Helen West, born in Munich, Germany, emigrated with her parents to the United States as a young child. After earning her PhD in psychology she held a position as Clinical Assistant Professor at The George Washington University Medical School, and for the last 40 years has maintained a private practice in psychotherapy. Her discoveries about consciousness and the creative process through her work as a therapist have found further expression in writing, painting, and photography. Helen’s latest writing project has been collaborating with  Planaria Price  on “Claiming My Place: Coming of Age in the Shadow of the Holocaust,” the biography of her mother, Barbara Reichmann, to be published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers. Published work has included academic articles,  essays, memoir pieces, book reviews and poetry. She lives in Washington, DC and Key West, Florida.