Who am I?

Simply put, I love teaching and presenting.  Maybe they are hard-wired.  Both of my parents were teachers, and the same goes for many in my family.

Since earning my doctoral degree in counseling psychology, I have had the joy of teaching and offering workshops for the past 25 years in the US and internationally.

I have been fortunate to gain global experience, starting with a teaching position at a national university in Taiwan in the late 1980s.  I am certainly grateful to have met many wonderful people in my travels, having offered professional presentations in Armenia, Georgia, Turkey, Singapore, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, England, Canada, and Taiwan.

In addition to over 30 journal publications and over 60 professional presentations, my professional writings have been featured in Huffpost.com, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Buffalo News, Cleveland.com, Counseling Today, and the Psychotherapy Networker.

My primary themes from the CliftonStrengths assessment are Learner, Developer, Input, Connectedness, and Positivity.

Another personal strength: I am good at “misplacing” things. (Please let me know if you’ve seen my cell phone…)

Why this site?

Since childhood, I was fascinated with ideas, particularly creatively resourceful ones.  I marveled at how my siblings, friends, and adults around me pondered challenges and gravitated toward optimistic, creative thinking styles.  That trait in part drew me to a Mass Communications undergraduate major.  After college, I went from a summer camp counselor to a dishwasher in a Dublin pub to a college instructor in Taiwan where I had the joy of traveling throughout East Asia.

After nearly 25 years of teaching psychology and counseling, my academic and personal passions come down to two things: creative thinking/problem-solving and knowing/living one’s strengths.

I welcome the chance to share ideas about creative thinking and strengths-based living.

I love meeting new people throughout the world and hearing their stories… and hope to have this privilege through this website.

May this website help to spark a new idea that leads to a heightened well-being in life.  Feel free to let me know what is helpful (or would be beneficial) from it.

My Mission in Workshops

When I deliver a keynote, seminar, or extended training, my goal is to deliver an outstanding product where participants laugh, learn, and love the material.

When I deliver a presentation, my hope is that people leave with something—small or large—to enhance their personal or professional lives.

When I deliver a presentation, I do so from an interactive approach.  My belief is that learning runs on a two-way street.

When I deliver a presentation, I see the experience as a treasured adventure in life, and I bring gratefulness for the opportunity to be with everyone in attendance.

My Mission and Vision statement: Helping others to foster a creative mindset in elevating their innovation, strengths, and professional success via my experience, expertise, and enthusiasm.  I seek to inspire others toward daily creative thinking and wellness through thought-provoking ideas (and a dose of humor) in my writings and workshops.

Presentations & Publications

Contact

Is it really true that Shakespeare got his start from submitting a website contact form?  I welcome your feedback, ideas, and questions. [An optional creative challenge for the contact form this month: Begin and end your note with the letter “e.”]