Leah is a writer, psychotherapist, photographer and enthusiastic traveler. Her forthcoming memoir, Travels without Charley: A Marriage Sabbatical (working title), combines these interests and describes a year of traveling alone in her sixties and its impact on her husband, herself and on their marriage.
AS A WRITER
Leah is fascinated with relationships. Travels without Charley explores the challenge of being faithful and true to your partner while remaining faithful and true to yourself. Her writing aims to share with readers through story what she has learned about successful marriage in her own life and through a long career as a marital therapist. Her memoir is a very personal and honest story about an imperfect marriage of more than thirty years.
AS A PSYCHOTHERAPIST
As a psychotherapist, Leah has worked since 1972 with individuals, couples and groups. To support couples in negotiating their shared lives, she designed an annual evaluation and planning process for couple relationships and family life. On their own or at weekend retreats, couples learn skills for successfully evaluating the previous year and planning a future that addresses the needs and wishes of both partners. (Sample materials for conducting an Annual Planning Retreat can be found on this website.)
AS A PHOTOGRAPHER
Leah’s delight in young children and her interest in photography came together in her photographs of children during her travels. Her business card now reads “Global Grandma,” and you can see her photos of children and their parents in the photo gallery.
AS A TRAVELER
Leah’s preferred way to travel is to get out of big cities and head for a small town. There she finds a family to live with, a B&B, or some other living situation that will draw her into the community and the culture. Then Leah looks for ways to be of service. This has included counseling survivors of natural disasters, participating in local projects or informally using her skills as a counselor, an English language speaker or a mom. To engage with children, Leah travels with an inflatable globe that serves as soccer ball or geography lesson. All these approaches make travel more meaningful and help her turn strangers into friends.
MISSION
Leah’s mission is one of encouragement and empowerment for living fully and authentically. Leah supports individuals to fully blossom. She has discovered that for some people, later life is when the courage for self-realization becomes ready to emerge. Leah’s work involves supporting others in identifying their dreams and growing the confidence to bring them to life. She has pursued this mission of empowerment through her own life, through story, weekend planning workshops, and individual and couple counseling. This blog is intended, through dialogue, to further that mission of inspiration, exploration and empowerment.
Leah has two grown children who also travel the world. She lives with her husband in the San Francisco Bay Area.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION!
Each of Leah’s posts will include questions that invite reflection and sharing. Please share your experiences, your successes and challenges. Your responses will guide the direction of this conversation.
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As partners identify important goals and dreams, some couples in stable and committed relationships are choosing to bring flexibility and creativity to the task of honoring their important dreams – both shared and individual ones. That was the case for me when in my sixties I negotiated with my husband for a year of solo travel.