BIO

Renate Stendhal, Ph.D. is German-born and Paris-educated. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and works as an interpersonal counselor for individuals and couples. She has published several non-fiction and fiction books (partly co-authored with her life companion Kim Chernin). As an editor and coach, she helps others to write and publish.

Renate majored in literature at Hamburg University, then moved to Paris to explore classical ballet and underground theater. She became a Paris cultural correspondent for German radio and press, and worked as a personal assistant to the artist Meret Oppenheim. In the eighties she became the first German translator of feminist authors Audre Lorde, Adrienne Rich, Susan Griffin, and others. She began writing on women’s creative and erotic empowerment; her essays and articles appeared internationally. Together with painter Maj Skadegaard she created the first feminist multimedia show in Europe,  In the Beginning…of the End: A Voyage of Women Becoming .

Since her move to California in 1986 Renate earned an MA in clinical psychology and a Ph.D. in spiritual psychology. After many years as a therapist she chose a spiritual path and became ordained by AIWP, the Association for the Integration of the Whole Person. She published several books on themes of women’s psychology and sexuality.

Renate has given classes in creative writing and has lectured on literary as well as other cultural topics. See her essay Writing in My Paris Café. Renate’s award-winning Paris memoir Kiss Me Again, Paris was published in 2017.

She pursues her passion for culture by writing as a senior correspondent for the International Magazine for Arts and Media, Scene4.