Hi, I’m Jess (she/they)!

I’m a licensed massage therapist, somatic and SSP practitioner and trauma-informed educator and mentor for healers. I draw from my lived experience as a survivor and my extensive trauma-informed studies. I’m a forever student of the nervous system, neuroscience, healing justice and somatic practice.

I love getting nerdy about the nervous system, and it’s super important to me to hold and co-create a trauma-informed space whether I’m with students or clients.

You, your nervous system and your brain can all be held here.

I’ve been honored to work with

107 TRAUMA-INFORMED TRAINEES ❁ 189 SELF-PACED STUDENTS ❁ HUNDREDS OF SOMATIC CLIENTS

107 TRAUMA-INFORMED TRAINEES ❁ 189 SELF-PACED STUDENTS ❁ HUNDREDS OF SOMATIC CLIENTS

I strive to hold trauma-informed space for all beings and bodies, especially queer folks, chronic pain spoonies, folks who feel left out of many mainstream healing spaces, and folks who have been through developmental, systemic and sexual trauma.

This also includes practitioners who didn’t feel safe to be themselves in schools or trainings that were dogmatic, “guru”-style, fringe in an unhinged way, and definitely not intersectional, trauma-informed or accountable.

✿

Only clients and students can decide if a space is trauma-informed and if a practitioner is their cup of tea. But it might help you to know that some of my lived experiences include complex trauma, sexual violence, chronic pain, and surviving via dissociation (and then surviving through thawing out and feeling aaaaall the feelings).

I’m a white queer femme and I know I can’t promise you a safe space, but I do my best to be present, client-centered, human and accountable. No to spiritual bypassing, yes to impact over intent, and a big yes to following your perfect pace and not shaming the ways you’ve survived all the hard things.

How we can work together

Invite healing for your nervous system and vagus nerve through the Safe & Sound Protocol!

Cultivate trauma-informed best practices without leaving yourself behind through the Foundations Training.

Explore the story your body is telling and befriend your nervous system through Somatic Sessions.

  • “I have been a facilitator for years but it wasn’t until recently that I realized some of the terminology and the ways I was approaching things were getting under my own skin. If my job is to provide a safe and supportive space for others I knew I had to educate myself. I was absolutely dumbfounded at how simple and transformative the practices within the program were.”

    Sara, Breathworker & Trauma Informed Student

  • "The SSP experience has been tender and open; a gentle space to land each week and spend intentional time tending to my nervous system. I relax and my breath deepens as I arrive into this unique space with an open invitation to find the experience I need that day with the music and the group, but no expectation to do so in a specific way."

    SSP Client

  • "My session with Jess was such a beautiful catalyst to further healing within myself: she gently supported me in realizing that part of being a trauma-informed massage therapist is creating the conditions where I, too, can feel safer and more present. This was just one of several lightbulb moments in our consultation, which really helped me get clarity on how I want to grow in my trauma-informed practices."

    Mel Meder, Massage Therapist

  • “Part of what I loved about the SSP was Jess’s invitation to show up exactly as we were. Just before SSP began, I experienced some trauma in a group setting and felt hesitant about the group dynamic of this process. I was able to show up completely nonverbal and in tears the first day, and felt warmth and welcomed in this experience."

    SSP Client, 1 of 2

  • "As the weeks progressed, I was able to connect outward more to other members of the group as my nervous system allowed, and even initiated conversations and cracked some jokes! The SSP was healing on multiple levels for me, and this group dynamic was just one slice of the pie.”

    SSP Client, 2/2

  • “Jess clearly possesses a nuanced understanding of how the subtle/energetic and physical body holds and expresses trauma wounds. She is a gifted facilitator.” 

    Meg, Life Coach

  • “I've already noticed that the way that I'm speaking with and writing to clients is indeed starting to shift for the better. And I feel good knowing that I have a solid toolkit for this work that I can continue to use as I grow my practice.”

    Olivia LaBarre, Animal Communicator & Reiki Practitioner

  • “The guide is beautifully presented, easy to follow and has helped me personally and in my role as a youth worker. It has helped me to recognize thoughts and feelings on a much deeper level.”

    Amanda T. on the Spiritual Bypassing Guide, It’s Not All Good

  • “It has helped me to gain a deeper understanding of spiritual bypassing and how to hold a safer container of space for others in my work.”

    Samantha G.

I joke with clients and students that I have two settings: massage-therapist-soft, and nerdy-passionate-fast when I’m teaching. But there’s a third setting lately, and it’s joyful.

Laughter is medicine belongs on a throw pillow at TJ Maxx, but I do want you to know that when you think about working with me, it’s not all rose quartz and fake sheepskin throws.

Holding tender space matters to me. But I also want you to feel comfy sharing about the reality TV you’ve been watching, to show up in your regular clothes from your regular house. And you can talk about taking meds or drinking soda pop and I won’t pass out or clutch my selenite.

Not just because I’m an excellent healer with a regulated nervous system (most of the time—wink), but because just like you, I’m a regular human.

Your body has a story to tell. Your nervous system does, too.

It can be scary to slow down, and it’s not always as easy as “feeling your feelings” or making contact with your body

But with relative safety, the pace that the slowest part of your nervous system is asking for, and lots of compassion, befriending your nervous system just might be possible.

If you feel like you might want to be partners in healing with me, yay! If not, I bow to you knowing this isn’t the right fit.

Either way, I’m rooting for you and your healing!

TRAUMA-INFORMED EXPERIENCE

My lived experiences have readied me to do this work, and I am a forever student of trauma-informed approaches, somatic processing, and bodywork.

I strive to learn from folks with shared values who don’t bypass systemic trauma and marginalized experiences and/or appropriate healing modalities from other cultures and peoples (to name a few considerations among many). Of course no trainer or training is perfect.

Here are a few of my learning experiences that shape my practice.

  • 15+ years in trauma-informed social services

  • Training, facilitation & 1-1 mentorship for early childhood educators and care providers

  • Licensed Massage Therapist, state of Maine on Wabanaki land

  • Massage Therapist | Santa Barbara Body Therapy Institute | 750+ hours | 2017

  • Trauma Touch Therapy| Colorado School of Healing Arts | 50 hours | 2018

  • The Trans Body on the Table | Santa Fe School of Massage | 8 hours | 2019

  • Relational Bodywork & Somatic Education Trauma Practitioner | 48 hours | 2019

  • Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy | 50 hours | 2018 - 2019

  • Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy Certification | Embody Lab | 60 hours | 2021

  • WEV Small Business Intensive Training |10 weeks | 2011

  • ReBloom Foundations Training |Rachael Maddox |16 hours | 2022

  • Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) Beg I | SEI | 22 hours | 2023

  • Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) Beg II | SEI | 22 hours | 2023

  • Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) | Unyte ILS | SSP Provider, 2023

  • Safe and Sound Protocol Practitioner Training | Paula Scatoloni, SEP, SSP | 2023

  • Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) Beg III | SEI | 22 hours | 2023

  • Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) Int I | SEI | 22 hours | 2023

  • Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) Int II | SEI | 22 hours | 2024

 
 

Learn the five core pillars of trauma informed care

Dive into this free guide for an overview of trauma informed practice you can start using with your clients right away!