What's in a Name? - Jodi Klugman-Rabb

Who am I? That’s the question our guest asked herself as she stared at the results of a DNA test that she’d taken just for fun.

Jodi Klugman-Rabb (Rabb is her married name) was raised in Marin County, California, an only child of her mother and a father she describes as abusive. By the time she was 2 her mother was divorced and a few years later, married Wayne, the man who would become her stepfather. A person that Jodi describes as kind and “generous of spirit”. But it was roughly 8 years later, when Jodi was 12 years old, that she learned that the man she knew as her stepfather was really her biological Dad.

Wild, right? The discovery was a welcome one to young Jodi. Wayne was a wonderful father to Jodi and gave her the kind of love and support she needed. Sadly, Jodi’s time with Wayne was short. He died when she was only 22, leaving behind a host of memories and a sense of identity that launched her into adulthood. Although her family was not particularly “religious”, in college Jodi embraced Judaism, an ancestral and faith tradition she had inherited from her father.  She married a Jewish man, joined a local synagogue, began a successful career as a psychotherapist and had two children.

And then one day all that changed. She’d taken a 23 and Me DNA test on a whim, curious to learn more about her ancestral heritage. What she discovered shook her to the core.

Jodi, a vivacious and precocious redhead had never felt like she belonged. She didn’t resemble the other Jewish girls she knew, and grew up with a nagging sense that something just wasn’t right. It took the results of a DNA test to help her understand why.

Although it took two years for her to completely make sense of what she discovered that day, it changed her life. Already a practicing psychotherapist with a thriving practice, Jodi’s own experience reshaped her sense of identity and led her to focus her practice on helping others to understand theirs. She pioneered the only mental health treatment protocol dedicated to DNA surprises, called Parental Identity Discovery™; a unique, holistic approach to resolve trauma, synthesize identity and adjust to family dynamics. In 2001, Jodi received a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology from Dominican University of CA, and in 2004 obtained licensure as a Marriage and Family Therapist and later Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor.

She embarked on a doctoral program at Touro University Worldwide in 2020 and expects to receive a PsyD in Human & Organizational Psychology in Fall 2022. She currently serves as a professor at Dominican University of CA’ s graduate program in Counseling Psychology.

You can listen to Jodi’s episode here.

To learn more about Jodi’s work, please explore the following resources.

Do you know someone who has followed their spark and giving back to their community? They could be featured on an upcoming episode of From Sparks to Light. Send us an email at suzanne@suzannemaggio.com.