Sometimes we question the choices we make, creating anxiety and self-doubt. This emotional pain and confusion often causes our bodies to react with panic, physical pain, fatigue, depression, shutdown, and “dis-ease”. Though we desperately try to get what we need, we feel frozen in our tracks or we run and try to hide from our pain. I have been in these places myself. Feeling intense fear and panic, I have turned to strategies of numbing out, frenetic doing mode, fighting against, and collapse. As the saying goes, “it works until it doesn’t”. When it stops working, we often seek help. When I turned to therapy for help and began using body-focused practices, my life changed for the better.

Along with the guidance I’ve been so fortunate to receive, my own experience has been a powerful teacher and tool for helping others. Early in my life, I came to know my body as a faithful vehicle to explore the world and a resource for healing. The experience of moving, running, and climbing trees were ways I learned to trust. Later, I turned to yoga and meditation as a way to deeply listen to my body and quiet my mind. I wholeheartedly trust in the beauty and wisdom of the body to foster healing from physical and emotional pain.

For over thirty years I have been developing my skills as a somatic therapist and helping others “tune in” to the body. First, as a physical therapist, I was given the foundation of structure, function and form. Then, as a yoga therapist and meditator, I became intimate with the subtle ways that breath and spirit move within us. Now, as a psychotherapist, I use somatic and relational psychology to bring self-awareness and acceptance to the full range of our experience as human beings. I weave all of my training together in celebration and wonder for each person’s journey.

During my adult years, I have taken important side-trips outside of work in a hospital, clinic, or office. I became an adaptive ski-instructor to share my love of outdoor sports with friends and clients in rehabilitation hospitals and my community. I became a wife and mother (not really a side-trip!) With a friend, I developed a storytelling game called Ask It! to bring families closer together. And for the past 10 years, I have taught yoga and mindful movement to underserved populations and trauma survivors, including earthquake survivors in Haiti.

This remarkable journey has kept me on a continuous path exploring ways of healing both individually and within community. Whether it is a yoga class, recovery meeting, church service, support group, or meditation retreat, a group has the potential to comfort and shape us. I am always looking for new ways to grow and heal in community and offer my gifts to clients, family, friends and our world. I feel blessed to share my passion with others!