For the past 16 years, I’ve been working with midlife and older individuals and their families as a counselor and educator. I am a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist with advanced training and experience in Gerontology (the study of aging). I’ve worked as an EMT and medic, geriatric care manager, hospice volunteer, and successful Internet entrepreneur/executive. My clients benefit from my diverse, practical and rich life experience and perspective.
My passion is to help motivated people gain an understanding of their feelings, thoughts, and behaviors, to identify and prioritize their challenges, and heal their relationships. We strategize effective solutions to solve dilemmas. Growing older typically presents a myriad of complex challenges. At the same time, it can be a deeply rewarding journey with a profound richness of creativity and purpose to be discovered and embraced along the way.
Marin is the Fastest Aging County in California
We live in the fastest aging county in California. In 10 years, one out of four people in Marin will be 60 years old or older. A fascinating report full of interesting statistics and trends recently was published by the County and you can read it here: Live Well, Live Long: A New Report on the Status of Older Adults in Marin. There is also a very good report published by the Marin County Grand Jury on the status of growing older in Marin – click on the link to read it: Aging in Marin, An Essay in Uneasiness.
My Interest in Working with Older People
In 2002, my best friend Lois Anderson was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma. She was a thriving 75-year-old beauty and a vibrant artist full of life. Lois was a model for me of aging gracefully. She maintained her renowned art practice, drew on the expertise of her Master’s in Library Science from Cal, and 
collected and sold vintage books and clothing. After her diagnosis, our friendship grew deeper. We had explored spirituality and philosophy always but now, during her months of treatment, battles, and ultimately her death, she shook off understandable depression and fear with courage and tenacity. The profound honor of being with her as she died reminded me of the timelessness that I had experienced as a doula at home births years earlier.
After Lois’s death, I continued to experience a series of deep losses in my life – the deaths of two more close friends and my father and mother at whose deaths I was present, and the death of my father’s children in an airplane crash. Through this time, I experienced what I can only explain as a calling to be with people on their end-of-life journeys. I studied at hospice and with many renowned experts on death and dying, participated in grief therapy, art therapy, entered graduate school, completed 3,000 hours of service at four internships in gerontology and counseling, passed my licensure exams and opened my private counseling and consultation practice.
Credentialed Professional Gerontologist
I realized as time went by that it wasn’t the end of life that was my main interest. It is our human relationship with the awareness of our life journeys, aging processes, and impermanence. Generally, we start to wake up to that in midlife through the death of dear ones and/or through our own health problems. While this is normal, it often brings with it some sense of unease. It can be enormously comforting to talk with an experienced counselor at this point. This is where I come in and where I love to be of service.
Private Practice and Volunteer Projects
In addition to managing my private practice, I have served as Board Secretary at Whistlestop (Marin Senior Coordinating Council). Whistlestop is the oldest senior service nonprofit in Marin. 
I have also served as a Commissioner on the Marin County Commission on Aging where I advocated for seniors in our communities and educated the public about the many resources here. My family and I have lived called Marin home for 36 years.
I co-founded the Mill Valley Village, part of Marin Villages. This Village Model is a wonderful example of how grassroots individuals and communities are organizing to help each other “age in community” – living at home surrounded by a strong support network of friends and trust-worthy service providers.
Over the past years, I hosted free Death Cafes in Marin. Death Cafe’s are a grassroots movement begun in Switzerland (“cafe mortel”) and Britain in 2011 and now growing quickly throughout the world with 900 groups in 19 countries around the world. The cafes provide safe and welcoming environments where people can share conversations about death and dying while also sharing cake and tea. See Death Cafe for more information.
What Did I Do Before My Counseling Career?.
I started working with computers in 1980 and was blessed to have enjoyed a successful career in the field of technology. I still enjoy using some of the amazing tech tools we have at our fingertips – tools that help us express ourselves, stay in touch with far-away family and friends, and find helpful information. Here are a few of my past business projects:
- America Online – As AOL’s first Women’s Content Director, I spearheaded the launch of AOL’s first Women’s Channel providing resources, information, and an online community for 7,000,000 female subscribers
- The WELL (Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link) – partner of the Whole Earth Review magazine. As Special Projects Director, I managed a series of technical improvements, competitive marketing analyses, and a resulting price adjustment that doubled revenue.
- Digital City Inc. – a joint venture between AOL and the Chicago Tribune Co. As Business Development Director, I co-founded the San Francisco office and directed content development and community for 500,000 local subscribers
- PlanetRx, a health information resource site, and online pharmacy – As Vice President, I launched and managed 12 support and information sites focused on health-related topics such as: depression.com, malaria.com, aids.com, alzheimers.com, obesity.com, diabetes.com, disease.com, heal.com, mednews.com.
- Women.com – Founder and Vice President. I co-founded the first commercial online service focused on women’s issues and interests. Spearheaded a successful $60,000,000 PR campaign, featured in hundreds of media outlets across the US. The company was successfully sold to Hearst New Media.
Some of My Beliefs About Doing Good Therapy With Older Adults
One thing that research has shown time and time again – is that trust is the essential foundation of all successful therapy. It’s essential that you feel safe, supported, and not rushed or judged by your therapist in your sessions.
What you talk about in counseling is held in confidence according to the legal and ethical guidelines of client-therapist confidentiality. I will describe this in more detail when we meet and answer any questions you might have.
Your sessions are entirely for you – unlike your other relationships – so you can focus entirely on yourself and your concerns.
Having an objective, nonjudgmental, genuinely caring and engaged listener can often be just what’s needed to help you come up with your own best answers!
More and more older folks and their families are reaching out for counseling and consultation, realizing that they don’t have to reinvent the wheel or tough it out alone. This is the largest and fastest-changing demographic shift in human history. Humans have never lived this long! So we are figuring out how to maintain good qualities of life throughout decades of life well into our 90’s!
Here are some articles you can read that speak to the proven benefits of therapy for older people.
I offer sessions in my offices or your home if you are homebound. My offices in San Anselmo and Mill Valley are located in lovely quiet neighborhoods with plenty of parking. They are wheelchair accessible.
The individuals and families I see tell me I have the ability to see and inspire the best in people. They tell me that they appreciate that I am experienced, nonjudgmental, an attentive listener, have a good sense of humor, and am well trained in this terrain of older life.
So…
If you are ready to move forward towards relief, call for a free 20-minute consultation. You can call me at 415-378-6577 or email me at nrhine@gmail.com.
Other
For more detail on my background and clinical experience, please click here: Nancy’s Resume.
On a personal note, here’s a link to a few photos of some of my assemblage art pieces which I made and dedicated to my dear friend Lois Anderson: Nancy’s Art.