The La Vie Story
 by Jeanie Price, MFTLa Vie's story began in 1980 at Fuller
Theological Seminary (FTS) in Pasadena, when Dr. Walter Becker, a
professor in the Marriage and Family training program, shared his
dream of founding a Christian counseling center anchored in this
philosophy. Even before that, Walter and his wife, Fran, had been
exploring the concept of forming a Christian community where the
Beckers, Mark Baker, Dick and Nancy Savidge, would live together in
a large home. There would also be facilities for counseling and
psychotherapy at this home. Although the dream was never realized,
this group, plus a number of others, began planning meetings in
1980, at the home of Kevin Lake, M.D., where the concept of whole
person care was explored and developed. We hoped that the group
would include, on site if possible, psychologists and marriage and
family therapists, physicians (part time, nurses, and a
nutritionist.
The first people to start seeing clients for therapy were Mark Baker
and Dick Savidge, under the supervision of Dr. Becker. Fran Becker
and Jeanie Price, and a couple of others (all graduate students at
FTS) soon began counseling also. They used any room they could find
or rent by the hour: the basement at the Seminary Library, extra
rooms at the Marriage and Family administrative center on Ford
Place, therapy rooms in Dr. Ad Sylling's office. Once, Jeanie met
with a single male client in the corner of Bob's Big Boy restaurant
in Pasadena.
Walter
Becker, Ph.D., as the founding Director of La Vie, Inc. was one of
the first graduates in clinical psychology from Fuller Theological
Seminary, and was also an ordained minister in the Baptist Church.
Fran Becker had earned her M.A. in Gerontology at the University of
Southern California, and later became a Licensed Marriage and Family
Therapist.
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