As I got to know these women, and the countless women I counseled over the years who had sexual abuse in their backgrounds, I began to see first-hand the devastating after-effects of this abuse: damaged self-images, strained relationships, sexual problems of every variety, continued victimization at the hands of employers who underpaid them, landlords who wouldn’t repair problems, friends and lovers who took advantage of them, and men who sexually violated them again and again.  Together, the clients and I found ways to overcome these problems.  It started with stating clearly and unequivocally: “What happened to you was not your fault.  You did not deserve this.  You don’t have to keep suffering from it.” With this message as the background drumbeat, the various problems which were the result of the abuse were addressed one at a time.  I used a combination of assertiveness training, coaching, trauma-release, support, and teaching on how sexual abuse of females is promoted to men and boys in the media.  One by one, the women got stronger, healthier, happier… and angrier.  They too finally came to believe that what happened to them was a travesty.  And, after a lot of work, they walked into their futures more confident and self-assured than when they had walked in.

I became known in the Boston area as the therapist who worked with victims of childhood sexual abuse, and eventually my practice was over-flowing. I trained other therapists who were also seeing these revelations in their practices.  And then, in 1978, Louise Armstrong published Kiss Daddy Goodnight, a first-person account of ongoing sexual abuse by her father.  It blew the roof off of the secrecy of incest and opened a media storm that finally brought the issue of child sexual abuse into the open. 

As other therapists became competent in treating adults with childhood sexual trauma, I felt I could step away.  Eventually, my interests led me elsewhere. I spent a dozen years with healthier children: I ran a summer program for teens from global hot spots, and later, taught in a Montessori school.

When I returned to psychotherapy practice in 1996, because of my experience with sexual abuse, I was asked to join a just-starting residential program for adolescent sex offenders.  I found the offer disturbing. I knew my allegiances lay unequivocally with victims.  But I was also curious: who would do such a thing to a child?  What could possibly motivate someone to cause lifetime harm to another? Could I work with perpetrators? They were adolescents, after all. Kids themselves…  After some deliberation, I asked to sit in and observe, and when I did, I found a roomful of scared boys who had been removed from their families and confined to a cinderblock institution, who barely knew why they were there, and who were utterly mystified as to what they had done wrong. I decided to stay. 

That began my journey with sex offenders.  I later worked for three years in a sex offender treatment program in a state prison.  Then I worked for seven years in community-based treatment for sex offenders released on probation and parole. Over the course of my career, I have treated close to a thousand sex offenders. I was a clinical member of ATSA (The Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers), the premier international organization for those who research and treat sexual offenders.

After retiring, I discovered a love of writing, and not long after that, I met Walter and the other characters in Reckoning, all of whom had taken up residence in my head. They asked me to write their stories, which I have now done. Now they are asking me to get their stories out into the world, which is the purpose of this website. 

I am a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana and Brattleboro, Vermont.  I have the perfect mix of a vibrant cultural gumbo in the Winter, and a slow-paced bucolic peace in the Summer.  I am an avid international traveler.  I mostly travel independently, and have visited more than 50 countries in Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.  I also love RVing and have traveled with my camper in 36 US states.  When not researching my next voyage, I can be found going to museums and concerts, strolling through neighborhoods, people-watching in cafes, kayaking, and walking in the woods.