About You

Philosophy is driven by serious wonder and sustained by playful surprise. It's magical when someone's mind's eyes get opened to see something in a new light, or a whole spectrum of lights. New thinking is vibrant. This is how I fell in love with philosophy and why I want to share the qualities of philosophy with 'outsiders'. 

I came to philosophy as an outsider, after a 25+ year career in law and visual thinking training/consulting/facilitation.  My approach is practical, informed by my experience with clients of all walks of life: the general public, government, big organizations and small business-owners.  I am a Dutch native, rooted as a perennial expat in the Unites States.

Education: 

• MA Continental Philosophy, Staffordshire University, UK
• Certified as Philosophical Counselor by American Philosophical Practitioners Association (APPA.edu)
• Law School (LLM equivalent), University of Utrecht, NL 
• Renaissance Soul coach, trained by Margareth Lobenstine
• Mediation Training 
• Liberating Structures group facilitation
• Graphic Recording & Visual facilitation

Professional Experience:

Attorney/legal counsel in the Netherlands, associate law professor, author of legal communication books, information designer, visual thinking coach/consultant, legal trainer/workshop facilitator, visual artist, gallery owner, Access-to-Justice professional in Colorado Court system. Somatic movement teacher. See siftvisuals.com 

Languages: 

English, Nederlands

My practice of listening and understanding is inspired by my personal experiences of love, friendship, community, movement, nature, travel, and beauty, organically blended with times of change, uncertainty and burn-out, unconventional career steps,  gifted-ness, entrepreneurship, being an expat-outsider-foreigner, parenting, divorce, non-traditional co-parenting, glbtq identity questions, tapping into personal creativity, becoming an artist, seeking a spiritual home, and health challenges. 

As a curious, creative person, I primarily find my own resources through life long learning, a lot of reading, art-making, and  a variety of body-mind connection practices. I also believe in asking professional support from others to heal, grow, and flourish. I am deeply grateful for the wise women counsel that I have found on my path. 

FAVORITE PHILOSOPHERS

Hannah Ahrendt, Gaston Bachelard, John Dewey.

Areas of focus: Practices of Inquiry, Phenomenology,  Philosophy of Creativity, Embodied Cognition, Existentialism.