Who I Am
The path that brought me here today
Training
Formal credentials
Before I ever started seeing clients with complex trauma, I spent years educating myself. That process has never stopped. What follows is the formal record — but the real education has always been the work itself.
You cannot take someone somewhere you haven't been yourself.
Continuing Education
The ongoing study
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Shamanic Healing — 2013–16
Sandra Ingerman & Lineage
Online coursework with Sandra Ingerman — one of the most respected teachers of shamanic healing — alongside classes with an Austin-based teacher trained in her methods. This work deepened my understanding of the energetic and spiritual dimensions of healing that run alongside the somatic.
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Shamanic & Energy Work
Toltec Apprenticeships with Diana Adkins — 2012
Two consecutive six-month apprenticeships with Diana Adkins: the Spirit Weavers Toltec Apprenticeship and a Chakra Study Apprenticeship. This work brought a shamanic and energetic dimension to my practice that has informed everything since.
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Biomedical Foundation
Functional Blood Chemistry & Functional Endocrinology
Coursework in functional blood chemistry analysis and functional endocrinology (2008–09), deepening my understanding of the biomedical landscape alongside the energetic and somatic frameworks I was developing.
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Movement & Body
200-Hour Ashtanga Yoga Teacher Training — It's Yoga, San Francisco
Completed a 200-hour Ashtanga Yoga teacher training to deepen my understanding of the body in movement — and to be able to weave yoga-based practices into the healing work when appropriate.
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The Beginning
Berkeley Acupressure Institute & Allison Post
My first hands-on training was at the Berkeley Acupressure Institute. Alongside this, I was a patient of Allison Post — author of Unwinding the Belly and the Gut Wellness Guide — for years, and took a couple of classes with her. Her work on my own body was so profound it directly influenced my decision to go to acupuncture school.
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Foundational Training — 2001–02
Zen Shiatsu — Under the Tutelage of Pam Ferguson
Beginning in 2001, I studied Zen Shiatsu under the tutelage of Pam Ferguson for a year and a half — study that laid my real foundation in bodywork. It was Pam who recognized my commitment and guided me toward formal certification. Pam is a true lineage holder in this work and the author of the forthcoming From Hell to Health: Journey Through PTSD/PTSI (Do More Good Publishing) in which I am interviewed as a practitioner.
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Current Study
Chi Nei Tsang — Returning to the Lineage
I am currently returning to Chi Nei Tsang — studying within the lineage of Gilles Marin, whose work first reached me through Allison Post. The work that started everything is deepening still.
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Trauma Studies
Self-Directed & Formal Trauma Education
Pranic Healing, a Trauma Master Class, a course on race-based trauma at the National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine (NICABM), and acupressure and craniosacral classes. Alongside these, years of reading in the literature of trauma, somatic work, and body-centered healing.
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Mentorship
Lorie Dechar — Five Element Acupuncture & Alchemical Healing
A year-long mentorship with Lorie Dechar, whose work weaves Five Element theory with Jungian psychology, alchemy, and depth healing. Dechar is one of the most respected voices in the evolution of classical Chinese medicine in the West.
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Mentorship
Lonny Jarrett — Classical Chinese Medicine
Study with Lonny Jarrett, whose approach to Chinese medicine draws deeply from classical texts and the cultivation of spirit alongside the treatment of body and mind.
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Homeopathy — 2025
Immersive Clinical Study alongside an Experienced Homeopath
A year of working alongside an experienced homeopath in clinical practice — observing cases, learning the methodology, and deepening my understanding of constitutional treatment from the inside. I am currently exploring formal training programs and consider homeopathy an important part of where my practice is heading.
How I Work
The philosophy behind the practice
I don't want to keep people dependent on my helping them. My end goal is always to help you develop your own capacity — to eventually be able to do much of this work for yourself. In the beginning, you may not be able to, and that's what I'm here for. But healing is not a subscription. It's a process with a direction.
The most important thing I do is also the simplest: I make sure I am doing my own work. Dealing with my own history so that I know what it feels like to go through the process. You cannot take someone somewhere you haven't been.
Before every session I center myself and set intention — for your highest good and the highest good of everyone connected to you. You arrive into a space that has already been prepared.
"I've been hard-pressed to find anyone who doesn't have issues with at least one other person. That's where so much of the work lives — in the space between people, in what we absorbed and never put down." — Magic Healing Garden
How I Take Care of Myself
I know what this costs —
because I do it too
I have a therapist. A rolfer. An acupuncturist. My own constitutional homeopath. Someone I talk to when I need a second set of eyes on my work. I walk and hike. I do Chi Nei Tsang on myself. I do breathwork. I practice Qi Gong — including laughing Qi Gong, which is exactly what it sounds like. I work with my dreams. I tend to my inner children. I cook real food. I practice yoga and use a foam roller. I dance. I make art. I write. I read. I laugh as much as possible. I spend time with the people I love.
This is not a performance of self-care. It's just what keeps me functional and honest.
Ready to begin?
If something here resonated, reach out. We'll talk about what you're carrying and whether my approach is right for you.
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