 Tom
Pinkson, Ph.D., is a psychologist in private practice in San Rafael
and Truckee, CA. Tom was born in the heart of New York City in 1945.
The death of his father when he was four years old set him on path
of exploration that began with psychosomatic illness, and later juvenile
delinquency, but eventually took him to the far reaches of the Amazon
jungle, the Andes mountains and to an eleven year apprenticeship with
a group of Huichol Indian shaman in the Sierra Madre of Mexico. Seeking
deeper truth about the mysteries of life and death, he sought out and
found shamanic “Medicine” Teachers who initiated him into
totally different realms than those from which he had
come.
For more than twenty five year he has been a driving force in the field of death and dying, helping society shift its often-fearful attitude about this inevitable part of life. In the mid-1970’s he helped establish the second hospice in the U.S. and has lectured extensively on death and dying and conducted workshops and retreats through the world. Tom has been involved with the Center for Attitudinal Healing in Sausalito since 1977 and currently serves as their Clinical consultant. His book,“Do They celebrate Christmas in Heaven?”, gives an account of his experiences helping children respond to catastrophic illness. In addition, Tom has worked with indigenous elders all over the world for more than thirty years, studying shamanic rites of passage that relate to death and personal transformation. He has furthered our understanding of this important part of human consciousness, revealing the wisdom power of indigenous peoples. For the last two decades he has studied and integrated into his work the spirit path of the Huichol People. From his experiences, Tom wrote a book entitled “The Flowers of Wiricuta” and founded WAKAN, a spiritual community dedicated to the sacredness of life. Walking in two worlds, the shamanic world of indigenous spirituality, and the Western world of a practicing psychologist, consultant, teacher, workshop-retreat leader and public speaker, Tom serves as a bridge-builder, bringing what he calls “The Teachings of the Elders” into practical applications within the modern, urban setting. Tom is available for phone consultations, group journey work, shamanic retreats and vision quests, and drumming circles. |