A Creative Spark

I’ve always been drawn to the performing arts—not because of any brilliant natural talent, but because creating makes me feel truly alive. As a toddler, I re-enacted Disney movies and staged impromptu concerts. By elementary school, I was immersed in choirs, voice lessons, and theater.

 

But in my teens, a serious chronic illness forced me to pause my passion. For a time, I was too ill to walk across a room, let alone make it through a rehearsal. Around the same time, I experienced significant bullying at the hands of a music teacher, eroding my confidence and souring me on my love of singing and theater. So, I turned my energy toward healing my body, and I suppressed my love of performing. 

 

Healing Through Movement

In the years that followed, my health ebbed and flowed with periods of remission and emergence of new diagnoses. While studying Health Psychology in college, I realized that most of my struggles–though physical in nature–were impacted by stress and nervous system dysregulation.

 

Determined to manage my stress, I took up yoga. Though my love for yoga wasn't immediate, over time the practice reconnected me to my body, transformed my relationship to stress, and reignited my creative spark.

 

I became a yoga teacher at 19, marking my first professional foray in the healing arts. My interest in yoga led me to study the related fields of mindfulness, somatics, and nervous system regulation—practices that taught me to feel safe in my body again, laying the foundation for both my personal healing and for my eventual career.

 

Rediscovering Creative Expression

In my senior year of college, I had healed enough physically and emotionally that I decided to audition for my first show in over 5 years. By some miracle, I was cast in the lead role, and throughout the rehearsal process, it felt like a psychological fog was lifting.

 

I realized that while yoga, mindfulness, and healthy lifestyle changes helped me heal physically and emotionally, creative expression made me feel truly alive again. It felt like a return to myself.

 

Expanding my Expertise

By the time I entered graduate school for Counseling Psychology, my health had significantly improved. Though I ultimately chose not to pursue a career as a performer, I continued participating in community theater and other creative pursuits (songwriting, guitar, voice lessons, creative writing, improv classes, painting, photography, dance, etc.). Through both personal exploration and academic studies, I discovered a passion for the powerful intersection of somatics, psychology, and creative expression. 

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After earning my license as a professional counselor, I opened a private practice and developed innovative holistic mental health treatments. I deepened my expertise through intensive training in trauma treatment, nervous system regulation, integrative medicine for mental health, somatics, and functional nutrition—seeking to understand the mind-body connection and the root causes of psychological distress

 

Beyond Traditional Therapy

Although I loved working with my clients, I grew frustrated with the limitations of traditional therapy. I realized that lasting wellness demands more than an hour in a therapy office—it requires daily practices that nurture the whole self.

 

While therapy can reduce symptoms and foster personal growth, I found it sometimes acts as a band-aid—getting us to a state of “good enough” without addressing the factors that allowed the symptoms to develop in the first place.

 

I realized that to feel truly alive, happy, and well, we need more than weekly therapy. We need community, purpose, and daily activities that nurture our body, mind, and spirit. Without a lifestyle that supports wellbeing, optimal mental health may remain out of reach.

 

In today’s stressful and isolating world, regular practices that nurture our body, mind, and nervous system are essential. I made it my mission to help people discover affordable, realistic ways to build a life that supports daily wellbeing.

 

The Double-Edged Sword of the Arts

I knew from my own experience that creative practices like music, theater, writing, and dance can be powerful tools for wellbeing—but they often come with baggage.

 

Though the act of creating can be deeply regulating, the culture surrounding arts is frequently competitive and judgmental. Performance opportunities are usually gated behind auditions, and such environments can breed comparison and self-doubt.

 

Many artists are wounded by environments meant to nurture creativity, paradoxically diminishing its healing potential.

 

A New Vision

I began dreaming of spaces that leveraged the healing power of the arts without the baggage—spaces where people of any experience level could form a supportive, non-judgmental community. In these spaces, I wanted to enhance the healing properties that are already innate to these practices by combining them with my knowledge of nervous system regulation, somatics, and psychology.

 

This vision inspired the creation of SomaSong, devised theater programs, and expressive arts workshops, where science-based nervous system tools, psychological insight, and somatic practices blend with creative expression to help people reclaim (or discover!) the transformative power of the arts.

 

I’m dedicated to helping you reconnect with your authentic self and feel excited about life—whether you’re a professional performer or new to the creative realm—by merging mental health expertise, somatic practices, and the joy of the arts.