I started my career as a Somatherapist in 1997 after graduating from Heartwood Institute in Northern California. My training gave me the skills to see clues to people’s pain in their physiology and to facilitate trauma processing using bodywork that incorporated acupressure, massage, and hypnotherapy. In late 2026 (nearly 30 years from the start of my journey), I’ll complete my Somatic Experiencing Practitioner’s certification through Somatic Experiencing International.
Somatic Experiencing is a therapy that’s grounded in the work I learned at Heartwood, plus 3 decades of scientific research to determine the specifics of how people can safely and sustainably process their trauma.
Like other mammals on Earth, humans are neurologically wired for survival in ways that naturally process trauma.
However, factors in social development interrupt healthy ways of dealing with our experiences and may leave us spinning in what’s known as a “trauma vortex.” At Merry Hearts, we work to build your connection to resources that strengthen more regulated ways of being, so that when we feel triggered, we have ways to return to the present moment.
The goal is not to live completely peacefully without triggers. The reality is that each new day has the potential to turn up the volume in our nervous systems. Our goal in therapy together is to facilitate movement between these states of being so that you don’t get stuck there and can access healthy channels of regulation, connection, and inner wisdom, so you can make wise decisions for your health and well-being.