Office Location: 3725 Brighton Way, SUite 424, Beverly Hills, CA 90210

Contact Info: 310-415-6205; DrShirley@att.net

Website: DrShirley.com

Bio/Specialties:
Dr. Shirley Impellizzeri, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist based in Los Angeles, California. She earned her doctorate in psychology from UCLA and began her career investigating child abuse cases for the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, an experience that deeply informed her understanding of how trauma imprints on the nervous system. Over the years, Dr. Shirley has become known for her direct yet compassionate approach, blending clear psychological insight with genuine warmth and accessibility.

Recognizing that trauma lives as much in the body as in the mind, Dr. Shirley trained in Somatic Experiencing®, the body-oriented trauma resolution method developed by Dr. Peter A. Levine. As a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP), she integrates this work into her private practice and teaching, helping clients and students alike access the body’s innate capacity for regulation and healing. Her “Connect the Dots” approach bridges the gap between talk therapy and embodied experience, supporting individuals to identify and release long-held survival patterns.

Dr. Shirley is also a published author, media psychologist, and bilingual educator. Her books, Why Can’t I Change? and Scared Speechless, reflect her ongoing interest in personal transformation and authentic self-expression. Whether working in one-on-one sessions, leading workshops, or appearing in media, she brings curiosity, clarity, and humor to her mission: helping people feel safe in their bodies and free to live fully.

Session Provider: YES

Session Cost: $300/session

Location: San Clemente, CA

Contact Info: (818) 903-0397, ileneblaisch@gmail.com, www.ileneblaisch.com

Bio/Specialties: My work with individuals, couples, families and communities for 42+ years as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and psychotherapist have been a wondrous and joyful labor of love. I recently retired from my decades-long career in private practice, community service development, and directing college mental health services. The invitation to accompany a person on part of their healing journey is an honor and has been profoundly meaningful. When I became a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner in 2014, it expanded the way I perceived healing and life in general.  Learning to work with the physiology of a person’s autonomic nervous system added a rich and critical component to the more familiar cognitive and emotional processes of traditional “talk” therapy. As an assistant I regularly participated in SE professional trainings, continually deepening my learning and cultivating many new friendships. Along the way, I completed the Foundational Training for NeuroAffective Touch (Dr. Aline LaPierre), adding another layer of understanding to how trauma in the body starts to release. I’ve also been fortunate to work closely with Dr. Peter Levine, assisting in his master classes plus work on a few mutual projects together (involving a somatic tool known as Smovey Rings and the diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease for me early in my SE journey). I’m delighted to be assisting in this workshop for the third time with Betsy Politan, a magnificent teacher and human being, as she and Peter join forces for a very special three days.  I will not be providing personal sessions, but would love to say hello at some break.

Session Provider: No

Office Location: Yuma, AZ

Contact Info: yolandarenterialpc@gmail.com
Latibule Counseling: 928-247-6430

Bio/Specialties: Yolanda Renteria is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Arizona and a Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner with over a decade of experience supporting individuals in healing from trauma and reconnecting with their natural sense of safety and presence.

Her work focuses on developmental and attachment trauma, helping clients restore regulation, expand their capacity for connection, and feel more grounded in their bodies. Yolanda’s approach is deeply humanistic and relational, centered on meeting each person exactly where they are with compassion and respect for their unique process.

Yolanda has trained extensively in somatic and trauma modalities. She completed Somatic Touch Skills Training with Kathy Kain and has assisted Dr. Peter Levine, founder of Somatic Experiencing®, at two of his retreats. She has also co-facilitated EASE Intensive groups (Equine-Assisted Somatic Experientials) with Barbara Collier from Equanimity in Arizona, blending somatic and equine-assisted work.

In addition to her somatic background, Yolanda is trained in EMDR and Brainspotting, and has completed attachment-focused trainings with Dr. Diane Poole Heller. She has also attended workshops with Dr. Gabor Maté, deepening her understanding of the mind-body connection and trauma healing.

Her integrative approach weaves together body-based awareness, attachment repair, and nervous system regulation to support deeper healing and embodiment. In her sessions, Yolanda creates a warm and safe space for individuals to explore the subtle body cues that shape their experience of safety, confidence, and expression. Her goal is to help clients reconnect with their innate resilience and authentic voice through a grounded, embodied sense of self.

Session Provider: YES

Session Cost: $250/session

Office Location: Los Angeles, California

Contact Info: 818-266-9600 text or WhatsApp

In 33 years of studying and working with touch for healing, I’ve come to see that life itself is a profound master class—and the body is our most faithful textbook. Touch is our first language and my primary therapeutic modality for healing developmental and relational trauma. Within the experience of supported safety and relational coherence, the body’s sensations and the mind’s reflections can together transform core attachment wounds through the antidotal experience of attuned touch.

Since 2001, I’ve had the honor of assisting Dr. Peter Levine and numerous SE faculty throughout the U.S., Canada, Brazil, and Australia. My work integrates Somatic Experiencing®, Dr. Aline LaPierre’s NeuroAffective Touch®, Betsy Polatin’s breath and movement work, mindfulness, and embodied awareness practices. 

Movement — from fixity to flow: Two meaningful, life-changing experiences shaped my path. As a classical and professional dancer, I lived within the disciplined world of technical precision. In 1992, a Continuum class at Esalen Institute cracked me open—guiding me from structured form into the fluidity of embodied life force. A few years later, my Somatic Experiencing® training invited me from emotional and relational freeze into the freedom to be.

Through these experiences, I’ve come to recognize artistic expression as a profound portal for healing—a bridge between the inner world of sensation and the outer expression of being. Movement, sound, touch, and creativity open pathways for integration and embodied wholeness.

I am deeply honored to support Dr. Levine, Betsy Polatin, and our exceptional teaching team—and to witness, support, and connect with each of you on this healing journey.

Approved Session & Consult Provider at all levels of SE and NATouch 

$250 to Zelle or PayPal sriprotected@gmail.com (Synergry Resource Inc.) or via credit card using IVY Pay, which can be text messaged to you. 

Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner, Transforming Touch® Practitioner, NLP & Gestalt Therapist, Taiji & Qigong Master, Specialist in Sexual trauma & Somatic movements.

Office Location: Telehealth from all corners of the world

Contact Info: whatsapp : +91 9449633267 Email: cicily@vitalforcetaichi.comWebsite: www.vitalforcetaichi.com Follow on IG @vitalforcetaichi

Bio/Specialties: With over 25 years of experience, Cicily Thomas is a holistic therapist for all genders. She integrates modern trauma-healing approaches with ancient practices like Tai Chi, Qigong to help clients build resilience, self-regulation, and wellness. Cicily is the founder of Vital Force Taichi Academy in Bangalore, India.

Cicily is an assistant to Dr. Peter Levine, founder of Somatic Experiencing®, in Master classes. She also coordinates Transforming Touch® Practitioner Trainings in India and supports Somatic Experiencing® trainings. Passionate about nature,and cross cultural initiatives, Cicily enjoys hiking with her dog, Esprit.

Cicily offers individual Somatic Experiencing® sessions (all levels) and  case consultations, enabling clients achieve profound healing and transformation. She is offering on-site SE sessions as well as remote sessions before and after the training. 

Session Provider: YES

Session Cost: $150/session

Trauma Specialist, Somatic Experiencing® & EMDR Practitioner, Dynamic Somatic Touch® Co-Founder, Expertise in Early-Life and Generational Trauma Healing, Spiritual/Depth Psychology, and Somatic Dream Resolution.

Office Location:  Los Angeles, California

Contact Info: +1 626-406-2385Website: www.dynamicsomatictouch.com
www.SergioOtcampo.com

Bio/Specialties: 
Sergio Ocampo, LMFT, SEP, is a dedicated psychotherapist, educator, and trauma specialist based in Los Angeles. As a Board Director of Somatic Experiencing International, Embody Lab Contributor, and adjunct faculty at Antioch University, he teaches and guides professionals in body-based trauma healing.

With a compassionate, humanistic approach, Sergio helps clients heal early-life trauma, including emotional, physical, and developmental wounds. He integrates Somatic Experiencing, EMDR, and Dynamic Somatic Touch® (DST), a method he co-developed to address chronic pain, illness, and trauma held in the body. In addition, Sergio brings expertise in Somatic Dream Resolution combined with Depth/Spiritual Psychology to his sessions.

Having worked closely with Dr. Peter Levine in Master Classes and leading Retreats, Sergio brings deep expertise to both therapy and education. He also researches and writes on Generational Trauma, helping individuals break free from inherited patterns. His motto is: Anxiety and depression are not life sentences—they are temporary discomforts. Fluent in four languages, he welcomes a diverse range of clients and students worldwide.

Session Provider: YES all levelsSession Cost: $300

Office Location: Williamsburg VA & Richmond VA & telehealth

Contact Info: (804) 660-8687

Website: HMRWellness.com

Bio/Specialties: I am a depth-focused, somatically oriented psychotherapist and Board Certified Art Therapy.  I gently work from a relational and attachment model and have 35+ years of experience working with all ages. I specialize in working  with  those who have Developmental trauma (C-PTSD) along with  neglect, addictions, medical complications and grief.I also enjoy integrating touch /table work and collaborate with clients to support what they want for themselves.  I’m also trained in NARM, NATouch and TEB. I assist all levels of SE training and have had the privilege assisting in many of Peter Levin’s Master classes. It’s truly an honor to do this work.

Session Provider: Yes for all levels

Session Cost: Sliding scale  $150 - $200

Office Location: Oak Park, IL

Contact Info: 312-852-0515 text or WhatsApp
https://www.kristinburnsmindandbody.net/

Bio/Specialties:  Kristin Burns brings a unique perspective to her work, incorporating over 30 years of studying both eastern and western modalities and philosophies. She currently practices Integrative Somatic Psychotherapy, Energywork, and Bodywork in Oak Park, Il. Kristin is an intentional life long learner and seeker.  She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Yoga Facilitator, Somatic Experiencing (SE) Practitioner, DARe Practitioner (Dynamic Attachment Repatterning Experience), Transforming Touch Practitioner TTP,  Relational Bodywork & Somatic Education (BASE) & NeuroAffective Touch Practitioner, Internal Family Systems Therapist, Reiki Master/Teacher, and Zen Shiatsu Practitioner. 

Honoring each person’s lived experience and the intelligent adaptations they have made without judgment is central to Kristin’s practice.  She genuinely respects the partnership and privilege of collaborating with clients to facilitate their inner wisdom toward healing.  She also provides consultation and workshops for organizations and agencies focusing on supporting staff in utilizing trauma and attachment responsive approaches to meeting SELF and working with others. 

She continues to be a Somatic Experiencing Training Assistant with many SE faculty and has been an assistant with several of Peter Levine’s workshops. Kristin was recently part of Peter Levine’s Bodywork for Developmental Trauma Retreat Facilitator Team. She also assists with Diane Poole Heller’s DARe training. Kristin is deeply grateful for the opportunity to work with and learn from so many inspiring and supportive professional and spiritual teachers, students, clients, family and friends.

Session Provider: YES All Levels & DARe

Session Cost: $200/session on site & remote  https://www.kristinburnsmindandbody.net/

Office Location: Tucson, Arizona, USA

Contact Info: rachel@somaticloveandhealing.com//520.771.5885

Bio/Specialties:
Rachel Broome is a Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner, Licensed Clinical Counselor in California, a Licensed Professional Counselor who is based out of Tucson, Arizona. She also has experience as a yoga teacher, birth doula, and training in various kinds of bodywork, including medical massage and cranial sacral.  

As a self-identified ‘forever student’, Rachel has had the privilege of studying with and assisting some of the most respected teachers in the field, including Peter Levine, Betsy Polatin, Steven Terrell and Kathy Kain. Her integrative approach draws from Somatic Experiencing®, NeuroAffective Touch®, Somatic Resilience and Regulation® and various kinds of bodywork.

Rachel brings a deeply embodied and holistic lens to her work, weaving together her experience in bodywork, somatic experiencing, traditional talk therapy, birth and postpartum support. She believes that the body carries its own wisdom and that healing unfolds when we are given the space, support and care to feel what is truly us. Rachel views her role as a collaborative and attuned companion, grateful to witness individuals reconnect with their internal rhythms, rediscover their sense of home in their body, and embrace the full depth of their humanness.

In addition to her clinical practice, Rachel finds joy in powerlifting, tending to her garden, spending time with her animals (usually cuddled on the couch with a good book), and beading earrings. These practices help to deepen her sense of strength, gentleness, and the slow, seasonal rhythms of growth, ease, and restoration.

Session Provider: YES

Session Cost: $250/session (discount available for SE Students)

Office Location: Mexico City

Contact Info: Phone: +525591952651 (Whatsapp/Signal/Telegram) 
ericaceaeherbolariaysomatica@gmail.com

Bio/Specialties: Heather first found her way to studying herbalism and Somatic Experiencing in search of greater means of care for the different communities and collectives she has been a part of and collaborated with through health, popular education and organizing over the last couple decades. As a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP), community herbalist and educator/organizer based in Mexico City since 2003, she seeks to accompany folks in re-weaving the connection to their individual and collective bodies’ innate wisdom for finding infinite paths of healing. She centers access in her work by using a regionally-adapted sliding fee scale and collaborating through mutual aid and solidarity. 

Heather accompanies people both in-person and online locally in Mexico City, nationally, and internationally with diverse patterns of trauma that can arise from a myriad of experiences, from sexual violence and childhood adversity to grief and relational trauma, and more specific situations of community violence and displacement, as well as survivors of persecution, state violence, and incarceration. She also actively participates as an SE assistant supporting both faculty and students in the training program. 

​In addition to her professional studies, Heather has specific training in herbalism and trauma, working with SE to accompany chronic pain and syndromes (Peter Levine, Abi Blakeslee and Dave Berger), transgenerational trauma (Peter Levine and Efu Nyaki), sexuality and sexual trauma (Ariel Giarretto) and trauma and children (Maggie Kline), and in somatic support for queer and trans folks (Andrea Glik), as well as a long history of organizing and working in collectives and communities inside and outside of Mexico City from a lens of anti-oppression, harm reduction and liberation with a focus on community, popular education and health.

Session Provider: Yes, all levels.

Session Cost: Sliding fee scale $150 - $250 (in person and remote)

Office Location: Encinitas, CA

Contact Info: michelle@drmichellekole.com

Bio/Specialties: 
Dr. Michelle Kole is a Licensed Psychologist and Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner in Encinitas, CA with over 20 years of experience in the mental health field.

A lifelong learner, Michelle has had the privilege of studying with and assisting some of the most respected teachers in the field, including Peter Levine, Betsy Polatin, Aline LaPierre, and Kathy Kain. Her integrative approach draws from Somatic Experiencing®, NeuroAffective Touch®, Equine-Assisted Therapy, and Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy.

Michelle brings a holistic lens to her work, often weaving in her training in meditation, yoga, sound healing, and Ayurveda. She believes that clients have an innate capacity to move towards healing and views her role as a collaborative guide so that clients may access their inner healing intelligence and return home to themselves.

In addition to her clinical practice, Michelle is an accomplished pilot and FAA Certificated Flight Instructor who delights in sharing the beauty of flight with others. When not working or flying, she can be found enjoying downtime with her rescued pit bulls and miniature donkeys, and reading everything she can get her hands on.

Session Provider: YES

Session Cost: $250/session (discount available for SE/NAT Students)

Location: Los Angeles, CA (Tongva land)

Contact Info: (424) 397-1961 
rabbihanien@gmail.com
https://directory.traumahealing.org/practitioner/arielle-hanien/

Bio/Specialties: I specialize in supporting resolution of personal and collective trauma, intergenerational trauma, spiritual trauma, anxiety, and complex PTSD, including with nonverbal clients (e.g. infants and toddlers, or in hospice). My approach is rooted in feminist therapeutic theory that honors the intelligence within your nervous system and also draws upon resources in social and physical sciences, philosophy, humanities, and embodied spirituality and on my life experience as a clinician in intensive integrative outpatient and residential trauma treatment and as an educator, parent, and rabbi. Sessions draw on Somatic Experiencing and derivative work by SE faculty members*, interpersonal neurobiology, traditional psychology, and spiritual traditions to support diverse clients in accessing their natural resiliency with a felt sense of safety, honoring their frameworks of meaning, their vitality and intuition, and the coherence of the healing process. Committed to abolitionist principles, decolonization, and GLBTQ allyship, I tailor our work to clients’ unique intersectional needs and goals. 

Session Provider (yes/no): yes at all levels of the SE training

Case Consult Provider (yes/no): yes at all levels of the SE training

Additional Languages: Hebrew

Student Session Cost:  $ inquire

Program Director of TPE 2025

Location: Vista, California

Contact Info: m@somaticexperiencing.com

Bio/Specialties: Melissa Stager, the Founder & CEO of Healing Informed Somatic Education, has managed and developed a diverse range of in-person and online programs for Dr Peter A Levine and the Ergos Institute of Somatic Education since January 2015. She has completed training in Somatic Experiencing® (SE™) and NeuroEffective Touch, with additional training in Relational Bodywork and Somatic Education™ (BASE™). Her in-depth experience working side-by-side with Dr. Levine and other top leaders in the body-mind field has fostered her passion for healing traumatic impact symptoms in a group setting.

Prior to this work, she had an extensive career in the curatorial arts and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Arts and Sciences as well as an EMBA in Business and Technology. Her artistic practice, which included mixed-media sculpture, explored patterns and narratives of childhood trauma, later shaping her insight into how trauma impacts human development. Her studies also focused on Japanese Art History and the cultural foundations that influenced Japanese design aesthetics.

Somatic Experiencing has provided Melissa the opportunity to develop understanding, ease, and empathy while processing her attachment, generational, and developmental trauma and the effects it had on her body, mind, and spirit. Her dedication to somatic-based trauma healing provides participants and educators with the foundation required for their own exploration and growth.

She is also a weekly volunteer for a special needs equine therapy program and a full-time foster mom residing in Vista, California, USA.Melissa, alongside her dedicated team of experienced practitioners and her skilled program assistant, curates a diverse and impactful array of healing programs. With a keen eye for innovation and a deep commitment to well-being, she designs experiences thoughtfully tailored to nurture growth, connection, and transformation. Melissa’s collaborative approach ensures that each program reflects the highest level of care, expertise, and inclusivity, creating a truly enriching journey for every participant.

Session Provider: No - Melissa is the Program Director of this Workshop

Session Cost: n/a