My name is Dr. Petra Roesner, and I was born and raised in Germany, where I attended public school, obtaining my Abitur in 1987 from the Are Gymnasium in Bad Neuenahr. After high school, I completed an apprenticeship in Business Administration and Management in Ahrweiler, followed by one year of foreign language study in Bonn, after which I worked for an international company in Bonn as a project manager. Upon my move to the United States in 1993, I completed both my undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Arizona in Tucson, earning my Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Sciences and Near Eastern studies in 1996, and my Master of Arts degree in Educational Psychology in 1998.
As a social and human services professional, I have vast expertise working with individuals from early childhood to end of life care in the areas of child dependency subsequent of child abuse and neglect, wrap-around intensive in-home therapeutic support, trauma informed care and restorative care, mental and behavioral health and well-being, end of life care, service coordination, crisis intervention and management, and child and adolescent development. In these areas, I provided support to individuals and families using therapeutic approaches from family systems and attachment theory, various grief models, mindfulness and behavioral theory, trauma informed interventions and management of sex offenders. I have worked in office and in home settings, as well as a group home and in homes to support families of those receiving hospice care as well as the patients in end of life care.
Given my husband’s military career and multiple deployments, I decided to become a full-time mother for a while after the birth of my second son. During this time, I served my military community for many years, first as a Key Volunteer, and later as a Key Volunteer advisor. While we lived in Yuma, Arizona, I was also nominated and subsequently trained to assist the casualty notification team, because of my ability to help those in need and acute crisis.
In 2009, I decided to complete my PhD in Human Services, and while a doctoral student, I was nominated by various professors to serve as a peer mentor, where I helped guide peers through their studies.
With my dissertation, titled, “Beyond the Dojang: a Phenomenological Perspective on Transferring the Virtues of Taekwondo into Daily Life,” I was able to integrate two of my passions, moral/character development and Taekwondo. Based on the findings from my research, I wrote “Taekwondo, more than a martial art – a journey for life,” a semi-fictional book about Taekwondo practice, that outlines how Taekwondo students make positive changes in lives by living the tents of Taekwondo (courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and indomitable spirit) in their daily lives, when guided by authentic, caring, and transformational intructors, who help students overcome difficulties in their lives.
Since I have left the world of helping others through therapy, I started my first company “Focused Solutions Consulting” in 2012 and in 2017, shifted my focus to life, academic and grief coaching and transformative Taekwondo instruction. This shift/transition was majorly influenced by two life events: first, having lived in Hawaii for eight years, where I learned and lived the concepts of Aloha, Ohana (family) and Ha’O’Ponopono (to make right) both in my private and professional life and second, being a student of Taekwondo with a 2nd degree black belt. The latter has taught me to live my values and virtues to the fullest extend and to pay it forward and pass those skills learned in this martial art on to others, because, after all, Taekwondo is a life style. With that, I hope that I can bring those concept to those who need a listening ear and who want to make positive changes in their daily life. And I do this with care, compassion and responsiveness to reach balance, harmony and empowerment.
My other special interests are qualitative research, ethical principles and research and human services, patients’ rights and patient centered care, end of life care, Alzheimer and Dementia, moral and character development, development of critical thinking skills and Socratic inquiry as well as social learning and transformational/transformative leadership and development.
In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, cooking, reading, traveling and of course, Taekwondo.
After having lived in Germany, England, France, Arizona and Hawaii, we currently reside in Lithia, Florida.
Professional Memberships:
APA American Psychological Association
FCA Florida Counseling Association (Child and Adolescent Counseling and Education Supervision Professional/Associate membership)
Ethics, Code of Conduct and Best Practices as set forth by the above mentioned associations.