The spiritual path wrecks the body and afterwards restores it to health. It destroys the house to unearth the treasure, and within that treasure, builds it better than before. -Rumi
Tammy grew up with five beloved siblings on a dairy farm in Central Wisconsin where she milked cows, played volleyball, and was the valedictorian of her high school class. After graduating from UW-Madison, she moved to Los Angeles where she completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology from UCLA, one of the foremost Clinical Psychology programs in the country.
She specialized in health psychology, working a great deal with cancer patients, but also individuals with anxiety, depression, PTSD, chronic pain, addictions, schizophrenia, and HIV. Upon graduation, she returned to WI to work with HIV+ individuals as the Clinical Supervisor and Associate Director of the Behavioral Health & Wellness Center at the AIDS Resource Center, but experienced a severe medical problem of her own which left her unable to work for five years.
In her quest for health, she found talented and sometimes awe-inspiring energy healers, each with their own modality, that turned everything she believed she knew on its head. Over time, a newfound sense of connection, spirituality, and purpose emerged in her life and she was drawn to further understand how spirituality might be integrated with modern day psychological theories and treatments to more effectively heal others.
During her recovery she studied reiki, chakra healing, meditation, and spiritual theories of growth and has been delighted and impressed by their power to heal not only body, but also mind and spirit. For now, she see clients for either therapy or energy/reiki work and does not combine the modalities, but brings a holistic approach to both disciplines. She brings to her practices a deep ability to understand struggle, a belief in the power of love to heal, and a great respect for the unknown.
Select Publications:
Beran, T. M., Young, T. A., & Stanton, A. L. (2009). Reactions to and Desire for Prognostic Test Information in Choroidal Melanoma Patients. Journal of Genetic Counseling. June;18(3): 265-274.
Beran, T., Stanton, A. L., Kwan, L., Seldon, J., Bower, J., Vodermaier, A., and Ganz, P. A. (2008). The Trajectory of Psychological Impact in BRCA1/2 Genetic Testing: Does Time Heal? Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Oct;36(2): 107-116.
Low, C., Beran, T., & Stanton, A. L. (2006). Living with advanced cancer. In Feuerstein, M (Ed.). Handbook of Cancer Survivorship (1st Edition, pp. 211-228). Springer.