I was born and grew up in Coburg, a town in Bavaria, Germany. In 1980, I began to study psychology and literature at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, and received Master's Degrees in both fields.  In 1986, I also received a Masters Degree in philosophy from the Munich School of Philosophy, which is one the of European Jesuit Universities.  

In 1989, I moved to Berkeley, California, to continue my studies. I was licensed as a psychotherapist in the State of California in 2000. In 2001, I received a Doctoral degree from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. Since then, I have been teaching philosophy at the California State University, and I also work as a psychotherapist in private practice in Oakland, California.  You can find my academic website here.