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AWAKENED
by Michael O'Callaghan, Ph.D.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. O'Callaghan's interests in consciousness, healing, and higher
knowledge inspired her to earn a Ph.D. in psychology from the State
University of New York at Binghamton, a B.S. in biology from Columbia
University, N.Y., and a B.A. in philosophy from Fordham University, N.Y.
Her love of travel led her to attend high school in Spain at the
American School of Madrid, and to visit far off lands, such as China,
Japan, Russia, India, Egypt, Europe, and South America. She also spent one
summer in Denmark at a peace research institute.
Her spiritual quest follows many avenues. In the 1990s she
accompanied Macki, one of the last Maori medicine men, on a spiritual
pilgrimage to Israel and the British Isles to help reawaken the divine
feminine. In keeping with instructions from the Grandmother elders of his
matriarchal tribe in New Zealand, Macki set out on journeys to conduct
ceremonies at sacred sites throughout the world to rebalance the
feminine/masculine energy and increase harmony in the world. Their trip to
Britain culminated in a sunrise ceremony at Stonehenge.
Later in the 90s, Dr. O'Callaghan attended an Indigenous Healers
Conference in Hawaii where Eskimo, Australian Aborigine, and Hopi medicine
men and women gathered for four days. She has also met saints and Native
American healers through the spiritual community outside Austin, Texas,
where she has lived for thirteen years.
As a practitioner of Transcendental Meditation for nearly thirty
years, she knows deeply the unwinding of karma, and inner stirrings to
evolve ever higher. Dr. O'Callaghan attended a six-month meditation
intensive in 1992 that spanned Iowa and Washington, D.C. She also takes
one month out of every year for TM retreats. Her book Awakened attests
further to her spiritual adventurousness, for not only does she visit the
four featured saints, and others, when they come to the U.S., she has done
an initiation by fire, so to speak, via her retreat at Swamiji's ashram in
India.
She currently works in Austin where she provides psychotherapy and
relaxation training to the elderly. She benefits greatly from the wisdom
her geriatric clients share with her.
Her past positions include:
- Director of Neuropsychology at The Greenery in Boston,
- A concurrent appointment as Assistant Clinical Professor at Tufts
University School of Medicine, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine,
- Consultant with the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission where she
conducted assessments in Spanish with monolingual Hispanic clients,
- Neuropsychologist at Healthcare Rehabilitation Center, Austin,
Texas, and at the Rehabilitation Institute of Methodist Hospital in
Lubbock, Texas, treating individuals who suffered traumatic brain
injuries or strokes,
- Project Director at the Psychological Corporation in San Antonio, Texas,
where she coordinated translation and cultural adaptation of the Spanish
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, establishing an advisory board.
She has also:
- Worked on development of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale III with
emphasis on design and coordination of clinical validity studies,
- Held workshops on stress management,
- Presented academic papers at conferences.
Her published articles are included in:
- Cognitive Therapy and Research (1998) 22, 2:91- 107
- Behavioral and Neural Biology (1982) 35: 368-374
- Physiology and Behavior (1982) 25:25-30;
Plus an excerpt from Awakened in Wonders of a Holy Master, Vol. 2 (Avadoota
Datta Peetham, Mysore, India).
Dr. O'Callaghan applies her keen psychologist's discernment and
understanding to her own mental processes as she reacts to the saints
described in her book--studying them, considering their legitimacy, and
perceiving more than her vast education could ever have taught her.
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