Valerie Cole, Ph.D

Valerie Cole, Ph.D

Valerie Cole is a practicing Reclaiming Witch in Washington, DC. Previously Chair of the Pagan Pastoral Counseling Department for Cherry Hill Seminary, Valerie currently works as Senior Associate, Disaster Mental Health, at the American Red Cross. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Iowa and began conducting sabbat rituals while in graduate school. She taught graduate and undergraduate courses in the Department of Psychology and helped develop the Masters in Mental Health Counseling program at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY. Valerie also maintained a private psychotherapy practice for several years, focusing mainly on relationships: relationship with the self, with one’s higher power, and with others. She uses meditation, guided imagery and ritual to facilitate personal transformation. Her article “Healing Principles: A Model for the Use of Ritual in Psychotherapy” appeared in Counseling and Values in 2003.