Her Work
Valerie Malhotra Bentz, Ph.D., MSSW is Professor, School of Leadership Studies, Fielding Graduate University, where she served as Associate Dean for Research. Her current interests include phenomenology, somatics, social theory, consciousness development, mindful and contemplative research and Vedantic theories of knowledge. She is currently Visiting Professor, University of Lodz, Poland and teaches also and the University of the Virgin Islands. Her books include: Expressions of Phenomenological Research (with David Rehorick) Contemplative Social Research: Caring for Self, Being and Lifeworld, with Vincenzo Giogino; Transformative Phenomenology: Changing Ourselves, Lifeworlds and Professional Practice; with David Rehorick; Mindful Inquiry in Social Research (with Jeremy Shapiro) and Becoming Mature: Childhood Ghosts and Spirits in Adult Life. She is the author of a philosophical novel, Flesh and Mind: The Time Travels of Dr. Victoria Von Dietz, She is a Fellow in Contemplative Practice of the American Association of Learned Societies. Valerie was editor of Phenomenology and the Human Sciences, (1994-1998). She has served as president and board member of the Clinical Sociology Association, the Sociological Practice Association and the Society for Phenomenology and the Human Sciences. She founded and co-directed an action research team and center in Mizoram, India. Valerie was co-founder of the Creative Longevity and Wisdom Concentration. She is the Director of the Doctoral Concentration in Somatics, Phenomenology and Communicative Leadership (SPL). She has twenty years experience as a psychotherapist, and is a certified yoga teacher, and certified massage therapist. She is a member of the board of the Carpinteria Valley Association (an environmental activist group over 50 years old), plays piano and is Principal Bassoonist, SBCC Symphony.
For more details about Valerie’s work and professional achievements, view her Curriculum Vitae