Life Passages
Counseling Mentoring Wilderness Work
in person outdoors by internet
Counseling Mentoring Wilderness Work
in person outdoors by internet
The Nature of My Work
I offer a mix of traditional counseling, life coaching, and mentoring, all
while drawing upon insights borne from three decades of working with
people with serious illness and two decades serving as a wilderness
guide in the desert. Perhaps most uniquely, I do this counseling with
a rites-of-passage view, understanding that physical dying is the
greatest rite of passage—a culmination of all “the small deaths”
we must navigate throughout a lifetime.
I consider this work to be a kind of spiritual mentoring, as I support
others who are looking to deepen a relationship with both their
inner nature and Outer Nature. I consider my primary task here
to be tracking a client's “soul story,” as that person opens more deeply
to who they are and how they want to show up in the world.
For some, an added dimension of our work together may be the offering of guidance and support as they look to become either an end-of-life practitioner or a wilderness guide.
I offer a mix of traditional counseling, life coaching, and mentoring, all
while drawing upon insights borne from three decades of working with
people with serious illness and two decades serving as a wilderness
guide in the desert. Perhaps most uniquely, I do this counseling with
a rites-of-passage view, understanding that physical dying is the
greatest rite of passage—a culmination of all “the small deaths”
we must navigate throughout a lifetime.
I consider this work to be a kind of spiritual mentoring, as I support
others who are looking to deepen a relationship with both their
inner nature and Outer Nature. I consider my primary task here
to be tracking a client's “soul story,” as that person opens more deeply
to who they are and how they want to show up in the world.
For some, an added dimension of our work together may be the offering of guidance and support as they look to become either an end-of-life practitioner or a wilderness guide.
Frequency: Most often this work is done weekly or every other week. Less often is also possible.
Fee: My hourly rate is $160 (American), though I offer a sliding scale down to $80 (American). I ask people to ask themselves: What can I afford? How much do I value this? And what amount will translate into a real commitment to this work? I leave it to each person to set the final fee.
Payment options: Cash, checks, or PayPal are all possible. If the session is in person, cash is preferred. For Zoom sessions, checks are preferred over PayPal, though PayPal is fine, especially for people outside the United States. If sessions are regular and frequent, arranging a monthly payment is possible; otherwise, payment is expected the day of the session.
How to meet: I offer sessions in person, over the phone, or by Zoom – or some combination of the three.
Day walks: In addition to meeting 1-on-1, I encourage people, on occasion, to go out alone in nature with an agreed upon exercise. This is called a “day walk," the short form of a wilderness fast. This is an opportunity for a person to explore more deeply a theme that gets identified during one of our meetings. The story of that day walk is usually the starting point of our next session.
Wilderness programs: As above, I do this work with people before and/or after they do a longer wilderness program (whether that’s with me or with other guides). If you also are interested in combining this 1-on-1 work with a program I’m co-guiding, I do shorter programs through EarthWays, a collective of guides in Sonoma County, and longer programs with the School of Lost Borders, usually in the deserts of Eastern California.
Fee: My hourly rate is $160 (American), though I offer a sliding scale down to $80 (American). I ask people to ask themselves: What can I afford? How much do I value this? And what amount will translate into a real commitment to this work? I leave it to each person to set the final fee.
Payment options: Cash, checks, or PayPal are all possible. If the session is in person, cash is preferred. For Zoom sessions, checks are preferred over PayPal, though PayPal is fine, especially for people outside the United States. If sessions are regular and frequent, arranging a monthly payment is possible; otherwise, payment is expected the day of the session.
How to meet: I offer sessions in person, over the phone, or by Zoom – or some combination of the three.
Day walks: In addition to meeting 1-on-1, I encourage people, on occasion, to go out alone in nature with an agreed upon exercise. This is called a “day walk," the short form of a wilderness fast. This is an opportunity for a person to explore more deeply a theme that gets identified during one of our meetings. The story of that day walk is usually the starting point of our next session.
Wilderness programs: As above, I do this work with people before and/or after they do a longer wilderness program (whether that’s with me or with other guides). If you also are interested in combining this 1-on-1 work with a program I’m co-guiding, I do shorter programs through EarthWays, a collective of guides in Sonoma County, and longer programs with the School of Lost Borders, usually in the deserts of Eastern California.
