About
Here is a small part of my story.
Years ago, I started seeking support after my own challenges with a history of perinatal trauma, post-traumatic stress, and what was diagnosed as an anxiety disorder. After trying many traditional avenues, such as talk therapy and coaching, I arrived to somatic therapy. Discovering somatics felt like a gentle landing. After years of overriding my own inner voice and impulses, I was developing a deep sense of trust in the intelligence of my own body. I realized that there was an intelligence to the protective responses that I had grown to despise, or that I believed were just part of “who I was.” Discovering a felt sense of boundaries, connecting with an embodied sense of safety, and finding agency and choice all came into my life from doing this work.
There is a simplicity in somatic work that felt organic from the get-go. I now know that I was resonating with something deeply primal, which is our primary language of movement, sensation, and breath. The language of the felt sense is the first language we spoke when we transitioned into this life after all! Gently and slowly, I made my way back.
As a practitioner, I have a particular interest in developmental trauma, which comes directly from my own personal experience and healing. More specifically, in the past year, I have started studying pre and perinatal experiences. I am dedicated to being a lifelong student.
I have a deep passion in supporting individuals in feeling more present, joyful, and fulfilled. I believe that it is our birthright to be in this dance of life.
I am constantly in awe of our bodies’ ability and willingness to heal. Doing this work is one of the greatest gifts of my life.
Trainings and Certifications:
Academic Training:
B.A. in Psychology with a concentration in Developmental Psychology at Athabasca University (to be completed in 2024).
Certifications
Somatic Stress Release Certification, Level I, II, and III with Dr. Scott Lyons.
Prenatal and Perinatal Educator Certificate Program with APPPAH.
Pregnancy Dialogues Facilitator Training with Dr. Henrik Norholt and Dr. Raylene Phillips.
Trauma-Informed Breathwork Facilitator Training at Pause Breathwork with Samantha Skelly.
Lamaze Childbirth Educator Certification (to be completed Fall 2024).
Somatic Experiencing Practitioner Training (to be completed in 2025).
Health Coaching Training Program at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition.
Somatic and Trauma Trainings
Crisis Stabilization and Safety Training with Somatic Experiencing International.
Comprehensive Interpersonal Neurobiology Course with Dan Siegel’s Mindsight Institute.
Certificate in Trauma Studies with the Trauma Research Foundations (to be completed Fall 2024).
Healing Trauma Certification with Dan Siegel’s Mindsight Institute.
Somatic Attachment Therapy Certificate with Dr. Scott Lyons and Kai Cheng Thom.
Somatic EMDR Therapy with Dr. Scott Lyons and Dr. Arielle Schwartz.
Integrative Somatic Therapy Certificate with Dr. Scott Lyons, Dr. Arielle Schwartz, and Nkem Ndefo.
Working With Complex Trauma Course with Dr. Peter Levine and Dr. Diane Poole Heller.
Coupling Dynamics Course with Kathy Kain.
Identifying and Treating Dissociation Course with the National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioural Medicine
Integrative Parts Work Certificate, Level I and II with Fran Booth.
Activate Your Inner Jaguar: Somatic Healing Through Movement, with Kimberly Ann Johnson.
Applied Polyvagal Theory in Yoga, Level I and II with Dr. Arielle Schwartz and Dr. Stephen Porges.
Healing Trauma Course with Dr. Peter Levine.
Developmental Trauma Resolution and Prenatal/Perinatal Experiences:
Transforming the Experience-Based Brain, Module 1, 2, and 3 with Stephen Terrell.
NeuroAffective Touch Course with Dr. Aline Lapierre.
Advanced Somatic Resolution Skills for Perinatal Trauma with Dr. Abi Blakeslee and Kate White.
Leading Edge Somatic Skills: Frontiers in Prenatal and Perinatal Healing with Kate White.
Healing Early Developmental Trauma Course with Myrna Martin.
Pre and Perinatal Trauma Course with Dr. Raja Selvam
The Teaching of Ray Castellino Course: Dropping into Prenatal and Perinatal Implicit Memory with Ease.
Twin Dynamics and The Baby’s Experience Course with Kate White.
The Birth Mask Reveal, Method Training Level I with Karlton Terry.
Treating Babies Training Program with Dr. Jonathan Evans.
Global Quality Maternal and Newborn Care Course at Yale University.
Anatomy, Movement, and Primitive Reflex Integration:
Brain and Sensory Foundations, Level I with Sonia Story.
Rhythmic Movement Training International, Level I and II.
Rhythmic Movement Training International, Making Connections Course.
Pilates and Movement Teacher Certification with Body Harmonics Institute and Clinic.
Clinical Somatic Exercises Level I and II with the Somatic Movement Center.
Balance System and Vestibular Integration Course with BodyHarmonics.
Anatomy for Motion Course with Margot McKinnon of BodyHarmonics.
SI Join: Critical & Functional Link Course with Margo McKinnon of BodyHarmonics.
Anatomy of the Chest, Neck, Abdomen and Pelvis Program at Yale University.
Aromatherapy, Alternative Medicine, and Energy Work:
Clinical Aromatherapy Certification with School of Essentria.
Pregnancy and Aromatherapy Course with School of Essentria.
Aromatherapy and Children Course with School of Essentria.
Reiki I and II with Reiki Master Kelsey Patel.
Teaching and Mentoring:
Mentor at Pause Breathwork in the Trauma-Informed Breathwork Facilitator Program and Somatic Coaching Certification since April 2022.
Mentor at the Association for Pre- and Perinatal Psychology and Health in the Educator program since December 2023.
Consultant for coaches, therapists, and healers wishing to deepen their trauma-informed facilitation skills.
Clinical Supervision:
Group consultation with world-renowned trauma expert Stephen Terrell (PsyD, SEP) and Ellen Keating (PsyD, SEP).
Clinical supervision with members of the Somatic Experiencing International faculty.
Professional Associations:
Association des Naturothérapeutes du Quebec (ANQ)
Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health (APPPAH)
Somatic Experiencing International (SEI)
United States Association for Body Psychotherapy (USABP)
Association for Training on Trauma and Attachment in Children (ATTACh)
Lamaze International
“At the very center of our being is rhythmic movement, a cyclic expansion and contraction that is both in our body and outside it, that is both in our mind and in our body, that is both in our consciousness and not in it”
— Andrew Weil, MD