Welcome You Remarkable Human.
I am committed to helping people who are suffering and want to find healing.
Intention.
My practice is focused on holistically tending to the impacts of trauma on the body. I work to support physiological regulation and a felt sense of safety while repairing the ways chronic toxic stress, untreated shock and an unsupported early life can disrupt healthy physical functioning. I do this through two separate modalities I practice: acupuncture and somatic experiencing. These lineages of body-based healing cross-pollinate in my training and approach as a practitioner but are practiced separately and independently.
I have found that I have the most success working with people who want to take an active role in their own healing, value an embodied, holistic approach, and are committed to growth and self-inquiry as part of the process. This work is the most helpful when also accompanied by a strong care team that includes mental health providers and physicians.
For me, healing doesn’t just mean alleviating symptoms. By definition, healing is about integration and connectedness.
Invitation.
Welcome you remarkable human.
In process. At an edge. Searching. Here.
Suffering. Embracing joy. Vulnerable. Inquiring.
Black. Brown. Asian. Indigenous. White. Multiracial.
Reclaiming. Accounting for. Rooted. Growing. Healing. Breathing.
Future Ancestor.
Queer. Straight. Trans. Pan. Fluid.
Single. Seeking. Paired. Uncoupled. Divorced. Poly. Good relation.
Scared. Anxious. Hoping. In a hole.
Addicted. Recovering. Surviving. One day at a time.
Babies. No thank you babies. Lost babies. Waiting for babies. Babies grown and gone.
Scarred body. Wrinkly body. Body of all sizes. Body on wheels. Body missing parts.
Body that mends and heals.
Dignity not defined by accumulation or status.
You, dear human, are seen. You are welcome here.
Orientation.
I orient towards a healing justice praxis in my work and in my life. An essential part of mending our individual and collective traumas is unlearning , untangling and repairing the harms of power-over ways of being. This means challenging white supremacy, colonization, patriarchy, ableism and the culture of endless consumption, along with all the abuse and violence that they bring.
We are all part of much greater, stronger constellations of connection and care than those systems of domination. The teachers, healers and mentors who have guided and shaped me over the last 20+ years have generously taught me that. They are the activists, therapists, writers and critical thinkers, earth-tenders and everyday people I have been fortunate enough to work with in my practice. My bloodlines, about half from Ireland but also from Scotland, Norway, England, Whales and Germany are a complex tapestry of harm, love and grief and have also taught me much, in disparate and often uphill ways, about healing.
I am a white, able-bodied, neurodivergent, middle class queer cis woman and use she/her pronouns. I am always working towards being a more integrated human being in relationship with people, land and our kin in the more than human world.
Since 2009 I have lived in Portland, OR, on the unceded homelands of the Indigenous People of the Wallamt region. I have been in practice since 2013, and Tia, the super healer heeler has been working with me since 2020.
Acupuncture Licensure+Education
Oregon Medical Board Licensed Acupuncturist (LAc)
Certified Acupuncturist by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine
Biodynamic CranialSacral Training, Level 1, 2023
Biology of Trauma: Applications of Functional Medicine and Healing with Aimie Apigian MD, 2022
Kiiko Matsumoto Style Acupuncture 150 Hour Training Certificate, 2020
Contemporary Chinese Pulse Diagnosis, 2015-2016
CranialSacral Therapy Training, Upledger Institute, 2015
Bodywork Mentorship with Shelia Murphy DC, 2014- 2015
Engaging Vitality: Qi Palpation Seminars, 2013
Healing Community Trauma with Acupuncturists Without Borders, 2012
Master of Science in Oriental Medicine, Highest Honors, 2013
National College of Natural Medicine, Portland, ORMaster of Art in Women’s Spirituality, 2005
The New College of California, San Francisco, CABachelor of Art in Spanish, magna cum laude, 2001
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Somatic Training
Somatic Experiencing Training Assistant with Somatic Experiencing International, 2018-present
Internal Family Systems Online Circle Training with IFS Institute, October 2023-March 2024
NeuroAffective Touch Training with NeuroAffective Touch Institute, February 2023-August 2023
Integrative Somatic Parts Work Certificate with Frances Both LICSW, 2021
My Grandmother’s Hands Study Group with Karine Bell and Resmaa Menakem, LICSW, SEP, 2020
Somatic Resilience and Regulation Training with Kathy Kain and Steve Terrell, 2019-2020
Somatic Experiencing Certificate, SEI 2018
Yoga Teacher Trainer at The Bhaki Yoga Movement Center, 2016-2018
Touch Work for Complex Trauma Training with Kathy Kain, 2017
Acutonics Sound Healing Training, 2007-2009
Yoga Teacher Certification, 2008
Sound Healing Certificate, CIIS 2007
Reiki Master Practitioner, January 2006
Yoga and movement trainings with Doug Keller, Christina Sell, Noah Maze, Amy Matthews, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, 2005-2018
“In my years working with Kate, my physical body as well as my spirit have been healed in ways other practitioners have not been able to help me access. I believe this is due in large part to the intentionality and presence that Kate brings to every session together. It's evident that all of the learning and practicing Kate's done around how to create safe space for transformation is really effective. The way Kate will gently help me to attune to my inner knowing, or to pause in the middle of a wave of sensation or experience has been truly a huge shift for me. Knowing I have a practitioner who believes me, trusts my inner wisdom, can hold a container for healing, and is exceptionally gifted in her tools engenders deep trust in me, and in Kate. Thank you for all you do and *how* you do it, Kate." -CS
