As a person with visual impairment, I have experienced over thirty eye surgeries. Being raised by parents who were both in the special education field was vitally important to my current day success. Although I grew up being able to see, I slowly lost vision over time. My freshmen year of high school my mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer for the third time, at the same time both of my retinas detached within a five week period and I underwent several emergency surgeries. Because of the trauma from the surgeries I could not physically open my eyes for over a month but I still had to find a way to attend and participate in school. In particular, geometry was challenging due to my vision loss. My mother created peg boards with nails and I used rubber bands to feel the shapes and performed the math equations verbally while doing mental math. We created graphs with thin wood with the lines carved into it and dried pasta was as the x and y axis of the graph. This was a trying time in my young life, however it showed me how to meet course objectives in different ways. My mom passed away that same year and she left a lasting legacy of how to be in a relationship with your challenges instead of being a victim to them. My dad was supporting both of us during this extremely difficult time along with my two younger sisters. My fondest memory during all of this was our weekly drives to my eye doctor appointments. We’d spend those two hours just us listening to classic rock and immersing ourselves fully into the music; he is who I credit for my musical education. Both my parents taught me how to level the playing field, which greatly served me later on when getting both of my doctorate degrees.

I possess unique expertise as one of the only Perinatal plus Webster certified Chiropractors in the region. My practices are somatic, gender, and trauma informed. I am anti-ablest, anti-racist, and a Decolonial fourth-wave feminist. I am humbled to practice on Chumash (Shmuwich) land now known as Santa Barbara and Ventura, California

I was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and completed my undergrad at the University of Montana in 2006 where I earned a bachelors in environmental studies and political science.

I received my Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic – West Campus in San Jose, CA in 2012. This led to deeper exploration of the body and somatic experiences inspiring a multitude of additional trainings, including: Registered Somatic Movement Therapist, Certified Perinatal Chiropractor, Pre and Perinatal Educator, Registered Yoga Teacher, Certified Ayurvedic Body Worker and Pancha Karma Practitioner, Postpartum Doula, Certified Life Coach, Reiki Master, Certified Crystal Healer, amongst other qualifications.

In 2018, I received my MA in Depth Psychology with specialization in Somatic Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Carpinteria, CA. In 2022, I received my Ph.D in Depth Psychology with specialization in Somatic Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute. The focus of my dissertation research was on the lived experience of cesarean birth from a cross-cultural perspective.

From a young age, I was passionate about environmental and social justice. Those passions combined with my lived experience of over 30 eye surgeries for a rare eye disease deeply informed my journey towards holistic healing in my own body. And by extension motivating me to facilitate and advocate for healing in all beings. I am humbled to walk on this healing journey with you. And so it is.

The book that most inspires me and that I read every year is ‘Women Who Run With the Wolves.” The mythologies within the pages land a different way in and on my body each time I experience them. Wolf is one of my main spirit guides . I have an epic Siberian Husky names Jaya that is the embodiment of this archetype as well as having the words “go with wolf” tattooed on the inside my left forearm. After years of being told to “go with the flow” I experiencing an amazing message in meditation one day. Seeing in my mind’s eye the word “flow” spelled backward is “wolf” that same day, I went and had “go with wolf” tattooed on my body to bring the symbolism into physical awareness through the ritual of tattoo. For me “go with wolf” is a way for me to practice my own Devine Feminine Energy.
Moving back to the book previously mentioned, I am particularly drawn to the mythology of “La Loba” in which an old woman gathers bones of wolves, slowly piecing the animal back together, bone by bone. For me this is beautiful as it reminds me of being more than a chiropractor, it is symbolic of the traditional art of bone setting found around the world. As La Loba sets the final bone into place she begins to sing over the bones and eventually the animal comes back to life. I appreciate the singing aspect as channeling lyrics and writing music is part of my daily ritual and healing practices. As the animal is reimagined in this new form within the myth, it runs away from La Loba and turns into a wild woman.
I love this imagery on a deeply soulful level as my inner wild woman archetype is illuminated through myth, story telling, art, music, poetry, and hands-on healing practices. Whenever I find my myself disembodied and away from my daily rituals I come back to this book to remember who I am.