The following people are certified in Inner Bonding and are available to see clients.
Michael Barmak, CSW, LCSW, Interfaith Minister
New Jersey: 908-276-8191
In the summer of 1994, I was very depressed after an intimate relationship ended. A friend recommended that I read "Healing Your Aloneness" and as I started reading, I felt like every word had been written just for me! For the first time, I understood how I was creating my despair.
I attended Dr. Margaret Paul's next weekend workshop and two months later I was at my first five-day intensive. After having spent ten years trying different kinds of therapy, I was finally on a path to building a spiritually connected loving adult and healing my wounded child.
By practicing the Six Steps of Inner Bonding, I felt more joyful and began expressing my essence in all areas of my life including writing music and ballroom dancing. Once I moved into personal power, I met my wife, Connie, and knew that I wanted to share my Inner Bonding experience, so I became a Certified Inner Bonding Facilitator and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.
I work with individuals, couples and families who are struggling with anxiety, depression, codependence, eating disorders, addictions, relationship problems and post traumatic stress. I am trained in Thought Field Therapy (energy release work), Imago Relationship Therapy(for couples) and Multiple Personality Disorder treatment. I also help my clients explore their dreams as a source of guidance.
If you are interested in finding out how Inner Bonding would be helpful for your personal situation, please call me for a free phone consultation. I am also available for individual sessions, phone sessions and workshops.
I look forward to helping you rediscover your joy!
Website: michaelbarmak.com
Jeanette Boerger
Fort Wayne IN
(260) 422-9372
Jeanette Boerger is certified in the state of Indiana as a drug and alcohol counselor since 1978. She has been practicing Inner Child work since 1983 after attending a 3-week intensive course at Rutgers University on Adult Children of Alcoholics taught by the late Janet Woititz.
She integrated the Inner Bonding process in her practice after attending 4 Inner Bonding Intensives since 1991. She recently attended an Inner Bonding Intensive with her 29 year old son and describes this experience as the most inspiring, insightful and enriching she ever recalls having.
Jeanette is presently in private practice at Gerard & Coslow Association in Ft. Wayne, IN, facilitating groups, working with individuals and running workshops.
Jeanette is enthusiastic about and passionately committed to the Inner Bonding process both for herself and others. The greatest joy in her life is companioning others on their journey toward more wholeness and working toward the same for herself.
Patricia Gerrish
Hazel Park MI
248-414-7409
ADN 1982 Lake Superior State University
Currently practicing Obstetrical Nursing
Patti has been training, through intensives and workshops, with Dr. Paul since first being introduced to Inner Bonding in 1994. Working directly with Dr. Paul, Patti has practiced Inner Bonding to help heal the old wounds and learn about the false beliefs that had been limiting her, thereby allowing her to rediscover her natural inner compassion and personal power. She incorporates Inner Bonding into her parenting of two teenage children, helping them to know a life connected to Spirit. It is her desire to support others in living for their highest good, achieving this through facing long held false beliefs and replacing them with truth and love. She is available in person or by telephone for private coaching sessions.
Rythea Lee Kaufman, M.A.
Northampton MA
413-586-7390
Rythea Lee Kaufman has a private practice working individually with clients and groups for the past 7 years. She specialises in supporting survivors of trauma and abuse, assisting clients to bring compassion to these issues in order to move through them into thriving, present- day lives. Her personal work with Inner Bonding has been transformational, giving her the tools to help others and to fully express her gifts. Rythea has been a professional dancer, singer, writer, visual artist and performing artist most of her adult life. She recently published "Trauma into Truth: Gutsy Healing and Why It's Worth It" which includes prints of her paintings throughout the book and can be found on Amazon.com. This book integrates her work with clients with her own inspired discoveries of healing. She has earned her masters degree in Spiritual Psychology at The University of Santa Monica and enjoys assisting Margaret Paul at her Inner Bonding Intensives. Rythea is available for individual sessions, workshops, and phone sessions.
Karen Kral, MA. LPC
Santa Fe NM
505-466-2999
Karen currently works as a full-time psychotherapist at Life Healing Center of Santa Fe, NM, a residential treatment center focused on the healing of addictions and trauma. She works with a variety of issues, including eating disorders, sex and love addiction, chemical addiction, and codependency as well as dissociative disorders, depression, anxiety, and personality disorders. Karen has a passion for helping clients heal from trauma by learning how to connect with their inner child and spiritual guidance, using the steps of Inner Bonding.
Using the principles of Inner Bonding as a foundation for her healing practice, Karen also incorporates psychodrama into her work with groups, and enjoys helping clients who feel disconnected from or even averse to “spiritual guidance” to find a connection that works for them. She works with the voices of the wounded adult (whom she calls the “wounded teenager”) and spiritual guidance, side by side, and enables clients to clearly see the choices available to them. As a student of the Course in Miracles, Karen believes that in each moment, we have only two choices: love or fear. Inner Bonding makes this even more specific: “love in the face of fear”, or “control and protect in the face of fear”. When these choices become obvious, and it becomes obvious that they are, in fact, choices, healing through loving responsibility becomes possible. Karen knows this first hand, and remembers well the day that she sat in front of Margaret Paul and was “cured” of depression in approximately 45 minutes. “Cured” meaning that, after two years of graduate school and years of spiritual practice, she hadn’t quite gotten the concept that the voice she listened to was her choice! Margaret helped her to get it. And, that’s why she tells her clients that it actually is possible to heal from depression without years of therapy.
Karen’s background includes earning her master’s degree in counseling from Southwestern College in Santa Fe, NM. Southwestern offered Karen a transformational educational experience, focused on transpersonal healing and the belief that in order to be present for someone else’s suffering, one must explore one’s own. She taught classes in mindfulness, meditation and stress reduction at Miraval: Life in Balance, a renowned spa and resort north of Tucson, AZ, and has led week-long programs on mindful eating at Hilton Head Health Institute, a fitness and weight loss center on Hilton Head Island, SC. Karen also spent nine years in sales and management in the cellular telephone industry.
Karen is a student of Zen Buddhism. She has been a hiking guide as well as a participant in a nine-day Vision Fast, and feels especially connected to guidance in the outdoors. She is married to Inner Bonding Facilitator Mark Lersch, and is grateful each day for the love they share. Karen and Mark live in Santa Fe with their dog, Seesha.
Currently, Karen does not have a private practice, as she works full-time at the Life Healing Center.
Mark Lersch, M.A., LPCC
Santa Fe NM
505.466.2999
Mark is a full-time psychotherapist at Life Healing Center of Santa Fe, a residential treatment center for clients recovering from addictions and trauma. He has worked extensively with clients whose primary issues include chemical addiction, sex and love addiction, eating disorders, financial disorders, depression, and codependency. Working with the underlying issues of addiction, Mark has helped clients to explore childhood sexual and physical abuse, neglect, loss, the effects of natural disaster, and other traumas. His work has given him the opportunity to work with various types and levels of dissociation, self harm, anxiety, depression and personality disorders.
Although work in this residential setting may appear grueling, Mark’s emphasis on spiritual healing enlivens his practice and offers his clients an opportunity for growth on a transpersonal level. He uses Inner Bonding as the basis for his work and has found it to be a powerful tool for genuine lasting transformation and as a means to build a more loving relationship with oneself and others.
Mark’s psycho-spiritual approach to healing is influenced by his own interest in spirituality and healing. He is a practitioner of Zen Buddhism, in the tradition of Maezumi Roshi, and has had the opportunity to practice mindfulness at the Monastery of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Aikido, a non-violent martial art, is another of Mark’s passions. Aikido teaches one how to extend “ki” (life force), and to blend one’s energy with another. Mark has found the principles of aikido to be so useful to his practice of psychotherapy, that he brings his clients to the Aikido dojo to learn to connect with their bodies and their breath, and explore issues of safety and internal protection. A third and long-standing spiritual influence in Mark’s life is the Course in Miracles. Mark has been a student of the Course for a number of years, and in his psychotherapy practice it aids him in helping clients “remove the blocks to love’s presence” in their lives. It also reminds him that he and his clients heal together.
Mark has an undergraduate degree in psychology, a graduate degree in international business and a graduate degree in counseling psychology from Southwestern College, in Santa Fe, NM, a program which focuses on transpersonal healing. He utilizes aspects of various therapy approaches including EFT, Breathwork, Hakomi, Psychodrama, Nonviolent Communication, Gestalt, Vision Questing/Sweatlodge and others invented and inspired by the moment.
Mark is married to Karen Kral, another IB Facilitator and co-worker at the Life Healing Center. They love to hike in the beautiful mountains in Santa Fe with their dog, Seesha, and to explore the depths of intimacy through sacred relationship.
Currently, Mark does not have a private practice, as he works full-time at the Life Healing Center.
Patti Kent Nicolella, MA
Topanga, CA
310/455-4488
The time between receiving her BA in fine arts from Trenton State University in the mid-1970's and her MA in Spiritual Psychology from The University of Santa Monica in 2002 was not idle. In fact, Patti's life experience in those years is enough to fill any other full lifetime. She studied photography and ceramics at Leeds Polytechnic in Great Britain before embarking on a first career in the entertainment industry. Her credits include producing many commercials, TV movies and mini-series as well as associate-producing Miami Vice for two years.
Patti became in Inner Bonding Certified Facilitator in 2002 and continues to study nutrition, kinesiology and CRA - Contact Reflex Analysis. A self-proclaimed "Springsteen freak", Patti is a devoted mother to a precocious and beautiful six year old daughter. Her vast experience combined with her soft, non-invasive approach lends her a special clarity that she brings to her work as a facilitator. Patti has mastered a vast knowledge and understanding of the Inner Bonding Process.
Patti is available for both in-person and phone sessions.
Sharon Clark Pearson, Ph.D.
Pendleton IN
(765) 620-1667
Inner Bonding put all the pieces together for me; in fact, through Inner Bonding I learned how to put all the pieces of me together. That is the bottom of Inner Bonding-- learning to attend to all we are with grace and compassion. I had learned to be authoritarian with myself, interspersed with bouts of permissiveness, but I did not know who I was and what I needed any more than my parents had when they were stressed, absent, and occasionally abusive. As a child I experienced molestation by a grandfather, living with my mother's mental illness, and an assortment of abuse in the church. My deep faith and church life had not included skills of appropriate self-care and boundaries. All the good thinking (theology) in my world could not help me address wounds and fears in me too deep for me to calculate or understand. How frustrating to search so hard for answers and to still feel lost and confused. Inner Bonding taught me to follow God in a new way, which is to love myself as God loves me-- all of me. I had to learn what love really looks like and then to apply it experientially. I also learned that when I was truly loving towards myself, I was able to be truly loving to others. I have discovered, on ever deeper levels, that my sense of God's love for me is directly affected by how loving or unloving I am being towards my self.
While my training and career has been as a professor, teaching intellectual content courses, I experience my deepest joy when I see persons, groups and communities learn at their deepest levels. I love to see the miracles that happen when someone, in the intent to love, attends to their own fears and hurts in such a way to bring healing and hope. My professional credentials are listed below:
1985 Ministerial Ordination
B.A., 1974 Warner Southern College, Social Work and Bible (Double Major), Honors
M.A., 1979 Anderson School of Theology: Religion, Honors
Ph.D., 1993 Fuller Theological Seminary: Theology: New Testament, Honors
1996 Certified Inner Bonding® Educator/Facilitator
Academic Teaching Experience
2000 -2006 Anderson University School of Theology: Assoc. Professor of New Testament, Spirituality
1999-2002 Anderson University, Adjunct Professor of New Testament.
1992-1999 Azusa Pacific University, Associate Professor of New Testament
1989-1994 Fuller Theological Seminary, Lecturer for Dr. Ralph Martin
1979-1980 Anderson University, Adjunct Professor of Bible
Professional Experience
1974-1976 Occupational Therapist/Intake Counselor in Training at Florida Alcoholism Research and Treatment Center, Avon Park, Florida.
1994-Present Private Practice Inner Bonding® Educator/ Facilitator with Private Clients, Small Groups, Weekend Workshops, and Assisting at 4-5 Day Intensives with Dr. Margaret Paul.
I learned about Inner Bonding in 1995, when I was struggling with depression after growing up in foster care where I had learned I was disposable, unlovable and unworthy. Through Inner Bonding, I learned to take responsibility for my own happiness and connect to Spirit to correct my false beliefs, develop a deep self-love and celebrate my essence!
I was drawn to helping others, so I earned a Bachelor's Degree in Social Work from Azusa Pacific University, a Master's Degree in Social Welfare at UCLA, and became a certified chaplain. I have shared my Inner Bonding knowledge through social work in hospital, adoption and foster care settings, as well as extensive experience with children/families in the elementary schools, integrating play/art therapy, visualization, and emotional freedom technique.
More recently, I have been inspired by my own amazing and challenging experiences of pregnancy, birth and motherhood and have provided extensive support services to new mothers. Parenthood is yet another road to deepening the connection to Spirit; letting Spirit work through me as a parent/guide for my precious children, and strengthening my self-care so that I can love my children and husband from a place of abundance.
I feel deeply privileged to be an Inner Bonding facilitator. My intention is to be a midwife to the healing process; gently guiding others through an inherently intuitive exploration to nurture loving and compassionate connection within oneself and with others.
I facilitate the monthly Southern California Inner Bonding Support Group in Fullerton, CA, as well as, provide individual support in person or by phone (English or Spanish). I am happy to offer a sliding scale whenever needed.
Shelley Riutta, MSE, LPC
Green Bay WI
920-265-2627
Shelley Riutta MSE, LPC has been a holistic psychotherapist since 1994. She initially trained as a traditionally trained psychotherapist, receiving her degree from the University of Wisconsin -Oshkosh. She has done extensive training in powerful transformational processes that assist clients in connecting more directly with their beautiful essence and their spiritual connection. She is a Master Level Breathwork practitioner. She assists clients in shifting their lives from the ego based living of the wounded self to living from the Joy of their True Spirit. She has a special interest in supporting clients to be in the higher vibrational states of Joy, Creativity, Passion, Purpose and Fun - which are the natural states of the Essence.
She has been integrating Inner Bonding into her practice since 1998. She has assisted Margaret Paul at 4 Inner Bonding Intensives and has co-facilitated 3 Inner Bonding Intensives in upstate New York. She works with clients nationally and internationally. In addition to being a therapist, Shelley is a writer and has a column in a local alternative health publication. She also is a speaker and workshop leader-leading popular workshops titled "Living in Joy", "The Power of Your Own Pleasure", "I am Fabulous: Embracing and Celebrating You", "What Do You Really Want: Finding Your Life Purpose" and "Free Your Spirit." Shelley can be reached by phone at 920-265-2627 or through email at SRiutta@gmail.com. Her web-site is www.RadiantLifeCounseling.com
These are comments from clients who have worked with Shelley:
"My experience with Shelley has been - well, life-changing. She and her methods: Inner Bonding, breathwork, visualization, not to mention her profound compassion and endless wisdom create the difference between an average therapy session and true healing. Working with Shelley allows me to heal pains of the past that stifled the pursuit of my true dreams and joys. For me she is an angel on Earth." L.R., Green Bay, WI
"Shelley is so gentle with her wisdom and insights. I appreciate that - I always feel she understands the process and challenges of learning Inner Bonding. Every session there is always a gem of an offering that I take away and it becomes part of my practice. I am truly grateful for her help. Finally, after years and years with other therapists, do I now get it and I have Shelley to thank for helping through the hard stuff..." M.G., Nantucket, MA
Susan Settle, M.A., E.T.
Amherst MA
413-259-1776
After years of using creative and expressive arts in my personal healing, I went to Lesley College in 1996 to earn my masters degree. Poetry, art, music, dance, dreamwork, writing, storytelling, sandtray, and drama therapy - these are rich, deep and meaningful routes to finding and expressing the Self. For me, they are also inextricably linked to Spirit. One of the things that drew me to Inner Bonding was the focus on inner guidance and the Great Spirit which embodies all of life.
My experience includes working with troubled adolescents; with children and adults recovering from trauma and abuse or navigating crisis and loss; and with Hospice clients dealing with grief, death, and dying. I am also keenly interested in Carl Jung's theories on the individuation process (spiritual integration) and the potential for transformation in the Third Age of life.
Like other IB facilitators, I have a passion for the 6-step process. It provides structure and containment for powerful healing work. And what a joy to be connected to the fabulous people who are the Inner Bonding Community!!
My office is located in Amherst, Massachusetts. In addition to support groups and private appointments, I also offer phone sessions. A level two Reiki practitioner, I incorporate energy work into my practice, which is conducted in a nurturing, compassionate environment. I am the mother of a bright, talented adolescent boy, who is the best present I've ever received, as well as my greatest teacher.
Pattye Spezia, MFT
Houston/Stafford TX
281-494-4325
Pattye believes so much in the Inner Bonding process that, no matter all the other theories she studies, she comes back to Inner Bonding as the keystone in her work as a therapist. In addition, Pattye uses Inner Bonding as the foundation from which she lives her emotional and spiritual life.
Along with being an Inner Bonding Therapist In-Training, she is credentialed as a Certified Spiritual Director, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, a Certified Imago Relationship Therapist and Workshop Presenter, a Certified EMDR Facilitator, and a Certified Developing Capable People Facilitator.
Pattye is whole-heartedly committed to championing others in their healing and wholeness and to her own healing and wholeness. She believes in the emotional release of painful experiences in order to evaluate the false beliefs and values formed from experiences; to bringing these beliefs and values to Higher Guidance for truth; and for the action/s the loving Adult needs to take for healing and for the journey to wholeness of the True Self.
Pattye honors her intuitiveness and her gifts of empathy, compassion and connectiveness as she champions others in their journey of healing and wholeness. Pattye sees individuals, couples and families in her Houston/Stafford office and is available for phone sessions.
Nancy-Caroline Swisher, MA, MFA
Iowa City IA
319-338-7833
I have been studying and practicing personal and spiritual transformation for 30 years. In l977, while working as a college professor, I awakened to my Intuitive abilities by healing an infection in my body through receiving Guidance to stop the drug the doctor had given me and to use herbs. My healing occurred quickly. I have not taken a pharmaceutical drug since.
After four years teaching college, I turned to healing, spirituality, & counseling as my profession. I began this new path by living at a yoga ashram for four years, where I practiced daily self-reflection and spiritual connection. I trained in meditation, yoga, bodywork, nutrition, homeopathy, herbology, vibrational healing, and flower essences. I went on to become a Nationally Certified Bodyworker. While working as a bodyworker, I began to study counseling and healing on a deeper emotional and spiritual level. Working on the body taught me first hand the metaphysical truth that all disease and emotional discord are first a vibration of thought.
My training as a Spiritually-based Counselor began with a two-year program in The Metaphysical Nature of Abuse, which consisted of Depth Psychology, Quantum Physics, Metaphysics, and Native American practices of healing. I learned techniques for clearing energy patterns and beliefs specifically related to childhood trauma. I opened my private counseling practice in l995, and have maintained a successful practice since.
I discovered Inner Bonding and met Dr. Margaret Paul in 2001 and began my study, practice and training in the Inner Bonding process. The practice of Inner Bonding has contributed greatly to my own evolvement and to my client's as well, forming a cornerstone of my coaching practice.
I am a Certified Prosperity Coach (3/08) based on the work of Abraham-Hicks and other leading wisdom teachers, and will also be Certified in Emotional Freedom and Healing (Spring '08), a powerful energetic release process that accelerates letting go of old limiting patterns. All of these tools work beautifully with Inner Bonding .
Besides being a Life Coach & Intuitive, I am also a writer. I was awarded a New York Individual Artists grant and my prose and poetry have been published in literary journals and read on various public radio stations across New England. I encourage all of my clients to find their own words for their transformational journey. I am gifted in being able to discern for my clients the vibrational alignment of their words, and we work together toward the highest self-expression possible. My website www.soulwordscoaching.com will be open in '08.
I conduct my practice on the phone, and through teleclasses, workshops, and the Internet. I can be reached at 319-338-7833 or at nancyswisher@aol.com.
Nancy Weston
Danbury CT
203-744-6823
Nancy Weston is an Approved Inner Bonding Affiliate and enjoys assisting others in their efforts to incorporate Inner Bonding and Dreamwork into their lives. For individuals on a healing path, Inner Bonding and dreamwork both offer powerful techniques for deep inner exploration.
It is Nancy's belief that looking at dreams through an Inner Bonding perspective can help give voice to all our parts, increasing our understanding of our core Self, wounded self parts, loving Adult, and our relationship to our Higher Power.
As an experienced educator, Nancy brings knowledge of psychology, literature, and archetypes to dreamwork. She has studied with leading professional dreamworkers such as Jeremy Taylor, and co-facilitates dream groups, workshops, and courses.
Nancy has successfully parented two young-adult children, she writes and dreams, and she is a performing folk musician. She brings a passion for life to everything she does. Her most-loved place on earth is Greece, to which she has been 4 times in the last 6 years (favorite trip: backing the Greek Isles with her 24-year old daughter!) Her favorite quotations are: "What is going on in your Innermost Being is worthy of your whole love" (Rainer Maria Rilke) and "When you pay attention to your dreams, you inhabit a much larger part of your soul." (Robert Bosnak)
Trained directly by Margaret Paul, Nancy assists at workshops and intensives, runs workshops, facilitates ongoing monthly Inner Bonding support groups, and sees private clients.
Located in western Connecticut, Nancy is available by appointment for phone or in-person assistance with both Inner Bonding and dreamwork, for workshops and presentations for your organization, and for assistance in forming a dream group.
Member of the American Counseling Association; certificates from the Institute of Advanced Archetypal Studies, the American Hypnosis Training Academy, the Institute for the Enhancement of Dreamwork; training in Core Energetics.
For information and fees: 203-744-6823 ; InnerKid2@aol.com
Inner Bonding Facilitators-In-Training
The following people are in the process of getting certified in Inner Bonding and are available to see clients.
Emily Agnew, M.M.
Rochester NY
585/385-6363
Emily Agnew is a spiritual counselor and facilitator who works with individuals, couples, and groups, helping them live by their highest spiritual guidance. Inner Bonding is at the center of her work with clients and also of her spiritual life, which has been filled with more and more joy and abundance. Through her daily practice of Inner Bonding, she lives in connection to Spirit moment by moment, and sees her life as an unfolding opportunity to enrich and deepen this divine connection.
Emily's earliest yearning for connection to the divine was expressed through music. She trained as a classical oboist, and has many years of professional experience as a professional orchestral performer, chamber musician and teacher, including five years as a member of the Honolulu Symphony. Her struggle with performance anxiety led her to read and train widely on the psychology of peak performance, self-actualization, and self-esteem.
Emily brings the stillness and openness of fourteen years of Zen practice to her presence with others. Extensive training in Nonviolent Communication has given her an ability to listen and an empathic presence which clients have described as "amazing." Clients, colleagues and workshop participants have described her as "deeply open and gentle," and also "wise and powerful."She has a unique ability to use metaphors and images to explain the concepts of Inner Bonding in a clear, easy way, and to seamlessly weave together processing and learning. She weaves focusing and the inquiry work of Byron Katie into her Inner Bonding facilitation.
Emily holds a Bachelor's Degree in Music and Master's Degree in Music in Oboe Performance from Indiana University and Northwestern University, respectively, and continues to teach and to perform. She has completed over five hundred hours of formal training in Nonviolent Communication and has attended three Inner Bonding intensives since 2003. Emily is a member of the Rochester Zen Center. She practices yoga, studies Continuum bodywork and enjoys reading about psychology, personal growth and actualization, spiritual growth through relationship, and parenting. She lives with her partner Duke and daughter Claire in Rochester, New York.
In addition to seeing individuals, couples, and groups in her office in Rochester, Emily is also available for phone sessions and workshops. Her new website, luminoscounseling.com, will be up early in 2007.
Pedro Alvarez
Cadiz, Spain
I went to the university to become an economist but later my creative side made me become a graphic designer. Today I own a very successful studio that specializes in advertising, corporate and marketing advising. The studio is in Cadiz, southern Spain, where I live.
My mother died when I was 3 years old and 7 years later my father died. I was raised by my older siblings and family. Because everybody around me was so wounded I was provided with everything material but most of my emotional needs were unmet. I always felt a deep loneliness, so deep that I wasn't even aware of it.
In 1995, after a crisis in a personal relationship, I realized that I was missing something out of life. I started looking and researching. I did therapy, went to seminars, read tons of books. One of the books was Healing Your Aloneness. Somehow It clicked inside of me. A couple of years later the book was still lingering in my head. I tried to contact Margie through friends in the states but it was impossible. in January year 2000 during a short vacation in the USA I just called information service asked for Margie's phone number. They gave it to me, I called and Margie answered!. She told me about Inner Bonding and the intensives. I decided to make the effort because even if I have to sell my car or spend all my savings I owe it to myself. I went to my first intensive in May that year and since then I have healed so much that had you told me before I wouldn't believe you - no way! And I even have a much, much better car!
While still in my healing journey I decided to commit part of my time and energy to make INNER BONDING available to more people, especially to the people in Spain and Spanish speaking people. I have been training since then to facilitate in Inner Bonding.
Maria Rosa Casanovas
Barcelona, Spain
34-93.436.29.50
Some years ago a dearest friend of mine shared with me his passion for the work of Dr. Margaret Paul and the Inner Bonding Process. He gave me the plastic card with the 6 Steps and since then I have always carried it with me in my bag.
I have been working as a therapist since 1995, trained in Gestalt Therapy, Focusing, and Louise Hay Teacher Training. I have been offering workshops in Spain during the last 14 years and also one-to-one sessions.
In my work as therapist I have specialized in the tools and processes that develop self-esteem, and one of the approaches I like the most is the Inner Child Healing Process, since I realized that it is the "shortcut for healing".
The only book of Margaret Paul's published in Spain, "Healing your Aloneness," allowed me to add the vision of Margaret and Erika to the work I was doing, giving me a deeper clue and a more complete understanding of the need to create a loving Adult for our Inner Child.
In my personal healing journey a turning point took place in November, 2004, when I participated in the 5 day Intensive with Margaret Paul. It was a very deep experience. I learned so much having the privilege to see the miracle of healing through the presence of Truth and Love! I was very impressed by Margaret and also by the power of the Inner Bonding Process!
My wish is to be able to have the spiritual strength and connection that Margaret has and I know I need to strengthen my spiritual work every day and the Inner Bonding practice is a way to achieve it. It also gives a powerful sense of responsibility and a way to heal the ego false beliefs.
At present I offer my services as a therapist and coach in Barcelona, Spain. I also travel all over Spain to facilitate Transformational Self-Esteem Workshops. I can be reached at 34-93.436.29.50, cell: 653.370.455.
Kashia (Catherine) Coulouvrat, M.D.
Paris, France
33(0)9.53.64.16.08 or 33(0)6.89.
Inner Bonding has been a life saving experience for me. I started working with Margaret Paul in the beginning of 2004, after years of being disconnected from Spirit and after a serious illness. The work helped me to reclaim my life and become an independent, whole person, free from the pain of difficult relationships. I began to learn how to love and appreciate myself and as a result, love and appreciate others. If you feel lost, if you feel unhappy, or if you feel that you have everything but still something is missing, Inner Bonding can help you create the life you want and deserve. I'm a psychiatrist living and working in Paris, and I'm available for individual or phone sessions in French, English or Polish.
Kelly James, M.A., MFT
Anaheim Hills
949-651-2805
Kelly James is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (MFT) and has a private practice in Anaheim Hills (Orange County), CA. She has been counseling couples, individuals and children for 10 years. She is passionate about healing and growth in her own life and the lives of her clients. Kelly specializes in intimacy/relationship issues, addictions, depression/anxiety and grief and loss issues. She has been working with Margaret Paul for over 8 years and uses the Inner Bonding Process as her core foundation/theory in her practice and in her own life. She loves assisting others on this creative and transformational journey as they learn to discover their divine goodness and worth through the eyes of God. She is passionate about learning the false beliefs that keep us stuck and replacing these beliefs with truth, light and compassion.
Kelly is available in person or by telephone for private counseling sessions.She can be reached at (949) 651-2805.
- Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (MFT, 1998) - State of California
- Credentialed School Counselor (PPS) - State of California
- B.S. (1990) in Clinical Psychology - Brigham Young University
- M.S. (1996) in Counseling Psychology - California State University, Fullerton
- Ph.D. Candidate in Clinical Psychology - California Coast University
- Member of California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT)
Ivanka Jankovic
Missassaugua ONTARIO, CANADA
905/241-6928
I firmly believe that each of us is supported on our healing journey whether we are aware of it that or not. We are given the teachings that suit us the most, and there are no coincidences.
My journey began by learning eastern traditions. It helped me to understand the importance of meditation, the meaning of life energy chi or prana and the value of serving others. But there was a missing piece. I just felt that there was something I could not grasp, but could not identify what it was.
A month after I said out loud: "I do not know how to take care of myself!" While in the library choosing a book one book caught my attention. It was "Healing Your Aloneness".
I memorized Erika Chopich's name and searched to find her on the internet. I found an article about entitlement that I liked a lot. After reading several articles on the Inner Bonding web site, I decided to have sessions with Margaret, and started to practice Inner Bonding.
Inner Bonding allowed me to face my fears and discover false beliefs. For the first time I was finding true peace and joy while getting to know my authentic self. Like peeling an onion, after each layer was released, deep insight would come into my life. The journey was and still is challenging from time to time, but when every hard lesson has been learned, the reward is a deep sense of contentment.
I feel blessed with the opportunity to help people who are ready to embrace their healing journey and spiritual growth through inner bonding. I am available for telephone and in-person sessions.
Dr. Ilene Krems
Culver City CA
(310) 287-1466
Dr. Krems is a licensed psychotherapist with over 17 years of experience in clinical psychology and a total of 27 years of experience in patient care. She has a private practice in Culver City, California. Dr. Krems has attended four Inner Bonding intensives, and practices Inner Bonding in her own life. Within the context of a caring and collaborative relationship, she uses the Inner Bonding process as the core of her practice. Dr. Krems has found that Inner Bonding works successfully within the framework of psychotherapy in order to alleviate anxiety and depression, increase self-esteem and joy, improve relationships, and achieve personal goals.
Dr. Krems consults with Dr. Margaret Paul on a weekly basis. Her specialties include: anxiety, depression, relationship issues, self-esteem, career concerns and spiritual psychology. She also is trained in Emotional Freedom Techniques. Both in person and private phone sessions are available, as well as evening and weekend appointments. Most PPO and POS insurance plans are accepted. She can be reached at (310) 287-1466 or via email at ilene@drilene.com.
For more information, please visit her website at www.drilene.com.
Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (MFT, 1997) - State of California
Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology (1993) - Antioch University
Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (1981) - Pennsylvania College of Podiatric Medicine
Bachelor of Science (1977) - Pennsylvania State University
Member of California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT)
Lisa Lipton, M.A., MFCC
Bend OR
541)389-0400
I feel extremely fortunate to have been introduced to inner Bonding during my case practicum in Graduate School. At Phillips Graduate Institute, I obtained information about all of the traditional theoretical orientations in psychotherapy, but never really felt connected to any of these approaches. After reading Dr. Margaret Paul's book, "Do I have to give up me to be loved by God," I knew that the 6-step Inner Bonding process was a powerful healing tool that would be crucial to my success as a Marriage and Family Therapist and in my own personal life.
The past five years I have used Inner Bonding as my primary modality while working with clients at the San Fernando Valley Community Mental Health Center, as an Intern.
I was officially licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist on June 6, 2005. I have been facilitating the L.A. Inner Bonding support group since February 2005, which meets the last Saturday of the month.
If you are interested in attending the Inner Bonding support group or prefer an individual counseling session, please call me at (818)231-9796.
Cindy Marks
Melville NY
516-355-6228.
My husband and I have been training in Inner Bonding for six years, both through many intensives, as well as in individual sessions with Margaret. As parents of a two year old with another on the way, we have discovered that the Inner Bonding process offers us a wonderful way to have a honest and loving relationship with our son, in addition to providing him with the necessary tools to help him develop into a joyous, grounded well- adjusted young adult.
We have incorporated the inner bonding process into our daily lives and we are thankful for the gifts it has given us. I am now fully committed to becoming a certified Inner Bonding facilitator. It is time to give back to others what I have so generously received through this process. My passion lies with children. I am eager to teach parents an alternative way of communicating with their children through Inner Bonding.
When I had my son I was an overwhelmed, frightened parent. I wanted so desperately to do everything right. Between the pressure I was putting myself under and the lack of tools to do so, I became paralyzed and depressed. Once I began to use the Inner Bonding
I felt a tremendous shift from helplessness to hopefulness. I knew I could do this and be successful at it. My son and I now have a wonderful way of communicating that is warm and loving. I never have to resort to the more aggressive techniques that so many parents have to use out of lack of a better alternative. I assume if I went through these feelings and challenges so must every new parent. My goal is to play a significant role in making a change that will help parents to navigate their children through life with support and love rather than control and aggression.
Joyce Martell M.A., L.L.P.
Troy MI
(248) 362-4026
Joyce Martell is licensed by the State of Michigan for the practice of psychology. She started her career as a substance abuse therapist in 1977, obtaining her Masters in clinical Psychology from Fielding Institute in Santa Barbara, CA in 1982. She established an independent practice "Martell Counseling Inc." in 1991.
Joyce was trained by Pia Mellody in 1989 to teach the "Survivors" workshop, which Pia had developed for the Meadows in Arizona. Joyce has adapted that in-patient process to a very successful out-patient procedure, that she has been practicing for 15 years.
She discovered Margaret Paul's Inner Bonding work in 1992 and has since attended several week-end workshops along with 3 Inner Bonding Intensives. This process not only connected her to her Inner Child, but to a much deeper Spiritual dimension of herself. Joyce has incorporated the work of "Inner Bonding" into her own process of "Reclaiming the Self" which she states "feeds my very soul." Her delight is in teaching others to love, value and discover their authentic selves, which she first had to learn for herself. She sees Inner Bonding as the most effective tool for discovering and changing the false beliefs that keep us stuck.
Joyce conducts classes at Renaissance Unity in Warren, Michigan, "From Inner Child to Inner Joy" in which she teaches the Inner Bonding concept. She is available for individual sessions and group therapy.
Mike Moran, LMSW
New York NY
646-298-5227
I was led to Inner Bonding by a rather circuitous route, one of which I now realize Spirit was holding my hand every step of the way. It didn't always feel that way, however. After my passion for a career as a singer/songwriter fizzled and then leaving a "good" job in corporate America which I found drained me of my vitality every day, I stepped out into the unknown to re-find myself. As enlivening as that decision was, it was also terrifying; every false belief that I had swallowed whole from my past came up for review. I was paralyzed. Having been a student of "A Course In Miracles" for several years, I had cultivated an appreciation and connection with a Loving Creator, but I had not yet allowed my relationship with Spirit to become deeply personal and penetrate my core. I was too defended, and hence, stuck. As if on que, just as when the teacher appears when the student is ready, I read about Inner Bonding and Margaret's retreat weekend and immediately signed up and began working the six steps.
For me, the process which Inner Bonding advocates operationally defines "A Course In Miracles." The ego self is so steadfastly committed to perceiving and interpreting one's experience through its own deeply distorted lens, all masterly geared to protect against pain. Before IB, I would dissociate from my pain in order to connect with God, and the six steps of IB helped me to validate all my experience while simultaneously gently guiding me toward Truth. This was pivotal for me - you mean I can actually embrace and love all parts of me (the sorrow-full me, the hate-full me) while holding Spirit's hand and taking full responsibility for how I'm creating my pain, even when that's the last thing my ego (wounded) self wants to do? Who knew! I now know what it feels like to let love in; before IB, this remained an intellectual concept. At my first Intensive in the California desert, I had a lucid dream where I met my two Spirit Guides-- Old Warm River and Honeysuckle Breeze, two Native American Indians -- wise old, (and fun!) souls, which further solidified my deeply personal, ever-evolving, relationship with God.
After returning to school and completing my Certification in Creative Arts Therapy from The New School for Social Research and then my Masters in Social Work from the State University of New York, I now work as a psychotherapist in private practice in NYC as well as direct the Wellness Programs for a full-service EAP firm (Employee Assistance Program) which I find extremely enlivening and gratifying. Inner Bonding has profoundly changed my life and continues to be a cornerstone on my path toward wholeness. I consider it a sacred privilege to assist others in this process of embracing and re-claiming all of who they are.
Bill Smith is a Test Facilitator - He has been added to demonstrate Faciliatator Feautrees of the Inner Bonding system.
Julie Sponsler, M.A. MFT
Philadelphia PA
267-471-3171
.Julie is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who worked for many years in Los Angeles and has recently moved to the East Coast. She earned her Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica. She earned her Bachelor's Degree in Social Work from The University of Pittsburgh.
Julie has worked with many populations and specializes working with people dealing with trauma, addiction, eating disorders, codependency /relationship issues, and life transitions. Her style is highly compassionate, empathic and caring, yet at the same time she is appropriately confrontive when necessary.
Inner Bonding has been a foundational element of change in her life and in and her work with clients. Julie has been in the healing arts for over 13 years and has found that Inner Bonding picks up where other healing modalities leave off. One of her favorite things is witnessing her client's heart's begin to open as they discover the truth of who they really are.
In addition to seeing individuals and couples in her office in center city Philadelphia, Julie is available to work with clients over the phone.
I was at the very first Inner Bonding intensive. My husband and I were married by Margaret at another intensive. We attended intensives every year after that for several years. When we got completely stuck, a phone session with Margaret would help us get unstuck. Margaret has been my invaluable mentor via e-mail as well.
I was always passionate about Inner Bonding, but at the same time I knew I could not really help others, because I was not able to connect with a source of divine love. All this changed last year when my marriage suddenly ended and at about the same time the obstacles to connecting with spirit fell. I was propelled into a crash course in what Inner Bonding is really about. As a result, I was given the gift of deep healing that has brought to me a life of intense joy and finally enabled me to use my gifts to help others heal.
In my several lives I have been a mother, a grandmother, a Lamaze teacher, a La Leche leader, a midwife and a log cabin dweller. I got my PhD in 1990 and am now a Research Associate Professor of Medicine, studying the rhythm of the heart. I am also a Reiki practitioner. I live in St. Louis and am available for telephone and in-person sessions.
A Testimonial
"I've known the power of the practice of Inner Bonding for several years. As I've taken this journey I've found the intensive experience to be the safest and most compassionate place I could ever imagine. It is always amazing and joyous to experience deep, transformational work and to watch as others go to a deeper level of healing. I can think of no greater gift that I have ever given myself than to participate in the intensive experience. I found Santa Fe incredible. The retreat center has a wonderful serenity that contributes such a calming energy for this deep work. The closeness of a wonderful and challenging hiking trail up a nearby mountain was one of my favorite things. I often had profound experiences of clarity there." Santa Fe, New Mexico - 4/2001 Patricia Gerrish,Nurse Hazel Park 248/414-7409 rnpatti371DELETE_HERE@aol.com
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