About Dr. Christine V. Hérot
No path in life is devoid of stumbles and knee-scarring falls. My first entry into the adult world at age 17 was met with a memorable failure: my dream to become a gymnastics teacher abruptly ended when I was rejected by a French Sports University after failing the initial round of competitive athletic events. I was tasked with having to pause, reflect, and look for another door, another possibility, another love: I chose foreign languages. And so I embarked on a course of study of languages, linguistics, literature and psychology that brought me to the US to study at the University of Oregon and later to Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
My personal development was not sheltered from human hurts, traumatic events, and deeply saddening losses. Emotional and relational growth tends to find fertile soil in the turmoils of life. I have been lucky to find many guides on my journey and I am profoundly thankful to the many wonderful women and men who provided their nurturing guidance and saw my potential when I was blind to the paths in front of me. Along the way, I accepted the invitation to study for a doctorate in Developmental Psychology at Harvard University even though I was deeply afraid of failing. I accepted a friend’s suggestion that “I would be a wonderful therapist” , honored the truth in her words, and joined a second doctoral program in Clinical Psychology.
Along the way, when not studying, I have continued to nurture my love of reading, biking, swimming, dancing, listening to opera and philosophical podcasts. Writing non-fiction and poetry has also been a long-standing interest. In the past several years, I have enjoyed: painting using hot wax (i.e., Encaustic Paintings, shown in this website), photography, kayaking, and gardening. Recently, I acquired a beautiful upright piano and am embarking on a new journey in learning to play the piano.
In my traveling adventures, I enjoyed living on a sailboat in a Miami Marina for a year, sailing on the weekends and racing with the dolphins. I volunteered in Guatemala with young children whose families were too poor to send them to a regular school and whose kindness and generosity I will remember forever.
I expect that more adventures await and I will happily step in the directions that present themselves as I know that my curiosity and love of learning will never abate.