My Story

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     As the daughter of a psychotherapist specializing in infant mental health, I grew up steeped in the understanding that babies are wise, aware beings, capable of communicating and forming lasting memories. Observing my mother’s parent-infant classes throughout my childhood sparked a life-long curiosity about nonverbal intelligence, the mind-body connection, and the subtle dynamics that shape human relationships.

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     At the age of 11, I began volunteering at a therapeutic equestrian center, serving individuals with physical and developmental disabilities. What started as a volunteer opportunity blossomed into a decade-long immersion, filling every moment outside of school throughout my childhood, teenage years, and young adulthood. This work became a central part of my life, and I eventually became a certified therapeutic riding instructor. Witnessing moments of profound healing and connection, particularly between my nonverbal students and the horses, deepened my understanding of relational healing and continues to inform my life’s work. 

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     My passion for birth was ignited during high school when, as part of career week, I shadowed an equine veterinarian and had the extraordinary opportunity of witnessing two mares give birth under the full moon. Remarkably, both mares went into labor simultaneously, birthing their foals just 20 minutes apart. The Inexplicable synchrony of their births, and undeniable intelligence displayed by the mares and their newborns, instilled in me a reverence for the natural process of birth. Just a few months later, I had the honor of attending my first human birth when a close friend from the barn invited me to support her at the hospital. Although I was only 16 and hadn’t yet learned the term “doula,” I found myself instinctually called to the role.   

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    These pivotal experiences led me to complete my doula training at 18, embark on a years-long apprenticeship with Midwife, Mary Jackson, and enroll in premed classes at Santa Barbara City College in preparation for midwifery school. During this period, I immersed myself in perinatal somatic therapy studies with Ray Castellino, which included a two-year internship at BEBA (Building and Enhancing Bonding and Attachment), a research clinic focused on early trauma and attachment.

​Shortly after starting midwifery school, I became a mother and decided to pause my formal training to focus on postpartum doula work, which afforded me the flexibility I needed as a single mother. ​

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     In 2008, I moved to the beautiful Ojai Valley, where I married my husband and had the privilege of raising our two, now almost grown, children. I continue to support families as a midwife assistant in a homebirth practice in Ventura County, and I run a somatic bodywork practice specializing in helping families navigate infant feeding, bonding or postpartum challenges, and supporting those processing grief, loss, trauma or birth-related experiences. 

 

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Mission
My mission is to transform our approach to birth, infant care, and parenting to reflect the profound sentience and innate intelligence of babies. I envision a world in which the most vulnerable among us (human and non-human alike) are treated with exquisite tenderness and respect, which believe this is essential to creating an empathic, heart-centered society. 

 

Certifications

• Holistic Doula – Santa Barbara Body Therapy Institute

• Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist – Colorado School of Energy Studies (CSES) 700-hour program.

• Advanced Biodynamic Diploma/Teaching Assistant – CSES 

• Infant Massage Instructor (CIMI) – International Loving Touch Foundation

• Childbirth Educator – Childbirth International

• Midwife Assistant

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Trainings & Internships

• Pre- and Perinatal Somatic Therapy training / Internship with Dr. Ray Castellino -BEBA Clinic

• Breastfeeding for Infants with Tongue-tie and Oral Restrictions – Dr. Alison Hazelbaker

• Working With Babies (polarity and CST) – John Chitty 

• Osteopathy for Babies – Kindred Academy, Jonathan Evans, DO

• Mentorship with Jonathan Evans, DO

• Clinical Neuroplasticity for Infants – Maxine Haller, OT

• Primitive Reflex Integration – Maxine Haller, OT

• Verbal Skills, A Somatic Approach to Trauma Resolution – CSES

• Mentorship with Anna Chitty

• Body Into Being Somatic Therapy – with Anna Chitty and Ray Castellino 

• Spinning Babies – Nicole Morales, LM, and Tema Mercado, LM

• Birthing From Within – Virginia Bobro/ Pam England

• Polyvagal Theory: Neural Exercises for Safety and Connection – Dr. Stephen Porges

• Teaching assistant at CSES biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy 2-year trainings 

• Midwifery - Clinical Internships with Dawn Dana, LM; Mary Jackson, LM, RN; Tania McCracken, LM; Mary Littlefiled, LM; Jill Dozier, CNM                              

• Ongoing Midwifery skills trainings