I also have a long personal history of living with the effects of early developmental, complex trauma. It took decades for me to understand that’s what I was dealing with, and I’ve spent most of my life searching—often unsuccessfully—for freedom and relief. It wasn’t until I found approaches that specifically and skillfully centered the body and nervous system in healing that I finally started making more meaningful headway toward those ends.

So over many years, my personal lived experience overlapped again and again with my professional interests and training. I gradually began to study the body’s role in trauma and the impact of trauma on the nervous system, and I first started incorporating what I was discovering with my clients at a residential treatment center for trauma and addiction that recognized the importance of including the body in recovery. What I learned by continuing to help clients heal through their bodies informed my own healing and embodiment, and vice versa. And when the pandemic made it necessary for me to translate my therapeutic skills into online spaces, my work began to take the shape you see now: body-based, nervous system-informed classes, practices, and personalized support for people healing from trauma—people who’ve often put a whole lot of effort and work into healing already, but feel like something’s still missing. So many times, the body and nervous system are that missing piece.

My approach to healing draws from many different teachings and perspectives, as well as from my own direct experience. Some of the more prominent influences in my work include Deb Dana and Stephen Porges’ work with Polyvagal Theory, Peter Levine’s work of Somatic Experiencing (although I am not a SE practitioner), and primary reflex integration as taught by the Masgutova Institute, which provided me the first meaningful exposure I had to using somatic practices to reshape the nervous system. Below are some of the more significant professional trainings and experiences that shape and inform my work today:

• Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy Certificate with The Embody Lab

• SSP Yoda-Trained Provider with Carol Ann Brayley

• Certified Unyte Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) Provider

• Rhythm of Regulation polyvagal-informed professional trainings with Deb Dana

• Somatic Attachment Therapy Certification with The Embody Lab

• Inner Relationship Focusing training with Maureen Gallagher

• Safety, Belonging, and Dignity training with Staci Haines

• Somatic Embodiment and Regulation Strategies Certificate with Linda Thai

• Resting Your Nervous System training with Matt Licata

• Certified Trauma Recovery Coach with the IAOTRC

• MNRI (Masgutova Neurosensorimotor Reflex Integration) trainings with the Masgutova Institute

• SmartBody SmartMind training with Irene Lyon

• Integral Anatomy lab and project assistant with Gil Hedley, PhD, including 500+ hours of hands-on human anatomy dissection

• Former LMT at The Refuge, a Trauma & PTSD Residential Treatment Center

• Former Anatomy & Physiology and Bodywork Instructor at the Florida School of Massage

• Licensed Massage Therapist (FL Lic#MA40029) and Certified Reflexologist

• Florida School of Massage Graduate, 2003

• B.A. in Psychology from Agnes Scott College, 1999