First, the formal bio:  

• Ruth L. Schwartz is the author of eight books: five books of poems, a memoir, and two personal growth books, including Amazon bestseller Conscious Lesbian Dating & Love. 
• Her training includes a Ph.D. in Transpersonal Psychology and three years of study at the Somatica Institute, where she is a certified Sex and Intimacy Coach. She is also a Board-Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist and Shamanic Practitioner. 
• Ruth has taught at Ashland University, Mills College, California State University-Fresno, and five other colleges and universities, and has worked with private students and clients since 2003. 
• Ruth came out in 1982 and has been a longtime leader in the LGBTQ community.   

Now, a more personal story about how I got here -- and how I can help you get where you want to be.  

As a child, I would never have imagined I'd be running an international program about conscious lesbian dating and relationships. Yet it makes sense when you think about the shamanic archetype of the wounded healer. There's an elegant way that, with commitment and grace, our wounds can become our gifts.

I was a sensitive kid with well-meaning teenaged parents who were ill-equipped to parent me or to love each other. I learned to leave my body when they fought, yelling vicious things at each other.  We moved every year, so I had to start over... and over... and over. It made me flexible, and also unmoored. 

As a teenager, I turned to romantic love for my salvation. But of course, it turned out that I had no idea how to create a healthy, enduring relationship. 

When I fell madly in love with the first person with whom I really wanted "forever," our connection was magical, passionate and mutual. And when she broke up with me, I was shocked and shattered. 

Nothing had prepared me for how much it would hurt, or even that it might happen at all. But in the aftermath, crying for days on my old green stuffed chair, I realized that although she and I had been madly in love, we had never talked about what we each wanted from our relationship, what we intended, or how we would navigate it if things got tough.

What did I want, and how could I become fully ready for it, available for it, and capable of it? I had never asked myself those kinds of questions, and I realized belatedly that it was highly unlikely I could find a compatible partner without that. 

Honestly, I had seen the red flags from the beginning. My partner hadn't deceived me. She was not at fault. I had deceived myself because I didn't know what else to do when I was in love. 

"Oh, sweetheart," I wish I could say now to that younger self of mine. "There is a better way." 

That shocking pain was my wakeup call, and started me on a quest which eventually became Conscious Girlfriend.

But because no one was offering me the kind of information I now teach, I had to learn the hard way. 

And I wish I could say I learned it quickly. But, I didn't. I went through two more shattering breakups -- and getting a Ph.D. in Transpersonal Psychology and a lot of additional training, before I could even begin to map out what I now teach as the Roadmap to Conscious Lesbian Dating and Lasting Love.  

There wasn't a roadmap for lesbians who wanted good relationships, but I compiled one myself. 

Now I offer a faster, easier path to women and adjacent non-binary people who are ready to choose healthy love. Since the book Conscious Lesbian Dating & Love came out in 2015, women from 25 countries have taken our classes -- and every day I receive emails letting me know how it has changed their lives.

I really believe that together, in Conscious Girlfriend, we are co-creating a new world, one that can truly nourish us, not just through romantic love, but also through community and connection.

And if you want to take the fast track, I highly recommend you get some Conscious Girlfriend Coaching to support you 1:1, along with our classes that provide both the content you need, and the community support to make your journey easier, faster and more fun. 

I highly recommend all our coaches! And I personally am only able to support a very few people who are already in my programs. But if you're drawn to work with me directly, I'd be honored to support you in preparing to find the woman of your dreams, and making sure your emotional and sexual bond stays strong.