Hedy has dedicated her personal and professional lives to the exploration of relationship building and the development of relational intelligence and maturity. She has 40 years of professional experience with a BA from UCLA in Psychology and an MA in Clinical and Child Psychology from Tel Aviv University, as well as over 55 years of personal experience in her marriage to Yumi and her living relational laboratory. Hedy believes that world peace begins with the human family, and can best be achieved by creating strong, committed, and growing partnerships of all kinds.

ENCOUNTER-CENTERED TRANSFORMATION™

Hedy’s current work with Encounter-centered Transformation™ (EcT) has its roots in Hedy’s earlier work: Encounter-centered Couples Therapy® which is an approach Hedy has practiced and taught for decades.

While Hedy no longer offers this work in a therapeutic setting, her innovative, integrative and affirming Encounter-centered Transformation™ approach to the creation of strong, productive, and creative relationships forms the core of her work. Using this approach, Hedy educates and guides couples through private intensives, and trains mental health professionals, coaches, leaders. and executives in EcT so that they can share her approach to relationships with the people they serve.

BUILDING A CAREER

Hedy’s early career started in private practice where she counseled people affected with AIDS during the height of the crisis. She has also focused much of her attention assisting and empowering women to reach their full potential. Through the creation of a chapter of the Foundation for  Mid-East Communication, Hedy was given a unique opportunity to work on Muslim-Christian-Jewish relations. Through that experience, Hedy dove deep into teachings about conflict dissolution and relational maturity, which she has brought to all of her work.

GLOBAL CITIZEN

Hedy speaks seven languages and has taught and provided her approach to relationships in more than 39 countries worldwide. Revered by students and clients all over the world, Hedy proudly works with people of all races, ethnicities, religions, and sexual and gender orientations.

IN THE MEDIA

Hedy is the subject of the documentary, “Hedy and Yumi Crossing the Bridge,” which won Best Documentary at the 2009 LA Femme Film Festival in Hollywood, California and tells the story of her life’s work through the lens of her relationship with her husband and professional partner, Yumi, Hedy was hand-selected to be one of the featured therapists on the Emmy-nominated Israeli TV show, “Couples Therapy.” Her talk at TEDxTelAviv on The Power of Connection is not to be missed.

In 1996 she was diagnosed with breast cancer, embraced it as an adventure to be lived, and renamed cancer the “cellular challenge.” In 2016, a new diagnosis of breast cancer prompted Hedy to respond by writing the book, “The Diary of an Amazon: Joining the Clan of the One-breasted Woman.”

PERSONALLY

Hedy was born in Lausanne, Switzerland and was raised in Antwerp, Belgium. She married and lived in Israel, but today, she calls Washington D.C. home. Hedy and her beloved husband Yumi z”l have two sons, 13 grandchildren, and four great grandchildren.