I’m one of those people that’s always “talked to strangers.” “Stranger” than what, I wondered? So it’s no surprise I was led to all the work I’ve done. Whether it was my time in outdoor education or social work or policy or conflict resolution, all of it asked of me the willingness to be vulnerable. And it invited me to be willing to see the whole person, not just the one in crisis. I had to learn to resist reducing people to a moment in time.

For 20 years, I was entrusted with the complex traumas and stories of generations of individuals and families. I worked in highly intimate settings with people who have caused harm and been harmed – as most of us can identify with both. I helped families and community partners navigate painful processes after serious and violent harm through both short-term and long-term remedial care. I’m grateful for all the so-called “strangers” along the way who entrusted me with their stories. Because many of those stories and their authors became the messengers for legislative change I later helped facilitate through my policy work to champion community-based healing.

Then it really hit me that none of us wants to stay stuck in our worst moments, particularly while trying to heal them. And it was time to help folx over to the rest of what’s possible. Now the foundation of all that ‘boots on the ground’ work and real-time life-based learning supports my work coaching you toward somatic strengths-based empowerment and intimacy.

Many professionals refer to this as Somatic Sex, Love and Relationship Coaching, which it is. Honestly, Somatic Intimacy Coaching feels more accurate to me because intimacy, or the desire for it, is at the core of all our relationships. And I do believe it's a way forward as we tend to the magnitude of collective unrest and our yearning for finding slivers (or oceans!) of peace, pleasure and connection amidst disembodiment and overwhelm. This is straight up 'nervous system overhaul'. Just learning it (and practicing it) has been transformative and supportive in ways I didn't know I could access again after feeling so "broken” from my own overexposure to violence.

I’ve also come to realize that being queer has been incredibly advantageous as a somatic practitioner. For those of us who are queer and/or racialized practitioners, we learn to become so attuned to our own bodies in learning ourselves and how to simply exist in this world. This comes despite the dearth of negative messages we’re told about ourselves, or the persistent absence of our experiences and existence altogether.

To this end, I've explored pathways to healing that have been nature-based and tend to center in community more than institutions. My experiences have been spiritually guided at times. I have practiced restorative and transformative repair, and at times, integrated music. Rupture and repair are essential to my growth. I believe play is essential to maintain balance in our inner and outer being. And like all of us, I'm a work in progress so I bring humility and curiosity.