual systems, that I will need to be vigilant against my life-long “dabbling habit” and eclectic tendencies.  There is much in this head of mine that could “muddy the waters” or detract from the Course.  However, I am committed to this path, and I am committed to you and the part I might play assisting you along this path of “reawakening” on the “journey without distance.”

“The journey to God is merely the reawakening of the knowledge of where you are always and what you are forever. It is a journey without distance to a goal that has never changed.”(CE T-8.V.12:6-7)