Frank Robinson, Seattle Therapist and Life Coach
Personal and Spiritual Growth is the driving force in my life.
One of the most rewarding experiences I have in my work as a Mental Health Therapist and as a Life Coach for the people who come to me is being in their presence as they begin to learn how to open their heart to themselves, to be able to hold themselves with tenderness and compassion.
The river of life
I grew up on Hood canal on the Skokomish Indian Reservation. I am not Native American but my life “on the res” provided a major influence in my life. I remember that my favorite place was sitting by the river. I loved listening to the sound of the river, the changing yet constant flow of water over the rocks. Without fully understanding it as a child, I began to experience the river as a place where I felt a connectedness to something much bigger than myself.
I worked my way through the University of Washington as a resident advisor/ mental health counselor in the dorms. It was my first real exposure to counseling and personal growth.
On June 6, 1968 I graduated from the University of Washington, I got married, and I got drafted, all in the same day. I spent an amazing, wonderful, and sometimes painful five years in the service and left the military as a Captain in the Air Force. I returned to Seattle and went to graduate school at the University of Washington in Counseling Psychology.
After graduate school I spent the next five years as the Director of Crisis and Emergency Services at Highline-West Seattle Mental Health Center. It was during these years that I once again got involved with personal growth activities. I met Dr. John Enright, a very bright and wise man. He was the founder of ARC (Awareness Responsibility Communication) Seminars. He became my mentor and I became one of his seminar leaders. I then began creating and presenting my own personal growth and relationship seminars.
In 1980, I began to develop my own private counseling practice as a Seattle Therapist working with individuals, couples, and organizations. I also started working with business owners and leaders who were interested in personal growth for themselves and their employees. It was then that I started getting involved in meditation and spiritual growth. I met several spiritual leaders that have been very influential in my own growth and development.
Finding Your Soul
In 2005, after five years of nights and weekends spent writing my own book with my dear friend Elio Agostini, we published Finding Your Soul, At Work, At Home, And When You’re Alone. It is a practical guide to spirituality. It is now out of print but can still be found on Amazon. It is a touching story about a depressed, divorced middle aged man struggling with life who meets this wise, older woman named Charmaine who guides him through 8 clues to finding his soul. If you are interested you can download the chapters on this website for free.
My own personal journey at this point is primarily about working with others who are interested in their own personal and spiritual growth, doing more writing, and finding new ways to be in service and engaged in the world around me.