TairaStJohn.com

Psychotherapist, Life Coach, Writer and Producer . . .

Communications and Entertainment, Inc. - CEI/ St. John Productions

Taira St. John, Ph.D., M.F.T.

Before becoming a psychotherapist, I was a communications executive and film and video producer in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and New York City, where I founded St. John Productions (SJP). For eight years I was a member of the White House Press Corps, writing on the President, Arms Control and the Federal Budget for nightly and monthly reports to the international commodities industry and U.S. embassies abroad. During this time, I also directed theatres and produced large theatrical productions, videos, print projects and communications campaigns for large corporate and non-profit clients.  Despite my dedication as a psychotherapist, I have not been able to leave this love of  writing, communications and entertainment behind, and still pursue it with a number of projects, usually non-profits in need.

St. John Productions (SJP), formerly Communications and Entertainment, Inc., is an independent film production company dedicated to producing character-driven movies, documentaries and musicals for stage and screen that lift the human spirit through personal change in the face of challenge. I am especially interested in stories that portray people who may be different, but share common goals, problems and feelings with others, in the face of misunderstanding and crucial personal challenges. 

In addition to my therapy practice, I now combine psychology with theatrical screenwriting, documentary video and stage productions, and have several projects in development. Current film and video projects include: an ensemble feature film set against the agrarian mountain-lake beauty of Lake County, the new wine country of northern California; "The Perpetrators", an independent feature film, and "Scot-Free: Breaking the Violence Habit", a documentary and online learning project about male domestic violence offenders participating in a 52-week rehabilitation program required by law, similar to the program I have directed since 1993.

My current projects include a screenplay about two Berkeley coeds and their metropolitan moms who come to Lake County for a weekend wine spree and risk their hearts and psyches with bikers, winemakers and their own men in dramatic and unexpected ways.  I also work with independent research projects on great Jungian analysts, including Carl Jung, James Hillman and Marion Woodman, for an anthology and for my radio series, "The DNA of Carl Jung," on depth psychology, introduced in 2009 by Stephen Aizenstat, founding president of Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, CA.

 I am also producing and hosting ayear-long series of interviews with winegrape growers, winemakers, and other vintners.  "The Elixir of Lake County: the New Wine Country of Northern California", was introduced by Debra Sommerfield, President of the Lake County Winegrape Commission,  in her interviewlast summer to open the series on July 10, 2013.  Sometime in the next two years, I hope to launch a brief radio interview series on Joseph Campbell, introduced by Jonathan Young, the founder and curator of the Joseph Campbell Archives at Pacifica, who now directs his own mythological learning center, and teaches at several universities, including Pacifica. The Joseph Campbell collection is now housed in Opus Archives that includes the archives of other major analysts and writers, such as James Hillman and Marion Woodman, also located at Pacifica.

Ideas to be further written or developed include: "Heavenly Express," a musical-comedy mythological fable about a journey from Grand Central in New York City to the centermost (innermost) town in the United States aboard a magical gleaming white train that lets you get on or off only according to your own soul's development; a mystical drama for stage and screen that features great and imaginal thinkers from the past; and a movie space trilogy about Lake County's ancient and mysterious origins and its current global purpose.  
I enjoy working with writers, directors, producers, actors and other performing artists or artists or designers, as well as technical production crews in the movie, televison or theatrical community in conceptualizing and developing projects, and with clients in developing their own film or stage projects that fulfill their own creative goals. This can also be achieved within the context of depth therapy.

Other projects have included directing national public relations and marketing programs for large non-profits and government agencies, such as the American Red Cross, Bread for the World, the National Education Association (NEA), the International Public Affairs Center for Television (INPACT) and Harvard University.  As a member of the State Department's Foreign Service Journal Advisory Board for three years, I edited articles distributed to our  international diplomatic corps and embassies abroad; and later served as the Publishing Director for the 450-page U.S. Agricultural Policy Guide.

After training on the Shift Network for 20 weeks last year to become an International Peace Ambassador, I founded and directed activities for the Lake County Summer of Peace from June 22 through September 21, 2012.  This 90-day celebration was designed to lift the consciousness of Lake County during a challenging economic period, and to draw tourists from surrounding counties, the Bay Area and southern California, and other western states to boost the local economy.  I am also continuing with counseling in private practice and serving as Director of Alternatives to Violence for men and women referred by the Lake County Superior Court.  

Please refer to the following websites or my attached resume for further information:  www.LakeCountySummerofPeace.com, www.PeaceCenter.us (in your address line).  

In my favorite community service, I am now serving on the Lakeport Economic Advisory Committee (LEDAC), to fulfill my major civic goal to  help Lake County economically to market and develop itself into a thriving tourist destination.

I look forward to hearing from you, and meeting with you personally to explore your interests and my background.  

I look forward to hearing from you, meeting you personally, and exploring with you personally, your interests, needs and projects, and together we may find a way to work together or collaboratively on a joint project from my Lakeport office or by phone or online. 

Email me at stjohnt@mchsi.com or (Call 707 262-0400 - see contact page) for questions or an appointment. Please leave a brief description of your idea or project.  

Please leave your email address and telephone number with your inquiry or other message, and let me know when you can most easily be reached.

                                                             Taira


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CEI / ST. JOHN PRODUCTIONS 

CLIENT LIST

Following are companies, organizations or government offices I have worked with on public relations, marketing, lobbying or other public education programs:

ABC/TV
Abuse Prevent’n.Team*
Alexandria Sculpture Festival
American Red Cross

Australian Travel Board

Banker’s Life Insurance

Bread for the World

California Graduate School of Psychology

CH Products*

City of Raleigh, N.C.**
 
City of Jacksonville, FL

Community for Creative Non-Violence**

DeCordova Museum

Direct Marketing Association (DMA)***

Direct Marketing Insurance Council (DMIC)      

Future Diagnostics, Inc.*

Fred’s Video News*

French Rags

Gillette

Harvard University

Hunt-Wesson

Investors Information Services (IIS)

Kraft Foods
Lake County Children’s Council*
Lake County Domestic Violence Prevention Council

Lake County Perinatal Subs. 


Madison Industries*

Mason Electric*

Medical Society of the State of New York***

Mobil Oil*

National Endowment for the Arts**

National Endowment of the Humanities**

National Education Association**

National Formaldehyde Association**

National Medical Enterprises*

National Public Affairs Center for Television (NPACT)

New York Times Marketing - 2 Sunday Supplements

NBC/TV

O’Neil Clinic*

Orville Redenbacher Popcorn**

Pacific Coast Colleges*

Pavilion at the Old Post Office**

Publishers Clearing House
Prudential Life Insurance 
Ringling Brothers/Barnum and Bailey
SmokEnders
Symposium on VoterParticipation  & Election Reform - U.S. Capital
Teleflora*

U.S. Dept. of Human Services

U.S. Postal Service
Westark Community College***
Work in America, Inc.
World Perspectives, Inc.

*     Video or film projects
**    Entertainment projects
***  New York Times Supplements


Note: Remainder are public relations, advertising, marketing communications or writing projects.


OTHER ASSOCIATIONS:

Alternatives to Violence of Lake County - Director (1993-2013)
Arkansas Cancer Society - Bid for Bachelors Committee - Chair, Celebrities Subcommittee
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists - Clearlake/Lakeport, CA

Clearlake Counseling Center - Founder and Clinical Director (After 3-year MFCC Internship, Sole Proprietor) - Clearlake, Lakeport and 

     Santa Rosa, CA (1993 - 2013)

First Family Friends and Family Reception Host for Clinton Inauguration - Kennedy Center - Washington, D.C.

Foreign Service Journal Editorial Board - Washington, D.C.

Hollywood Revitalization Committee - Hollywood, CA

KPFZ 88.1 fm - Board of Directors 8 years - Producer/Programmer/Host; Fund Raising and Events Chair; and Events - 2001 to present - LP

Lake County Community Theatre (LCCT) - Producer; Assistant Director - Board Secretary - Lake County Repertory Theatre (LCRT).

Lake County Head Start Family Service Center (Board Member) - Lakeport, CA

Lake County Primary Intervention Program (PIP) - Lake County Office of Education

Lake County Teen Alcohol Prevention Project (TAPP) - Panel - Lakeport, CA

Lake County Mental Health Advisory Board - Lakeport and Clearlake, CA

Lakeport Economic Development Advisory Committee (LEDAC) - Lakeport, CA

Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs - Lobbyist - Los Angeles, CA

Manager/Mediator, Family Court Services - Lake County Superior Court – Lakeport, CA

Mayor’s Committee for Downtown Development (Theater Subcommittee.) - Washington, DC

Mayor’s Select Commission on Coordinating Children’s Services - Philadelphia, PA

Mediator - Lake County Conflict Resolution Center - Small Claims Court - Lake County Municipal Court - Lower Lake, CA

Menninger Foundation - New York Committee - New York, NY/Topeka, KS

MENSA, International  - Scarsdale, NY

National Peace MuseumBoard Member - Washington, D.C.

National Peace Garden - Executive Director and Board Member

Oak Hill Middle School Care Team - Group Facilitator - Lower Lake, CA

People Ending Hunger, Inc. - President - Washington, D.C.

Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) - New York, NY

Rebuild L.A. - (Task Forces: Media and Racial Harmony/Discourse) - Los Angeles, CA

Republican County Central Committee - Candidates Committee - Equal Opportunities Sub-committee - San Francisco, CA

Republican Town Finance Committee - Co-chair - Lincoln, MA

Soper Reese Community Theatre - Fund Raising Committee; Chair, Management Committe - Lakeport, CA

Southern Home for Children - Board Member - Philadelphia, PA

Southwestern School for Girls - Board Member - St. Louis, MO

U.S. Agricultural Policy Guide - Publishing Director - Washington, D.C.

YWCA Board Member - Ft. Smith, AR


Served in the White House Press Corps for eight years (1981-89) during the Carter Administration and the Reagan-Bush Administrations),
writing on the President, Arms Control and the Federal Budget. Sources included the Pentagon and Capitol Hill.  Edited 400-page 
U. S. Agricultural Policy Guide for two years (1988 and 1989).

Directed marketing communications for World Perspectives, Inc. to international commodity trading company clients, including: 

            Archer-Daniels-Midland                 Mitsubishi

            Australian Wheat Board                 Mitsui

            Cargill                                               Nissho-Iwai

            Continental Grain                            Pillsbury

General Foods                                U.S. Mission to the European Community