Dave is a retired 60-something therapist/writer/educator. A mid-life career transition after catastrophic loss included a master’s in counseling from The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology, followed by invitations to teach. At a West Michigan University, Dave taught foundational classes like spiritual formation, developmental psychology, research, and statistics; he also taught upper-level courses like psychopathology, learning theory, and electives in grief and loss. In 2017 he won the Colleen Smith Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Dave finished his doctoral studies in 2018, and with his dissertation on human suffering, won the Frederick Buechner Award. His work also appears in books like Hope in the Mourning Bible (Zondervan, 2013) and The Essential Bible Companion to the Psalms (Zondervan, 2010). As an educator, he wrote college-level curricula in psychology and Bible and Religion.

Dave’s contributions to counseling and education include twenty years as a counselor in private practice.

He regularly presents on the Psalms and themes of suffering.

He enjoys a partially reclusive life with his wife, Cynthia. His perennial interests are the intersections of theology, psychology, sociology, and what it means to be human.