Patricia Ann Norris

Patricia Ann Norris November 1, 1932 - July 21, 2018.

Patricia Ann Norris died peacefully on 21 July 2018 after a long, valiant struggle with cancer. Her son, Peter Norris, and daughter, Jeni Norris were by her side.

Pat was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Alyce and Hal Boyd. She was raised by her mother Alyce and stepfather Elmer Green in Southern California. She lived in Santa Barbara, California, New York City, Topeka, Kansas and Willits, California.

Pat was preceded in death by her parents and her brother, Doug Boyd. She is survived by Peter who lives in Topeka, KS, Jeni and her grandchildren Ivan and Miguel Kayser-Norris, who live in South Lake Tahoe, CA, her sisters Sandra and Judith and their families, and extended family and many friends around the world.

Pat attended UC Santa Barbara where she studied music and majored in voice before changing her focus and attaining her BA in psychology. Music and singing were always a source of joy and connection for Pat. She sang with her children on long road trips, loved chanting with her friends at Council Grove, and sang with the local choir in Willits. In her last days, singing and listening to loved ones sing her favorite songs was comforting-her smile is a sweet memory for all.

After college, Pat joined her family on a great adventure-traveling in Europe by motorcycle and then sailing their 52 foot ketch from England to Barbados. She had a lifelong love of travel and shared many adventures with her family and formed friendships and professional relationships around the world.

Pat married James Norris in 1959 and lived in New York City where Peter and Jeni were born. In New York she worked as a Rehabilitation Counselor at New York Guild for the Jewish Blind, ran a typesetting company with James, and taught elementary school. After she and James separated she planned to move back to California, but stopped in Kansas to visit her parents and ended up establishing a career and staying there for many years. Pat first worked at the Kansas Reception and Diagnostic Center. She created a self regulation training program for the inmates that became the basis of her dissertation. In 1977 Pat received her PhD in psychology from the Union Graduate School headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Following completion of her PhD Pat joined Elmer, Alyce and Judith Green and Dale Walters in the Voluntary Controls Program of the Menninger Clinic. She was a trailblazer in the fields of biofeedback therapy and psychoneuroimmunology, and was a loved and skilled clinician, author, scholar, researcher and teacher. She co-wrote "I Choose Life: The Dynamics of Visualization and Biofeedback" with Garrett Porter , describing the healing journey of a young boy who overcame brain cancer. She was Clinical Director of the Biofeedback and Psychophysiology Center at the Menninger Clinic from 1980-1994, Director of Clinical Psychoneuroimmunology at the Life Sciences Institute of Mind-Body Health, president of the Biofeedback Society of America in 1985, president of the International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine in 1996, a faculty member of the Karl Menninger School of Psychiatry, an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at the Union Graduate School, and Associate Professor of Transpersonal Psychology for HOLOS University Graduate Seminary for the last 16 years. Pat co-authored multiple scientific publications and served as a member of the editorial boards of Biofeedback and Self-Regulation and Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine. Her work emphasized integrating body, emotions, mind, and spirit through self regulation techniques, psychosynthesis, and imagery/visualization. Her research focused on treatment of hypertension, brainwave training and psychosynthesis for treatment of addictive disorders, and subtle energies and states of consciousness. Pat was so committed to sharing her love of these topics with her clients and students that she continued to work until shortly before her death.

Pat was the embodiment of unconditional love and optimism. Her favorite prayer was "The Great Invocation" Please remember her in joy, in song, in adventure, in intellectual pursuit, and in service to others. If she touched your life with kindness please pass that kindness on to others in her honor. Donations may be made to her favorite charity Doctors Without Borders.

A small, private celebration of life will be held for family only. The family asks that those who wish to share condolences and anecdotes do so through the (Midwest crematorium website. You can post messages through her Facebook memorial page if already connected to Pat through Facebook.