The greatest mission of my work is to provide you with the tools to build a strong and grounded foundation that supports your health journey and life. I think of a "healthy" life as one that has an eye on your mental / emotional / spiritual / physiological well-being. From the daily nuts and bolts of how you live, to your internal connection to yourself, to your relationships and connection to the wider world and big picture.

Research shows that trust, connection, and safety in the therapeutic relationship is the highest indicator of “success” when working with a professional. Success in this way comes in the form of change and progress that many of us are seeking. My work rests on trust-building and relational strength to achieve results.

What works for one person is irrelevant for another. I have seen this firsthand in the diversity of people's circumstances I work with and is what I tailor-fit your treatments based on...the uniqueness of you and your life. I bring extensive experience working in patient care, counseling, & traditional western fields while orienting in a holistic way to the truth of the body and building a human connection. Your experience of safety and connection is my first priority.

Before we begin this work together, I want to remind you that it takes 100% commitment from us both to achieve measurable results. Accountability is achieved through direct and open communication, allowing for trust to occur, which is when the integration of the modalities we explore are best expressed.

To build a relationship of trust, I want to share with you the foundational building blocks of my work. This includes science-based education, trauma-informed perspectives and extensive training, holistic pelvic care (TM), plant-based and holistic practices, and somatic counseling. 

My Work's Building Blocks

Trauma-Informed

• Trauma-informed care, boundary awareness, consent-based work. #1. Always.
• Extensive experience working with trauma recovery, 10+ years experience in mental health. 5+ years working in women's pelvic health, and 14+ years with heavy duty focus on the health of myself (I make sure I am well and good so that we and our working relationship is well and good)
  

Somatic Counselor 

• Somatic Psychology, Body Psychotherapy (BP), Dance Movement Therapy (DMT), massage therapy
• EMDR therapy, a Somatic body based modality for trauma treatment
• Gestalt, "parts work" orientation, existentialism, psycho-analytic & psychodynamic informed
• Cultural competency
• Lineage / ancestral / inter-generational & family systems perspectives 

Bodywork Trainings Completed:

• Holistic Pelvic Care (HPC by Tami Kent), visceral organ therapies, abdominal therapy, nervous & endocrine system support
• Massage (I am a licensed massage therapist)

Science & Research-Based

• Nervous system support, informed by polyvagal theory, Somatic Experiencing (SE by Peter Levine), and Polyvagal theory (by Stephen Porges)
• Perinatal psychology, developmental psychology, developmental movement, and attachment theory
• Neurology and neuroscience, the neurobiology of attraction, & Attachment Theory

Plant-Based & Holistic Modalities 

• Plant medicine & how to work safely with herbalism, plants as medicine, and altered state experiences
• Soul-centric models, cosmology, earth-based medicine & ritual
• Holistic models including nutrition, yoga & meditation, physical movement / exercise, breathwork, mindfulness, and visualization

Sexual and Reproductive Health 

• Birth doula work, ethical birthing practices in systems & institutions centered around the birthing person's choice and autonomy
• Sacred sexuality, myth, language, story-telling / narrative work, and gender exploration
• Educated & informed about ethical non-monogamy, alternative, queer & kink lifestyles

If you have any questions about what this means or how I can best support you considering my approach, please get in touch. I look forward to talking with you, Alicia