A Family of Caring Professionals
I grew up with a mother and grandparents, as well as a large circle of their friends, who were deeply involved in psychological self-study and service to others in the healing professions. From the very beginning of my life, I experienced the helping and healing professions as a normal and valuable part of society, and yet, as a child, I had the awareness that many people stigmatized others who even thought about getting counselling help for problems they were experiencing. Now, counselling, therapy and other helping modalities have become much more available, accessible, and accepted.
My grandfather and grandmother were both Jungian Analysts, having studied and done analysis at the Jung Institute in Zürich, Switzerland. They were founding members of the Jung Society of San Diego. My grandmother, Katie Sanford, author of The Serpent and the Cross: Healing the Split through Active Imagination, had a forty-year career as a analyst, and continued to see clients until her death at the age of 100. Katherine M. Sanford’s original oil paintings, manuscripts, lectures, personal documents and a copy of her book can be found in the Opus Archives of Pacifica Graduate Institute (Masters and Doctoral Programs in Depth Psychology, Mythology, and the Humanities). Images of her book, including 62 colour plates of paintings she produced based on her dreams, can be viewed in PDF format through The Archive for Research In Archetypal Symbolism (ARAS) (Do a site search for the name “Katherine Sanford”.)
My mother, Lynette Walker, author or Mothering, Breast Cancer and Selfhood, a psychological exploration of what contributes to wellness and illness, is a Jungian-oriented psychotherapist and Registered Clinical Counsellor who practiced for 40 years in Langley and Nanaimo, BC. During the 1980s, she was one of the only counsellors using Sandplay Therapy and play therapy with children in the Fraser Valley. She spends her time writing and continues to provide me with inspiration and wisdom.
My brother Chris Walker, Canadian Certified Counsellor, is a great explorer of the outer world and the inner world, specializing in work with youth, adults and couples, as well as therapy for post-drug and alcohol users. He also has specialized training and life experience in working therapeutically with First Nations People. He maintains his private practice in Nanaimo, BC.
Heather Walker, my sister, is a teacher of the Alexander Technique, a psychosomatic approach to physical, mental, and emotional balance. Alexander Technique practitioners and their students are highly aware of the link between how we use our body and how we use our mind. As students advance in their study of self, they gain insights into patterns that they can release in the mind as well as the body. Heather teaches Alexander Technique at her studio in Nanaimo, BC, as well as giving workshops in Vancouver, Québec and in the United States.
Heike Walker, my sister-in-law, was trained as an Alexander Technique teacher in Berlin. She is also a Certified Foot Reflexologist and Bach Flower Remedy Practitioner. She notes that in her private practice, as she teaches and treats people with chronic pain or other physical symptoms, it is common for individuals to open up about emotional pain and discomfort, underlining the link between physical and mental wellbeing. She has a private practice in Nanaimo, BC.
My dad Lawrence, son of a Geordie coal-miner near Newcastle, in the north of England, gave me my name, my love of walking, and a life-long passion for gardening. In this fast, tumultuous, and increasingly digitalized world, he provided an example of being grounded in the practical, in the earth, and in nature. He reminds me to dig in the dirt, an essential practice to help me stay healthy, human, and humble.
