I began my journey as a trauma therapist in 2014 with a deep dive into experiential and expressive trauma practices with The Ferentz Institute, led by world-renowned trauma therapist Lisa Ferentz. This foundation unlocked my love for those stuck in repetitive trauma patterns. 

Trauma-informed care allows us to sit with clients with profound presence and compassion. We allow clients to come back to themselves and share the unspoken stories of their soul. However, I still found myself, and my clients, stuck in the confines of mindfulness culture. While I understood the value of the stillness…it left me asking, well, what’s next? 

How do we help clients not just cope with a system that continues to cause them harm, but feel empowered to change harmful patterns and systems? 

How do we help clients not only sit in the quiet stillness of their stories but also empower them to move back into the aliveness of life? 

I went on to get trained in Brainspotting, which is where something really came alive for me. Their tenant “follow the comet,” meant anchoring into the uncertainty and practicing with a deep commitment to the relational experience. It forced me to abandon the idea of a “right” way and threw me into the vulnerability of my creativity. 

Personally, and clinically, I took a deep dive into what it meant to “feel alive” and found the missing piece…play.

Play is a primal drive and blended state of the nervous system where we feel both a sense of safety and fear. It’s riding the line between fight/flight and ventral safety and belonging. It is the place we actually heal, grow, and change. But most adults are deeply play-deprived. 

No one was teaching this state of being, much less how to recultivate it as an adult. I continued to dive in, learn, explore, and practice. After nearly 10 years, lots of other trainings, and profoundly important mentors, I have now guided hundreds of adults into an embodied life that aligns with their values and joy. Using play. 

Orienting my clinical mind towards playfulness helps me ask questions with curiosity, assess with non-judgment, and trust my impulses as a clinician. It eased my professional burnout, helped me build more genuine relationships with clients, and reignited my love for clinical care. 

Play deprivation is a serious threat to health and well-being, but it is severely misunderstood in adult clients. My work now considers the impact of play deprivation on clinical diagnosis. I am equipped to support my clients in recultivating playfulness as their human right

By understanding the role play has on your mind and body, you can form new patterns and transform your life. Play empowers our work to shift from trauma coping and treatment to trauma liberation and systemic change.