Sunday, December 30, 2012
Joan was my mentor, clinical supervisor, and friend. I was privileged to have a private practice internship with her in the late 1990s, before she retired and moved back to Hawaii. She was one of the most fearless people I ever knew, and also one of the most deeply compassionate and insightful. I am so grateful for those years of learning how to be a therapist from her. I think of her every day; I am now practicing in the office she first leased and renovated to be the perfect therapists' office. She figured out how to make a soundproof wall between the waiting room and the consulting room, and made a small hallway next to the waiting room to give more privacy to patients. And she built it all herself! I don't think there was anything that woman could not do, and do creatively and well. Her poetry was incredibly beautiful and soulful, her sense of humor was wicked. Thank you Joan, for everything you taught me, for your brilliant example of a soulful life well lived. I will miss you.
