The Journey of Masa Aiba Goetz 

Masa Aiba Goetz, PhD, clinical psychologist, author, community activist, and “old folkie” passed away on April 23, 2012.  She was 83 and lived in Pacific Beach. 

In addition to maintaining a private practice in clinical psychology, Masa led workshops on relationships, stress reduction, Native traditions, and intuitive ways of knowing for community groups, professional and government organizations, and business. She also trained nurses, teachers, social workers, and other helping professionals in the use of her methods.

Until very recently Masa had been very active in local arts performances in San Diego with participation in local performances of the Vagina Monologues (March 2011, at the Moxie Theatre) and in a benefit concert held in December 2011 at the Lutheran Church in Pacific Beach to raise funds to assist the victims of the March 2011 tsunami in Japan.  Masa was also the founding mother of "Wild Jammin' Women," a music camp for women in Southern California that was inspired and directed by noted singer-songwriter, choral director, and vocal instructor Judy Fjell.  Masa attended Judy's WoMaMu (Women Making Music) camp in 2003 and came back to San Diego determined to bring Judy to southern California. With Masa as the "Queen Bee" and guiding light, Wild Jammin' Women conducted highly successful camps in the San Bernadino mountains northeast of Los Angeles.  At these camps women sang, drummed, laughed, and played under the tutelage of Judy Fjell, and other noted singer-songwriters, musicians, and instructors.

Dr. Goetz was also the author of "My Father, My Self" -- Understanding Dad's Influence on Your Life and co-author of "Getting Back Together," a best-selling guide to successful reconciliation. She was a featured relationship expert on numerous television and radio programs including "Sally Jesse Raphael," "Geraldo," and "Sonya Live." In addition, she was a founding member of Sunshine Village, a shelter for battered women in San Diego. More recently, Masa served on the San Diego Aging & Independent Services Advisory Council and was deeply committed to establishing community-based services for elderly persons living in Pacific Beach. 

Masa was born in New York City in 1928. She attended Wesley Junior College in Dover, Delaware and graduated from American International College in 1951. Later, she obtained a Masters of Library Science Degree from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.  Finally, after moving to San Diego in the early 1970s, Masa obtained her Doctoral Degree in Clinical Psychology from the Professional School of Psychological Studies at age 60.  Subsequently, she established a successful private practice that specialized in helping individuals, couples, and families to resolve personal and relationship issues.  

Masa is the daughter of Chusaka Aiba and Elsa Burger who met in New York City after emigrating from Japan and Germany. She was previously married to Samuel Cabot Bidwell who died of leukemia within a year of their marriage and shortly before the birth of her first son. She later married Joseph Goetz and had two sons in this second marriage.