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.​
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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.
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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.
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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.
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