About me
I have been working in the healing and helping professions for over 30 years. My path has taken me interesting places, from working with patients in acute care and inpatient rehabilitation to research, teaching, and medical/scientific writing. I served as the managing editor of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders under Dr. Eric Schopler, the founder of the TEACCH program for autistic individuals at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This collaborative model and working directly with autistic clients and their families are what initially inspired me to earn a masters degree in speech pathology.
I worked as a speech-language pathologist at major medical centers in the US and was selected for competitive fellowships at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, NC, and at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, GA. My areas of interest included feeding and swallowing disorders, developmental disorders, sensory integration, neurological disorders, cognitive development and disorders, learning disabilities, voice disorders, and public speaking. I also earned a doctorate in Communication Sciences & Disorders, with a focus on the application of neuroscience to medical, cognitive, and developmental conditions.
I’m a trauma survivor, too.
And I’m passionate about the modalities that helped me heal
and return to my true self.
In later years, my interests shifted to the neurobiology of trauma, safety, attachment, and emotional regulation. I completed advanced professional trainings in Somatic Experiencing®, Somatic Resilience & Regulation, Somatic Skills Online, Transforming the Experience-based Brain®, Integral Somatic Psychology, Dynamic Attachment Re-Patterning Experience (DARe), Embodied Recovery for Eating Disorders, and therapeutic yoga and movement.
For me, it was a natural development that grew out of both personal and professional curiosity. It’s fascinating to understand the role of the autonomic nervous system and trauma, and to use this as a lens for examining many of the issues mentioned earlier. To say it plainly, I’m a total geek about what the current research supports for helping us heal and live with greater ease in the world.
The current understanding is that you can’t talk your way out of trauma, pain, or discomfort. The modalities I use and find most helpful involve a “bottom-up” approach—that is, using the body and nervous system as a resource, rather than working purely cognitively or by changing our thinking (“top-down”). I work in a slow, supportive way to engage, complete, and resolve the body’s instinctual fight, flight, and freeze responses that became locked or truncated due to traumatic events. This is the foundation of Somatic Experiencing®, as well as expanding the capacity of the nervous system, restoring inner balance, enhancing resilience to stress, and increasing our vitality, equanimity, and capacity to actively engage in life. This way of resolving trauma doesn’t require clients to re-tell or re-live the traumatic event, which can be retraumatizing.
Whether you’re processing major life events or looking for help coping with day-to-day issues, I’d be honored to join you on your journey. I know first-hand the importance of having compassionate, attuned support for engaging in deep work. So the therapy I offer is experiential and relational, and the body and nervous system are our powerful resources for building resiliency and feeling more at ease.
How I Give Back
I value being of service to my community and being in connection with others. I have volunteered with Habitat for Humanity; the Orange County Rape Crisis Center in Chapel Hill, NC; Crisis Ministries in Charleston, SC; Trauma Intervention Program of Western North Carolina; and Horse Sense of the Carolinas outside of Asheville, NC.
My Background
Somatic
Somatic Experiencing Practitioner
Certified Safe & Sound Protocol Provider
Sensory Mosaic of Healing: Portal into Transformation
(SEGAN & Safe & Sound Protocol)
Internship with Ana do Valle, OTR, SEP
Somatic Resilience and Regulation
Kathy L. Kain, PhD, SEP, & Stephen J. Terrell, PsyD, SEP
Somatic Skills Online (adapted from Touch Skills Training)
Kathy L. Kain, PhD, SEP
Transforming Touch® Practitioner
Transforming the Experienced-Based Brain
Stephen J. Terrell, PsyD, SEP
Integral Somatic Psychology Professional Training, Module 1
Raja Selvam, PhD
Pre- and Perinatal Trauma
Raja Selvam, PhD
Attachment
Attachment & Trauma Mastery Program
Diane Poole Heller, PhD
DARe 1: Healing Early Attachment Wounds
(Dynamic Attachment Re-patterning Experience)
Diane Poole Heller, PhD
DARe 2: Creating Healthy Adult Relationships
Patti Elledge, MS, SEP
DARe 3: Neurobiology of Loving Relationships
Diane Poole Heller, PhD
DARe 4: Victim-Perpetrator Dynamics and Disorganized Attachment
Diane Poole Heller, PhD
Healing Sexual and Sexuality Trauma
Full Embodiment: Getting to the Core of Sexuality Trauma
Ariel Giarretto, LMFT, SEP, Somatic Experiencing Faculty
Healing Sexual Trauma: A Somatic and Attachment Approach
Peter Levine, PhD, & Diane Poole Heller, PhD
Eating Disorders
Embodied Recovery for Eating Disorders
Embodied Recovery Institute, Durham, NC
Levels 1 and 2
Paula Scatoloni, LCSW, CEDS, SEP, & Rachel Lewis-Marlow, MS, EdS, LPC, LMBT
Yoga & Movement Therapy
Yoga Therapy (455 total hours)
Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy Training (200 hours)
Yoga Teacher Training (200 hours)
Asheville Yoga Center
Yoga Nidra Intensive: Reduce Pain, Trauma, & Stress (40 hours)
Indu Arora, PhD
Asheville Yoga Center
Yoga, Psychology, & Trauma (15 hours)
Janelle Railey, LPC
Asheville Yoga Center
Academic Background
Doctor of Philosophy
Communication Sciences and Disorders
Arnold School of Public Health
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC
Coursework toward Master of Health Administration (3 semesters)
Department of Health Administration and Policy
Medical University of South Carolina
Charleston, SC
Master of Science
Speech-Language Pathology
Department of Allied Health, School of Medicine
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC
Master of Arts
French
Middlebury College, VT, & Universite de Paris X Nanterre, France
Bachelor of Arts
With Honors and Distinction
Phi Beta Kappa
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC