I was born and grew up in Coburg, Germany and attended the Gymnasium Ernestinum. From 1979 to 1987 I studied psychology and German literature at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. In 1986, I received a Masters Degree in philosophy from the Munich School of Philosophy, which is one the of European Jesuit Universities.  In 1988 I moved to Berkeley, California, and eventually became an American citizen. I continued my studies in psychology, philosophy, and theology in 1993, and 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. Currently, I teach philosophy at the California State University of the East Bay, and I also work as a psychotherapist in private practice in Oakland, California.