About Dr. Susan Hirshfield

Born in Chicago, I was lucky to have a cohesive family unit, with a focus on respect, love, togetherness, education and awareness of our natural and social environment. My personal life philosophy grew out of these hallmarks: the need to listen, to show loving-kindness, to be a teacher of life, and, above all, to be compassionate to others, their ideas, their ideals and differences. I believe that without an understanding of our interdependence with all of life, without compassion for ourselves and for others, and without active involvement in creating a greater good, we and humanity suffer.  My philosophy: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”

I received an M.A. from Sonoma State University in psychology, with a primary interest in psychodynamic psychotherapy.  My Ph.D. was completed at the San Francisco campus of the Professional School of Psychology in clinical psychology, with a dissertation focusing on the chronic aspects of posttraumatic stress disorder combat veterans.  After receiving my Ph.D., I completed a post-doctorate fellowship with Kaiser Hospital’s Department of adult Psychiatry in Santa Rosa, California.

My early work history involved populations of trauma victims among homeless veterans in San Francisco, troubled teens and their families and drug and alcohol addiction. I then served for four years as the psychotherapist for the Agent Orange Class Assistance Project, working with Vietnam Veterans families who had been affected by agent orange (Dioxin) poisoning.

I launched a private practice in Santa Rosa, working with adult psychological issues including trauma from childhood and adult experiences, character disorders, relationship issues with heterosexual and gay couples, and academic and vocational decisions and plans.  In addition to my private practice, I have been an Independent Living Skills Instructor at the Earle Baum Center of the Blind, Santa Rosa, where I treat adjustment to blindness issues and teach a twelve-week interactive class for the blind and visually impaired entitled “Living with Vision Loss.”.

In 2012, I decided to focus my skills and experience on life coaching.  Over the past 15 years, a central focus of all of my work has been the process of transitioning from one point in life to another: from the life of the soldier to that of the civilian; from living with parents to going off to college or the work world; from the single world to marriage, to parenting; from marriage to divorce; from visual to non-visual; from full-time parents to empty-nesters; from independent seniors to assisted living.  These and other life changes can be difficult and even frightening.  My years working with psychotherapy provide the solid foundation for Mindful Life Transition: an orientation toward realistic, positive goals, and compassionate guidance.