For years I struggled to find my true vocation in life.

My dad used to say, "Mary, some people know from the time they are four years old that they want to be a neurosurgeon. The rest of us? Well, we just have to plug along until we figure it out."

The thing is, I actually did know what I wanted to be from a very young age. I just didn't know what to call it. Many of us who are "rennaisance" types or "jacks and jills" of all trades, can relate. 

I knew that I had an intrinsic knack for helping friends in times of distress. I knew that I was someone people turned to in times of crisis, that I gave good counsel. I also knew that I had a connection with nature, animals and plants, that other people remarked upon as being strong, unusual, or different. Most of all, I knew that I saw the fate of humanity, and of our current environmental crisis, as inexorably linked.

I tried on many hats. Artist. Theater Instructor. Environmental Educator. Nanny. Teacher. Healer. Witch. Wildlife Rehabilitator. Organic Farmer. They were all wonderful. But they all fell short.

When I finally came across Integral Counseling Psychology, I felt like I had found the promised land. Here was something that could potentially hold the totality of who I am, and what it didn't offer in and of itself, it could stretch to make room for the rest.