About Barbara

A Journey of Healing, Teaching, and Transformation

My path into somatic trauma healing began in the wake of a disorganized childhood and a deep longing to understand human resilience. From early work in the AIDS epidemic and trauma response, I was called into the body’s quiet wisdom—where healing is not just cognitive but deeply relational, embodied, and sacred. Today, my work centers on nervous system repair, developmental trauma, and the transformative power of attuned presence.

Early Years: Bridging Somatics & Developmental Trauma (2000–2008)

After my son’s birth in 1997, I pursued a master’s in counseling psychology, specializing in early childhood development. My interest in how early relationships and sensory experiences shape the nervous system led me to train in craniosacral therapy, which deepened my understanding of the body as a relational system.

In the early 2000s, I worked with traumatized children and families, specializing in autism and complex sensory challenges. I became Arizona’s only practitioner trained in Dr. Stanley Greenspan’s DIR/Floortime model. I also presented at the Southern Arizona Association for Play Therapy and trained educators at the Child-Parent Center, expanding the training to over 500 professionals.

I served on a child abuse prevention task force with Governor Janet Napolitano, advocating for somatic, relationship-centered trauma care. My work emphasizes the importance of co-regulated relationships in healing, and I remain passionate about the role of movement, sensory integration, and creative expression in lifelong development.

The Body’s Language: Sensory Integration, Movement, and the Creative Self

From the moment we take our first breath, our bodies are in constant conversation—with gravity, with sensation, with rhythm, with one another. We do not just exist on this planet; we are of this planet. Every movement, every sensory experience, every relational exchange shapes the way we come to know ourselves, others, and the world around us. This is the foundation of belonging.

At the heart of my work is the understanding that development is a whole-body, whole-being process. How we move, how we orient to space, how we express ourselves through play, art, and gesture—these are not separate from our cognitive and emotional development but are woven into the very fabric of our becoming. From early motor development to the nuanced ways we communicate nonverbally in adulthood, these patterns shape how we relate to ourselves, to others, and to life itself.

And these patterns are not ours alone. They carry echoes of those who came before us. Ancestral and intergenerational imprints live in our gestures, our postures, our tendencies toward contraction or expansion. The way we reach, protect, and connect may be shaped not only by our personal history but by the embodied experiences of our lineage. In this way, healing and integration are not just individual endeavors—they ripple through the web of connection that binds past, present, and future.

Early Development & Sensory Integration

My early work with infants, young children, and neurodivergent populations led me deep into the study of sensory integration and movement therapies. I sought to understand how early sensory experiences—touch, balance, spatial orientation—build the foundation for emotional regulation, relational safety, and embodied self-awareness. This led me to:

  • Dr. Stanley Greenspan’s DIR/Floortime Model, where I learned to attune to the sensory and relational world of children, supporting their ability to engage, communicate, and develop through play and movement.

  • Somatic-based play therapy, focusing on how rhythm, movement, and nonverbal communication support co-regulation and relational repair.

  • The neurological impact of sensory processing challenges—how disruptions in vestibular, proprioceptive, and interoceptive awareness can affect everything from coordination to emotional expression.

  • Training in movement-based therapeutic modalities, including Pilates, Spacial Dynamics, and structural integration (Tom Myers & Gil Hedley’s fascia studies)—exploring how the body holds and releases developmental and traumatic imprints over time.

  • Waldorf Collaborative Counseling, a three-year intensive where I integrated sensory and movement-based approaches into developmental therapy.

  • Expressive Arts Therapy, a multi-module intensive training through Southwest Expressive Arts facilitated by Dr Sandra Wortzel.

Sensory and movement integration is not only about supporting children in growing into their fullest selves but also about how we, as adults, find our way back home to ourselves. Trauma, conditioning, and modern disconnection can sever us from our most natural, fluid state of being. In my clinical work, I support clients in restoring their connection to their bodies and creative flow through movement, sensory exploration, and expressive arts.

Movement & Expressive Arts as a Pathway Home

Creativity, movement, and sensory play are not just for children—they are fundamental to our healing and wholeness at every stage of life.

  • Expressive arts therapy, which I have integrated into my work for years, allows the nervous system to find new patterns through image, color, and form—bypassing the limits of verbal processing.

  • The intersection of movement, sound, and somatic rhythm, exploring how voice, drumming, and embodied sound can restore lost aspects of self.

  • Communal creative practice, including grief rituals, movement-based storytelling, and nonverbal forms of connection.

  • Equine-assisted movement and sensory experiences, where the felt sense of another sentient being provides an externalized rhythm of safety and co-regulation.

The essence of all of this is belonging—to ourselves, to each other, and to the earth.

We are not separate from life; we are life moving through form. When we restore our full range of sensory experience, movement, and creative expression, we reclaim our place within the greater whole. Every person carries an innate creative flow that is uniquely theirs, waiting to be expressed.

This throughline—the way we communicate nonverbally, the way we find coherence within ourselves, the way we move, create, and relate—is the intersection of all my work. Whether through somatic trauma resolution, play therapy, sensory integration, movement-based healing, or communal ritual, the goal is always the same:

To help people come home to their bodies, to their creativity, to their belonging, and to the deep knowing that they are part of something vast, interconnected, and alive.

Somatic Touch (2011-Present)

Touch is our first language, a primal form of communication that speaks directly to the nervous system, heart, and soul. Through touch, we learn who we are, what it means to be comforted, and how we relate to the world. When attuned, touch offers safety, belonging, and healing—it’s not about perfection, but showing up with care and humility.

In 2011, Arizona lifted restrictions on touch in psychotherapy, allowing me to incorporate it into my practice. The results were profound: intentional touch helped clients access deeper regulation, soften into themselves, and reconnect with their bodies as a source of possibility. I trained extensively with Kathy Kain, assisting her in the first-ever Trauma Coupling Dynamics workshop in 2023 and helping launch an SE-informed touch training in 2024.

At the core of this work is the body’s natural movement toward wholeness. Through safe, attuned touch, we invite the nervous system to reorganize, release outdated survival patterns, and restore connection.

Traumatic Grief and Threshold Care-Support and Practices (1997-Present)

Grief is central to trauma healing, yet it's often limited to the loss of a loved one. In my own journey, I’ve come to see grief as a broader experience, encompassing personal, collective, and ancestral sorrow. It includes not only the grief of loss, but also the grief of unfulfilled dreams, unrealized potential, and the harm done to the natural world. By acknowledging these many forms of grief, we open the door to deeper healing and integration.

In my work, I’ve supported both the beginning and end of life, drawing from my nursing background in end-of-life care. This experience deepened my understanding of the sacred nature of death, much like birth, and the need for attunement and presence at both thresholds. Grief, in all its forms, became a core part of my practice, honoring it not just cognitively or emotionally, but embodied and relationally. This process of remembrance and reclamation connects us to ourselves, each other, and the cycles of life.

Creative Grief Studio Support Practitioner (2020)

Creative Grief Studio’s certification program—Intensive online training through the focusing on contemporary, research-supported grief support approaches. This program emphasized a non-pathologizing, client-centered approach to loss, integrating creative expression, reflective practices, and imaginative meaning-making. The training covered a full range of loss experiences beyond bereavement, highlighting the role of expressive arts in fostering resilience, connection, and agency in the grieving process. We were supported in developing skills in facilitating compassionate, bias-aware conversations and guiding clients through creative modalities that support emotional processing, personal storytelling, and transformation after loss.

Compassionate Bereavement Care Provider (2023)

Compassionate Bereavement Care Certification®—Completed an intensive program and specialized training in working with individuals and communities experiencing traumatic grief. This evidence-based, mindfulness-centered framework emphasized attunement, trust, therapeutic presence, and non-pathologizing grief support. The training covered the biological, psychological, social, and existential impacts of traumatic loss, equipping practitioners with skills to support highly vulnerable populations while preventing vicarious trauma. We Explored the latest empirical research on mindfulness, grief, self-care, and compassion, with a focus on integrating full-presence, trauma-informed approaches to bereavement care.