Meet The Living Thread Retreat Team
San Diego 2027
All of our facilitators are experienced Retreat providers for the Ergos Institute of Somatic Education.
Encinitas & Switzerland
Spoken Language - English
Dr Peter A Levine, is the developer of Somatic Experiencing® (SE™), a naturalistic and neurobiological approach to healing trauma, which he has developed over the past 50 years. He holds a doctorate in Biophysics from UC Berkeley and a doctorate in Psychology from International University. He is the Founder and President of the Ergos Institute of Somatic Education and the Founder and Advisor for Somatic Experiencing International, where his work has been taught to over 30,000 healers in over 42 countries. He recently finished his Autobiography, An Autobiography of Trauma, A Healing Journey, and is the author of several best-selling books on trauma, including Waking the Tiger, Healing Trauma (published in over 29 languages); In an Unspoken Voice, How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness; and Trauma and Memory, Brain and Body in a Search for the Living Past.
Dr Levine has taught at the University of California, Berkeley; Mills College; Antioch University; the California Institute of Integral Studies; and the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute. In recognition of his groundbreaking therapeutic works, Dr. Levine has received Lifetime Achievement awards from Psychotherapy Networker and from the US Association for Body-Oriented Psychotherapy, an honorary award as the Reiss-Davis Chair in Los Angeles for his lifetime contribution to infant and child psychiatry, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Training on Trauma and Attachment in Children (ATTACh) for “his lifelong commitment to healing children through research, education, and outreach.” He served as a Stress consultant for NASA in the early space shuttle development and has served on the American Psychological Association task force for responding to the trauma of large-scale disasters and ethnopolitical warfare. He is currently a Senior Fellow and consultant at The Meadows Addiction and Trauma Treatment Center in Wickenburg, Arizona, and continues to teach trauma healing workshops internationally.
Dr Levine will join us for some time together on February 6 & 7. The other elements of the retreat will be guided by the practitioners below.
Japan
Spoken Languages - Japanese & English
Dr. Theresa Hanaoka is a Japanese somatic psychologist with private practice over 20 years and a full time Somatic Experiencing® teacher. She has M.A. in Anthropology, and in Health Psychology, and Ph.D. in Somatic Psychology. She offers personal sessions for adult clients with early adverse experiences and attachment disruptions, and she uses SE and SE touch to support regulation of their nervous system. The title of her dissertation is “Experiment based research on psychological and physiological effects of touch upon the adults who have adverse childhood experiences and currently in a depressive state”. She conducted SE and SE touch upon the experiment participants for 6 months and found that SE and SE touch supported them to recover from depressive state with statistical significance, using both psychological index which she created and physiological outcome measuring RSA, using the systems developed by Dr. Porges.
She is a lecturer at J.F. Oberlin University, and invited to speak at various Universities and other educational foundations. She has translated more than 10 books regarding SE and the Polyvagal Theory into Japanese, including Dr. Peter Levine’s “Trauma and Memory”, and Dr. Kain and Dr. Terrelle’s “Nurturing Resilience” and these books were highly appreciated by the community of the Japanese therapists. She wrote a book on Child Maltreatment and the Polyvagal Theory and introduced SE in details in the book. The book is quite successful in Japan and now being translated into Chinese. She has compiled another book on Sexual Trauma and the Polyvagal Theory in Japanese with the authors including Dr. and Dr. Porges, and this book has been used as a reference for Japanese Criminal Law amendment for sexual violence. She introduced the concept of freeze response which was extensively studied by Dr. Levine and Dr. Porges to the Japanese Criminal Law for the first time in its history.
In addition to SE, Theresa is trained in Somatic Practice by Dr. Kain, ISP by Dr. Selvam, DARe by Dr. Heller, and BASE by Mr. Berger. She is also trained in IFS and TRE. She is a certified Positive Psychology Coach and an Enneagram Teacher.
Theresa is a Roman Catholic and also practices Zen at Japanese Zen temples, as they are open to people of all religions. She has been practicing meditation for more than 30 years. She is a Reiki Master and an intuitive. She loves to savor Eastern tradition of spiritual practices and also, she is trained in the evidence based Western science. Her passion is to bring SE to Japanese therapists in their mother tongue. She is also interested in studying how SE is best applied to Asian socio-cultural context where there is strong influence of Confucianism. Her key to good health is to practice Japanese traditional dance and she is one of the Master Sensei (Shihan) at Bando-Ryu Kabuki Dance School.
Monterey, California
Spoken Languages - Spanish, Dutch, Italian, English
Sergio Ocampo is a somatic psychotherapist, educator, writer, and innovator known for his work in trauma resolution, nervous system healing, and embodied emotional restoration.
He frequently collaborates and co-facilitates retreats, trainings, and master classes with Dr. Peter Levine, founder of Somatic Experiencing®, and is recognized for his grounded, experiential teaching style that brings clarity and practical application to complex therapeutic concepts.
Sergio teaches through Antioch University Los Angeles, The Embody Lab, Avaiya, and other leading educational platforms, where he trains clinicians, coaches, and helping professionals from around the world. His writing has appeared in The Therapist magazine and other publications, exploring themes such as somatic psychotherapy, nervous system healing, and generational trauma.
He is the co-developer and lead instructor of Dynamic Somatic Touch (DST), an innovative body-based approach designed to support the resolution of emotional overwhelm, trauma, chronic stress patterns, and persistent mind-body conditions.
Sergio also serves as a Board Director for Somatic Experiencing International (SEI), contributing to the advancement of somatic education and trauma-informed healing practices worldwide.
His upcoming book on healing generational trauma explores how unresolved experiences are carried through families and the body, offering a compassionate and body-based path toward transformation and resilience.
Cris Avila, LMFT, SEP
California
Spoken Language - Spanish & English
Cris Avila is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, Organic Intelligence Star Mentor, Medicine woman and future ancestor whose work lives at the sacred intersection of clinical healing, ancestral wisdom, and the living body of the Earth. Rooted in her Mexican heritage and Mestiza identity, and honoring her American heritage Cris brings a deeply embodied, culturally grounded presence to the healing of intergenerational trauma, developmental and attachment wounds, and the reclamation of ancestral inherited strengths. She brings to her practice a profound understanding that healing is not only personal, but ancestral, communal, and woven into the very fabric of the Earth. She understands that the choices we make, the healing we do, and the love we embody today become the inheritance of those who come after us. Her work is an act of tending — to the present moment, to the threads of relationship and community, and to the long arc of healing that stretches across time.
Cris holds a Master's degree in Transpersonal Psychology, a foundation that has shaped her understanding of the human psyche as inseparable from spirit, community, and the more-than-human world. She is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) since 2016, trained in the pioneering body-awareness methodology developed by Dr. Peter Levine for the resolution of trauma held in the nervous system. Her somatic practice is further enriched by her training in NeuroAffective Touch, a modality that works at the interface of touch, neuroscience, and early developmental experience to restore safety and connection within the body. As an Organic Intelligence mentor, Cris guides others in the application of this nature-inspired framework for post trauma growth — one that trusts the inherent intelligence of living systems to find their way toward wholeness. As Ecotherapist, Cris weaves the healing intelligence of the natural and cosmic world into her therapeutic work. She views Nature as an active healer— a living presence that mirrors, holds, and restores what has been fragmented by trauma across generations.
Cris is a medicine bearer, medicine carrier within the Quanchis Illa Lineage, a sacred responsibility she carries with reverence and humility. This sacred tradition calls us back to our origins and reminds us that our deepest purpose on Earth is to experience Love. This lineage informs her understanding of healing as a remembering: a return to the truth of who we are beneath the layers of wounding, forgetting, and separation. She practices ritual as a living technology of the heart — a way to honor, connect and remember.
Her clinical and ceremonial work with intergenerational trauma is informed by the understanding that the body carries the stories of those who came before us — stories of displacement, loss, and survival, but also of courage, beauty, and profound belonging, offering participants pathways to harmonize relationships and embody the abundant gifts left for us by ancestral lines.
Cris is devoted to the work of tending the web of life: healing through lineage, living fully in the present, and planting seeds for others and for those who will walk the Earth after us.
Cris invites you into this retreat as a space of deep listening — to your body, your lineage, your spirit, and the Earth.
Oak Park, Illinois
Spoken Language - English
For over 25 years, Kristin Burns has immersed herself in both Eastern and Western modalities and philosophies to support healing. Kristin is passionate about guiding clients in restoring more aliveness, wholeness, and ease in their lives. Her practice utilizes a holistic approach that incorporates Somatic, Relational, and Spiritual healing influences that support moving toward restoration and coherence of the mind, body, and spirit. Her current work is primarily focused on developmental trauma healing (particularly pre and perinatal, including developmental movement patterns), sexual healing, and transforming grief.
She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP), and Yoga Facilitator. She is also certified in Diane Poole Heller’s attachment healing work, Dynamic Attachment Repatterning Experience (DARe), and is a training assistant nationally in this work.
Kristin is trained in Kathy Kain’s Touch Skills for Trauma Therapists, as well as Dave Berger’s BASE (Relational Bodywork & Somatic Education), using touch for developmental trauma recovery and for deepening somatic awareness. Kristin is a Prenatal Yoga Guide and founder of “Embodied Union,” - an 8-week trauma and attachment-informed and accessible prenatal yoga workshop weaving together SE, Secure Attachment work, the eight limbs of yoga, and the Creative Process. Kristin has had the privilege of being part of the assistant team with several of Peter Levine’s Master Classes and retreats. She assists SEI trainings throughout the US and is an SEI approved Session and Consult Provider at all levels. https://www.kristinburnsmindandbody.net/
Arizona
Spoken Languages - Spanish & English
Yolanda Renteria is a Trauma Therapist and Licensed Professional Counselor in Private Practice at Latibule Counseling in Arizona. She is trained in EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, Brainspotting, and DBT. She also owns Yolanda Renteria, PLLC, where she provides Somatic Processing Sessions, psychoeducational workshops, and speaking services. She is passionate about helping people break generational cycles and thrive in parenting and relationships. Aside from her work in mental health, she is an Adjunct Faculty Psychology Professor at Northern Arizona University and utilizes social media platforms to bring awareness of generational cycles that perpetuate trauma. In her free time, she enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with her family.
Author of Attuned and Attached.
Hi! I am Yolanda. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work, a Master’s degree in Community Counseling, and I’m a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Arizona with over 10 years of experience. I am also an Adjunct Faculty Psychology Professor at Northern Arizona University. I am trained in EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, Brainspotting, and DBT.
I’ve worked with different client populations, from children to adults in individual, couples and group settings treating a range of disorders. What I found in my journey as a therapist was that talk therapy wasn’t enough. This is when I decided to place my focus on working with trauma, where I discovered how important it was to work with the body. I utilize mind-body approaches with all of the people with whom I work who commonly present with anxiety, depression, PTSD, CPTSD, sleep disorders, and health problems.
It is my honor to accompany you in this journey you are about to embark on. Collective healing happens when we bring ourselves and our stories together and connect them in one space. I’m looking forward to meeting each one of you and holding space as your experience in San Diego unfolds.
Dawn Averitt, LMT, SEP, NARM, BASE
Lafayette, California
Spoken Language - English
Dawn Averitt is a somatic trauma practitioner and educator with more than 20 years of experience studying body-based approaches to healing. Her work centers on Somatic Experiencing®, nervous system regulation, developmental and relational trauma, medical trauma, concussion recovery, and trauma-informed bodywork. She has studied with Dr. Peter A. Levine, Dave Berger, Larry Heller, Kathy Kain, and others, and has assisted Dr. Levine in Ergos Master Classes and small healing retreats as well as Somatic Experiencing® International trainings in the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Canada.
Dawn integrates Somatic Experiencing with BASE Bodywork and Somatic Education, NARM, Integral Somatic Psychology, Bodynamic Developmental Psychology, Full Embodiment sexual trauma work, and other hands-on and body-oriented approaches. Her practice emphasizes gently moving between story and the body’s lived experience, with particular attention to pacing, consent, and the ways trauma can be carried through sensation, nervous system patterns, and embodied memory.
She especially enjoys helping groups and individuals deepen their ability to listen to the body with curiosity and compassion. Dawn brings to the retreat extensive experience with near-death and high-impact experiences, medical and birth trauma, developmental and relational trauma, touch-based work, and the restoration of greater connection, resilience, and aliveness.
Outside of her clinical work, Dawn has a longstanding love of teaching, travel, nature, photography, poetry, creativity, and the ways ritual and meaning can support the human experience.
Texas
Spoken Language - English
Henry Pittman is a Licensed Practitioner of the Healing Arts. He specializes in treating addiction, trauma, and couple/family dysfunction. Amongst other therapeutic methods, he utilizes Somatic Experiencing touchwork to address developmental and intergenerational trauma within his specializations.
Mr. Pittman is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor, Acupuncture Detoxification Specialist licensed by the State of Texas Medical Board. Nationally, he holds the designation as a National Certified Counselor (NCC), Master Addiction Counselor (MAC), Substance Abuse Professional (SAP). Clinically, he is a Certified Anger Resolution Therapist, Certified EMDR Therapist Candidate, Certified Parent Coordinator, and Certified Somatic Experience Practitioner. He is a Somatic Experiencing (SE) Master Class Assistant and Ergos SE Retreat Facilitator.
He has been in the field since 1998. In 2001 he received his Associate Degree in Human Services specializing in Chemical Dependency from Tomball College (Lone Star Tomball) where he has been an advisory board member for since 2006. At Sam Houston State University he obtained his Bachelors of Arts in Human Services with a double minor in psychology and sociology degree & Master's of Arts in Counseling specializing in Family Therapy degree.
*Retreat team members are subject to change. 