Music ✧ Emotions ✧ Beauty ✧ Learning ✧ Being in relationship ✧ Being outdoors ✧ Being real rather than right ✧ Breath ✧ Bodies ✧ The need for Social Justice, Equity, and Inclusion ✧ Laundry ✧Children ✧ Love ✧ Teaching ✧ Listening ✧ Excel Spread Sheets ✧ Witnessing ✧ Reading ✧ Daring feats of kindness ✧ Grace ✧ Gardening ✧ Climate Change ✧ Democracy ✧ DOGS, especially our dog, 🐕 Felipe ✧ My wonderful life with Vic Cooper, my husband of 36 years ✧ The tight knit family bubble we share with our son and daughter-in-law and our two exceedingly cute grandchildren ✧ Living in Big Sur, California.
Embodiment as a path of study and devotion holds the felt sense of life as we live it, the creative qualities of imagination, inspiration, and art and the transcendent qualities of presence, compassion, love and Union with Spirit.
I have approached embodiment through every doorway I could find: Bodywork, Yoga, dance of all kinds, hiking, living life, being a mother, a lover, Somatic psychotherapy, meditation, thru professional trainings, academic programs, and constant dedicated practice.
Highlights from my work experience include:
The words I hear the most about my style of teaching are: clear, kind, insightful, and courageous. This means a lot to me as so many of my teachers have held me in the same way.
Keep updated on my offerings by subscribing to my mail list.
I acknowledge the indigenous Esselen Tribe of Big Sur as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which my family lives today.
I pay my respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
Ph.D.: Somatic Psychology / Dance Movement Therapy 8/2000 – 10/2003
The Union Institute and University, Cincinnati, OH
Clinical Internship 1/1984 - 8/1988
Counseling: Individuals, Couples, Families and Children, under the supervision of Nancy Lunney MFT., Frances Verrinder MFT & Karuna Licht MFT. Esalen Institute, Big Sur, CA.
Master of Arts: Counseling Psychology 1987
Vermont College of Norwich University, VT
Bachelor of Arts: Psychology 1982
Vermont College of Norwich University, VT
Prenatal and Birth Therapy: Ray Castellino Professional training 2001
Marriage, Family Therapist State of California License #mft24975 1989
California Massage Certification -Twin Lakes Collage Santa Cruz, CA. 1982
California Association of Marriage Family Therapists (CAMFT)
United States Association for Body Psychotherapy (USABP)
International Conscious Movement Teachers Association. (ICMTA)
IDEA Health and Fitness Association (IDEAfit+)
Private Clinical Practice: Integrated Body Psychotherapy 9/1989 – 8/2001 Mill Valley, CA.
Communication Facilitator for Esalen Employee Groups 1/1986 -5/1989 Big Sur, CA
Esalen Institute. In-House Psychotherapeutic Staff 8/1984- 8/1989
Marriage, Family & Child Counseling, Big Sur, CA
Psychiatric Out-Patient Work Spring 1981
Implemented a body oriented treatment plan with out-patients, New Orleans, LA.
Co-Founder & Volunteer - Open Floor International Nonprofit 3/2014 - Present
A collaborative organization that’s chosen a business model called, Dynamic Governance a non-authoritarian, collaborative model that reflects the same values of inclusion, equality and radical responsibility that we teach in our practices. OFI offers embodied movement programs worldwide, trains professional Movement teachers and Therapy In Motion practitioners
Founder – 5Rhythms Center for Therapeutic Study, CA 1/2007 - 5/2010
Offers Movement Therapy Trainings for therapists and health professionals, public classes, weekend and week-long workshops utilizing Gabrielle Roth’s 5Rhythms™movement practice and Gestalt Therapy.
The Moving Center School, CA 1/1992 – 12/2006
Offers public classes, weekend workshops and yearly Teacher Trainings in Gabrielle Roth’s 5Rhythms™ movement practice.
Director- Bay Area Institute of Integrative Body Psychotherapy 7/1991 - 12/1994
Organizing, promoting and instructing on-going professional training groups and small intensives for the lay person. Supervision groups and consultation.
Community Movement Program at Esalen Institute 10/1982 - 8/1988
Supervised and coordinated all in-house movement programs, trained new faculty, evaluated and implemented guest teachers, scheduled events and master classes for local and seminarian communities.
Experiencing Esalen: The Body 4/1982 - 7/1984
Led and coordinated Esalen's monthly introduction workshops to body-oriented therapeutic approaches. One weekend and one week-long each month.
Open Floor workshops and professional trainings 6/2013 - Present
Movement Meditation + Movement Therapy 5/2003 - present
Facilitating week-long, weekend and two year on-going groups in 5Rhythms Movement Therapy & Open Floor dynamics in USA, Canada, Europe, and Middle East
Integrative Body Psychotherapy: Professional Trainings 1989 - 2011
A series of on-going training groups in Boulder, CO; San Francisco, CA; Montreal, Canada; Quebec City, Canada; Calgary, Canada; Los Angeles, CA; Zurich, Switzerland.
Human Sexuality 1/1997 - 1999
Graduate level course at J.F.K. University in the Holistic Health Masters program.
Sexuality Symposium 6/1995
Co-led with Kekuni Minton and Susan Aposion, Naropa Institute Boulder, CO.
Emotional and Physical Fitness 4/1985
with Jessica Britt Intensive training; Esalen Inst. Big Sur, CA.
Foundations of Body Image Workshop 7/1982 – 8/1984
Co-led with Deane Juhan, author of Job's Body. Esalen Institute Big Sur, CA.
Integrative Body Psychotherapy 5 day workshops 6/1982 - 12/1992
Co-led with Dr. Jack Rosenberg, founder of Integrative Body Psychotherapy. A series of on-going experiential workshops taught three to five times a year at Esalen Institute, Big Sur, CA.
Moving Center School Workshops 1/1992 – 1/2013
Member of the teaching faculty for Gabrielle Roth’s international institute based on her 5Rhythm™ work. Three day to seven day formats, taught three to eight times a year in U.S., Canada and Europe.
Moving Center School Classes 1/1992 – 1/2013
Movement classes based on the work of Gabrielle Roth. Weekly classes and weekend intensives in Mill Valley and Sausalito, CA.
Park Elementary School 9/1994 – 12/1994
Classes in the 5Rhythm™ for 2nd, 3rd and 4th graders.
Esalen Institute Massage Certification Program 6/1989 - 8/1989
New Perspectives in Anatomy for Body-Workers Workshop 6/1987-7/1988
5-day workshop using psychotherapeutic technique, dance therapy, and anatomical lectures to understand the human body. Co-led with Deane Juhan. Omega Institute, New York.
Zist Institute/Esalen Massage Certification Program 3/1985 - 3/1987
Co-led with Deane Juhan a series of trainings designed to certify massage professionals, Penzberg, Germany
Dance Therapy/Anatomy Through Movement 1/1981 - 8/1989
Individual and series of classes, varying in content, Esalen Institute, Big Sur, CA.
Massage Workshops 12/1980 - 3/1989
Weekend, series, and individual classes for Esalen Institute seminarians and staff.
Exercise Stretch and Aerobic Programs 8/1980 - 7/1989
A daily routine designed for the health and well-being of the Esalen and Big Sur communities which included modern and jazz dance techniques, yoga, Tai Chi, and improvisation. Twice weekly.
Jazz Dance 8/1980 - 8/1988
Esalen Community 4-8 classes weekly and one intensive training a year.
PreSchool Teacher 9/1978 - 9/1980
Esalen Institute's Gazebo Pre-school
Massage and Deep-Tissue Practitioner 1980 - 1989
Big Sur, Marin County, San Francisco, CA
Gestalt Awareness Practice 1/1989 - Present
Instructors: Richard Price (co-founder of Esalen Institute) & Christine Price, on- going workshops, open seats, trainings and practice. Esalen Institute, Big Sur, & Marin County, CA. Currently working with Chris Price at Tribal Ground Santa Cruz.
Integrative Body Psychotherapy 6/1981 -11/2015
Studied directly under Dr. Jack Lee Rosenberg, author of Body, Self & Soul; Sustaining Integration, andTotal Orgasm, and founder/director of The Institute for Integrative Body Psychotherapy; a form of therapy integrating depth psychology with breath-work, body-work, and transpersonal work.
Castellino Prenatal and Birth Therapy Foundation Training 1999– 2001
Studied with Ray Castellino, Santa Barbara, CA. A 360-hour professional training including process workshops and practitioner trainings. Training to resolve and re-pattern prenatal and birth trauma imprinting.
Workingwith Trauma 2/1993 -3/1998
A series of workshops taught by Dr. Peter Levine; a somatic approach to working with shock and trauma for clients in individual therapy. Berkeley C.A.
Encounter 4/1987
Instructor: Will Shutz
Reichian and Gestalt Training 9/1982 - 12/1986
Instructors: Dr. Peter Levine, Richard Price &Christine Price. Esalen Institute, BigSur, CA.
FamilyTherapy Training 1/1984 - 3/1986
Instructor: Frances Verrinder, MFCC Esalen Institute, BigSur, CA.
Techniques of Group Leading 8/1982 – 1/1983
Instructor: Janet Zuckerman, Esalen Institute, Big Sur,CA.
Movement, Dance & Meditation -The 5Rhythms™ 1/1979 – 1/2013
A practice developed by Gabrielle Roth, founder of The Moving Center Dance Theater Company, The Moving Center School and author of Maps To Ecstasy and Sweat Your Prayers. Participating in two to four intensive trainings with Gabrielle Roth each year. In this form of sacred dance, emotional expression, theater, ritual, meditation, sound, writing and rhythm work is utilized.
Contact Improvisation 4/1981 – 4/1988
Instructors: Nancy Stark Smith, Mangrove Performance Group and others
Hatha Yoga 6/1987 – 6/1988
Instructors: Ganga White & Tracey Rich
Body/Mind Centering 5/1983- 5/1988
A series of trainings with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Lenore Grubinger and Marge Mills. A form of body therapy that includes developmental movement patterns and the use of movement rhythms for effecting change in each of the physiological systems of the body.
Jazz Dance Technique 1983 – 1984
Instructor: Ed Mock
Waves and Whispers - an intensive in Continuum Movement 1/1983 - 2/1983
Instructors: Emily Conrad Da'oud, and Susan Harper
Creative Movement 5/1981
Instructor: Anna Halprin
Tamalpa Training Program of Dancers Workshop 9/1980 - 12/1980
Instructor: Anna Halprin + Daria Halprin
Jazz Dance Technique 1980 - 1989
Extensive on-going training in Jazz dance technique with The Paul Steffen Company, Rome, Italy
T'ai Chi Chih 5/1979 - 6/1979
Instructor: Cathrine Elber
Bodywork Training 11/1984
Instructor: Ed Maupin
Bodywork Intensive 11/1983 - 12/1983
Instructor: Dub Leigh. Included Polarity, Feldenkrais, Trigger Point,
Deep Tissue techniques.
Bodywork Training 8/1982 – 9/1982
Instructor: Loren Barry
Kinesiology 8/1981 - 9/1981
Intensive led by Dawn Sare, Monterey CA.
Rolf Movement 8/1981
Instructor: Gail Switzer, Heather Wing and Janie French
Rolfing (body-work technique) Summer, 1980
Apprenticeship with Rolfer Noel Delevett, Big Sur, CA.
Esalen Deep Tissue Training 1/1979 - 1/1981
Instructor: Al Drucker, Rolfer, Acupuncturist and Homeopath
