Contributing faculty members may or may not hold a doctorate. They teach specialized courses or serve as guest lecturers in their areas of expertise.
Jennifer Absey, RN, CMT, Pierce College Nursing Program, Los Angeles, CA, 1987
Ms. Absey is a Registered Nurse and a CranioSacral and Massage Therapist in private practice since 1980. She has a background as a midwife assistant, high-risk labor and delivery nurse, and childbirth educator, participating in over 300 births. She is currently an instructor of CranioSacral courses for the Upledger Institute.
Areas of Expertise: Effects of Obstetrical Interventions; CranioSacral Training and Massage Therapy with emphasis in Pre- and Perinatal
Susan Aposhyan, MA, Dance / Movement Therapy, Naropa Institute, 1990
Ms. Aposhyan developed body-mind psychotherapy as an application of body-mind centering to the process of psychotherapy. In addition to trainings and workshops, she maintains a private practice in Boulder, CO. She is the former director of the Somatic Psychology Department at Naropa University and is the author of Natural Intelligence: Body-Mind Integration and Human Development and Development and Body-Mind Psychotherapy: Principles, Techniques, and Practical Applications (Norton).
Licenses Earned: Licensed Professional Counselor, State of Colorado
Areas of Expertise: Body-Mind Centering; Body-Mind Integration; Human Development
Mary Jackson, CNM, RN, Santa Barbara City College, 1987
Mary Jackson has been a Registered Nurse, educator, and Certified Nurse Midwife. Over the past 30 years she has attended over 2000 births in the Southern California area. She incorporates cranio-sacral training and prenatal and birth training into her midwifery practice. She is participating in cutting edge research about imprints that occur at the time of conception, pregnancy and birth and how they affect us throughout the lifespan. She speaks internationally and is featured in several books and training videos.
Licenses Earned: Registered Nurse, 1987; Certified Nurse Midwife
Areas of Expertise: Pre and Perinatal Psychology/Birth Practices
Marshall Klaus, MD, FAAP, Medicine, Western Reserve University, 1951
Dr. Klaus, an internationally known neonatologist, researcher, and pioneer in prenatal and perinatal psychology, teaches pediatrics at the University of California School of Medicine in San Francisco. Since the 1970’s, his research has focused on how mothers of normal, sick or malformed infants form bonds with their babies. He has also studied how the presence of doulas during delivery affects the length of labor, labor complications, and prenatal maternal behavior. Recipient of numerous awards, he is the co-author of several landmark books, including Your Amazing Newborn; Bonding: Building the Foundations for Secure Attachment and Independence; Mothering the Mother: How a Doula Can Help You Have a Shorter, Easier and Healthier Birth; and Care of the High Risk Neonate.
Areas of Expertise: Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology; Bonding; Neonatology
Phyllis Klaus, CSW, MFT, Counseling, Kent State University, 1979
A psychotherapist in private practice, Ms. Klaus is an educator and pioneer in bonding, attachment, and doula training. She is co-author of Bonding: Building the Foundations of Secure Attachment and Independence; Mothering the Mother; and Your Amazing Newborn.
Licenses Earned: Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT), State of California
Areas of Expertise: Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology; Hypnotherapy
Ron Kurtz, DHL, Santa Barbara Graduate Institute, 2008
Dr. Kurtz is the originator of the Hakomi Method and a preeminent influence in progressive psychotherapy. He has led hundreds of trainings and workshops around the world over the last quarter of a century and continues to teach internationally. He is a master therapist, gifted teacher and author of Body-Centered Psychotherapy: The Hakomi Method. He also coauthored The Body Reveals and Grace Unfolding. Dr. Kurtz is the recipient of the US Association of Body Psychotherapy’s 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Areas of Expertise: Hakomi Method, Body-Centered Psychotherapy
Tanis Marble Thust, Ph.D.(c), Clinical Psychology (Prenatal and Perinatal Specialty), Santa Barbara Graduate Institute
Ms. Marble earned a master’s in counseling psychology at SBGI and is a doctoral candidate in SBGI’s PPN program. She currently serves as SBGI’s Practicum Coordinator. Tanis works as a trainee therapist at Santa Barbara’s Community Counseling Center and is a practicing doula. Her background in academic administration and program coordination includes seven years’ experience at the Univ. of California Santa Barbara’s Extension International Programs, where she served as an immigration and academic advisor and student services administrator.
Areas of Expertise: Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology
Alyea Sandovar, Ph.D.(c), Clinical Psychology (Specialty in Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology), Santa Barbara Graduate Institute, MA, 2007
Ms. Sandovar earned a master’s degree in clinical psychology at SBGI and is a doctoral candidate in SBGI’s Pre and Perinatal psychology program. She currently serves as the Prenatal and Perinatal Department Coordinator. Alyea worked at Child Abuse Listening and Mediation as a psychotherapist intern in their infant-parent psychotherapy program. She works with the Latino population and particularly Mexican immigrant families. She has a background in human performance and organizational design and also in administration for small businesses. Ms. Sandovar is bilingual and bicultural (Spanish/English) and originally from South America. She plans to complete her dissertation and research in In-Vitro Fertilization by December 2009.
Areas of Expertise: Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology, Perinatals through age three; Human Performance; In-Vitro Fertilization
Kinsey Service, Ph.D., Clinical Psychology (Somatic Psychology Specialty), Santa Barbara Graduate Institute, 2004
Dr. Service is SBGI’s Professional Specialty Program’s liaison faculty member. In addition to her internship at Arlington Day Treatment Center in Santa Barbara, she has a private practice in Somatic Experiencing. Sanctuary Psychiatric Residential Center recently invited Dr. Service to train its staff on the neuroscientifc links among trauma, attachment, psychopathology, and psychotherapy.
Areas of Expertise: Attachment Trauma; Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder; Neurobiology of Trauma and Dissociation; Dissociative Disorders; Borderline Personality Disorder; Depression
Faculty appointments are subject to change.
