About

Why ‘embodied expressive arts’?

To explore instead of explain…

To lean into intuitive creativity – drawing, movement, poetics, sound, painting, sculpting, collage, and more– to honor the expanse of who you are becoming. 
Whether you're unfurling into new identity, deepening your relationship to an existing identity, navigating the raw terrain of new parenthood, or crafting life outside the mold, this is a space to slow down, feel, and be with what’s reshaping you.

What it’s like

Arrive. Breathe into the container of the space, let yourself to land and be received. Grab a fidget, stone, blanket, tea, art materials…whatever calls.

Allow a gently guided tour of your experience to name the textures, thoughts, feelings, sensations, and images present.

Instead of just speaking the “what’s up” of your rich life, we will be with it to let drawings, movements, paintings, collages, sounds, or poetry emerge as I prompt your awareness towards what is tender, curious, and ready.

Before you return to the busyness, noise, and obligations of your daily life, we’ll integrate and resource. Take with you a unique invitation to continue to explore or practice what was held in session.

Tending is the presence and practice, healing is for you to experience. 

The intersections of your unique identity, past experiences, future hopes, and present state are vital to who you are. All parts of you— your history, body, values, culture, and relationships— are welcomed to emerge in our space together. I actively practice to maintain an LGBTQIA+ -affirming, culturally-grounded, body and sex-positive, trauma-aware, and antiracist foundation. These are not statements but commitments to continuous, lifelong practices. This means I don't assume your parent name, gender, history, abilities, or any other aspect of your identity. But where you hold question about those things, I will witness and explore the unfolding alongside you. 
The systems and cultures we exist within shape our experiences of marginalization, oppression, privilege, resource, resistance, and all else in our lives. Our identities and strategies develop from these, and I aim to honor you for who you are, from where I am. I value and commit to offering relevant resources to the people I work with, and I am always glad to collaborate to find you the most appropriate support.

Jane

(they/them)

I am a white, nonbinary, queer, artist, parent, expressive embodiment therapist, chronic illness-haver, and group facilitator. I value engaging in authentic connection, art of all kinds, humor, play, and the phenomenal natural world we have the honor of being part of.  Social justice, community, creativity, and awareness practices are the realms where I find my deepest purpose, so it is crucial to me to remain in integrity in all of these through my work and life. I believe in and advocate for equitable access to pleasure, compassion, belonging, and connection for all.

I’ve always been a person to do my own thing. And those are the folks I’m drawn to in life and in this work. That is reflected in my family, my gender, my relationships, my expression, and my approach to this work. 

My formal education includes a BA in Anthropology, an MS in Primatology, and a Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.  
Some therapeutic training lineages that inform my practice: Hakomi methodology, Tamalpa’s Life-Art Process, Body-Mind Centering, nonviolent communication (NVC), Gestalt, and Somatic Experiencing (SE). Other lineages that inspire my worldview: Celtic mysticism, early somatics pioneers of Germany and eastern Europe, Kingian nonviolence, Buddhist principles. I continue to integrate the works and practices of writers/feelers/artists/teachers in their own fields: adrienne maree brown, Prentis Hemphill, Marika Heinrichs, Kazu Haga, Kai Cheng Thom, and Tara Brach, among many others. 
I occupy the unceded Native lands of the Multnomah, Wasco, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Cowlitz, Chinook, Tualatin Kalapuya, Molalla, and other tribes (Portland, Oregon).  My ancestors were mostly Irish and Western European, who then colonized southeastern North America in the late 1800s.