BIOS
Beth Anne Fisher (she/her) holds a BA and Master of Physical Therapy (MPT) from Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI and a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) from the University of Colorado. She also holds relevant certifications and training in Holistic Pelvic Care, Maya abdominal therapy, health coaching, HeartMath, spiritual direction/ soul care, and a mindful movement practice (MELT Method L2). Beth Anne provides holistic pelvic health physical therapy services to those in female bodies using an integration of the above skills with an emphasis on gentle manual therapies and holding space for pelvic bowl stories of all kinds. Beth Anne sees the womb space in the female body as a “sanctuary” of sorts, and therefore identifies most with being a chaplain of that womb space. While tending to the physical symptoms, Beth Anne intentionally and gently supports the connection between energy, emotions, and stories that women’s bodies hold including themes such as pregnancy loss, fertility challenge, trauma from difficult birth experiences, pain from pelvic challenges such as endometriosis, and difficulty moving through thresholds of female body experience such as the menopausal transition. Beth Anne is passionate about supporting others through gentle bodywork and/ or supportive listening practices to tend the messages and wisdom of their bodies while experiencing any kind of grief or loss through private consultations. Learn More
Jacqueline Kitson Jackson, Ed.D ~ (she/her) was born and raised in Harlem and the Bronx in New York City. She earned an Ed.D in Reading, Writing and Literacy at the University of Pennsylvania, where she was the recipient of the Ralph C. Preston Award for Scholarship in Teaching and Literacy Research in the Service of Social Justice (2008). She earned BA degrees in English and History at the State University New York in Binghamton, and a M. Ed from The City College of New York. Dr. Jackson has been a community educator for over forty years, teaching reading and writing classes in community centers, adult literacy programs, drug treatment programs, and prisons. Dr. Jackson has worked at the Young Adult Learning Academy, the International Center for the Disabled and the New York City Department of Corrections. She was the Director of the Germantown Women’s Education Program before beginning to teach first year undergraduate students. Her research interests include women’s literacies and first-generation students in Higher Education. Inspired by her experiences with nontraditional students in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia, Dr. Jackson returned to school and earned a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health. Her current interests include issues of equity, social justice and the role of trauma in learning. Dr. Jackson is an advocate of mind and body connections and practices and teaches workshops on meditation and mindfulness. She is a licensed spiritual practitioner with the Centers for Spiritual Living and Agape East. As a Hospice and Palliative Care volunteer and End of Life Doula Dr. Jackson supports caregivers and patients with terminal illnesses and issues of loss and grief.
Maryam Amir ~ (she/her) is an educator, writer, advocate for social justice, community activist and trauma survivor. She speaks candidly about the issues and challenges facing the Muslim community in the current zeitgeist of the day. Maryam has been privileged to grow up traveling the world, speaks multiple languages and has lived in five of the seven of the world’s continents. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Master of Arts in Language Teaching from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Maryam is the mother of two beautiful daughters and she loves to hike with her girls in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. She is currently writing her first book and excerpts of her writing can be found on here.
Garret Drew Ellis ~ (he/him) Writing and finding himself in the field of memoir, remembrance, death and grief for as long as he can remember, Garrett established himself as a professional writer in 2005 and as an End of Life Doula in 2019. That same year, Garrett founded Beyond Morning, offering doula and storytelling services after receiving training from INELDA (The International End of Life Doula Association). Garrett studied English at Central CT State University and has been a ghostwriter and author for almost 20 years. He has been a hospice volunteer. The author of “Write Until You Feel Better” and the forthcoming, “Writing In Memoriam”, Garrett works locally in the Central Pennsylvania area and offers his services nationwide through digital platforms. He speaks at workshops, leads groups and works with individuals to process death and grief, document their lives and to help them do the same for others. (Bio originally published here).
Kalyan Volpe ~ (he/him) holds an MA in Education from Goddard College and is the Co-Founder of Odyssey School in Asheville. He has been a holistic educator with a focus on spirituality in education for 25 years. Kalyan has traveled the world visiting over 35 countries and living in 6 including India where he met his extraordinary wife Shanti with whom he has 3 wonderful boys. Kalyan describes his life path as seeking a balance between internal work and service to humanity. He has been a practitioner of Ashtanga yoga for 25 years and finds deep bliss in devotion and surrender. (He served as a monk for three years in Nicaragua before deciding to dedicate himself to education). As a middle school teacher Kalyan has explored many ways of incorporating spirituality in the classroom including meditation, visualizations, art, and spiritual warrior exercises. Learn More.
Amanda Heisman, CHHC ~ (she/her) is an Energy Embodiment Coach, Nutrition Channel & Intuitive Eating Teacher. Amanda is trained in food psychology and energy medicine. Amanda is the founder of Heisman Health which focuses on guiding women to create joyful and easy relationships with food and body. In particular, she supports female leaders, professionals, mothers, and entrepreneurs in the deep nourishment and self-care it takes to run a business and create holistic success. Having spent a decade in the corporate world, she recovered from burn-out herself and now helps others do the same. She is also a writer, speaker, alchemist, dancer, and nature-lover. Learn more here.
Luisa Perez Wolter was borned in Costa Rica, but her family came from a lot of different places. For this reason she considered herself as a citizen of the world. She earned a postgraduate degree in Drama at the Universidad de Costa Rica, where she later worked as Faculty for more than ten years teaching different courses. Luisa is a Hatha Yoga Instructor with an emphasis on Vinyasa Yoga and Prenatal Vinyasa Yoga. Artist, Artivist, Actress, Director, and mother of three children. Certified Doula by DONA INTERNATIONAL. She worked as a Doula in two different pioneer doula organizations in the United States (Swedish Doula Program and Open Arms). She is also a mentor for the birth process by “Birthing from Within,” a certified Bach Flower consultant, certified Acupressurist Birth Professional, PEPS guide, among others . Luisa has over twenty years cultivating her personal practice to be a better person for herself, her family and the planet. She believes in the idea that personal growth helps to develop the growth of her community and she is always happy to treat others with respect, support and compassion. Being a Doula for Luisa is a way of relating to the world, more than a profession to exercise. Nowadays Luisa is preparing herself to become a death doula, so she can support more individuals and communities in different ways with an open heart. www.lifecirclebirth.com is the website
Dr. Emily Colwell (she/her) is a licensed and board-certified naturopathic doctor and clinical social worker. She blends nearly three decades of expertise in these areas, addressing emotional health as this also has a profound and lasting impact on physical health. She graduated from Columbia University’s School of Social Work, then earned a doctorate in naturopathic medicine from Bastyr University in Seattle in 2006.
Dr. Colwell’s lived experience and clinical expertise in the areas of anxiety, childhood trauma, family addiction, chronic illness and cancer have taught her how possible it is to find relief and healing, no matter the circumstances. In a down-to-earth, relatable style, she teaches others how to transform their relationship with themselves and experience healing, no matter what they are navigating.
Dr. Leslie Meyers (she/her) is a licensed and board-certified naturopathic doctor who specializes in women’s health, fertility, gastrointestinal issues, anxiety, depression, fatigue, and insomnia. She completed her doctorate degree from Bastyr University and a specialty degree in homeopathy from the New England School of Homeopathy.
Dr. Meyers believes that healing involves listening to her clients, supporting them to overcome patterns in their lives, and putting together all the pieces of the puzzle to help them fully heal. She focuses on supporting her clients’ nutrition, movement, stress management, hormone and gut health, and their relationship with their body to achieve optimal wellness. Her ultimate goal is to empower individuals to take control of their own health, shift healthcare towards a system that focuses on wellness, and only rely on drugs and surgery when necessary.
Denise McMorrow ~ (she/her) holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA, and an M.F.A. from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. She is a depth-oriented psychotherapist, visionary artist, retreat facilitator, mother, and ritual guide. In addition to the soul tending focus of her private practice, Heartwalker Psychotherapy (www.heartwalkerpsychotherapy.com), she has worked extensively with helping veterans come fully home and transition into spiritual eldership via retreats throughout the U.S., and holds space for contemplative communal rituals of grief and honoring especially for those who have experienced perinatal loss. With sound healer and musician, Erik Lawrence, she is co-founder of Mountain to Mountain, a creative initiative dedicated to the companioning of the soul through the narrow passages, unexpected initiations, and transitions of this sacred life. Weaving the medicine of art, poetry, sound, sanctuary, and Sacred Feminine principles, Mountain to Mountain creates containers for indwelling, remembering, and rooting into Being Here to support awareness of the sacredness in one’s self, in others, and in the more-than-human-world of relations (www.mountaintomountain.love) Project Info: The Prayer Tent for the Divine Mother is a container for the sacred gaze of Her, and a sanctuary space to pray from one’s own beloved heart. The Prayer Tent contains a circle of life-size banners of the 13 Sacred Beings, all faces of the Divine Mother, who Denise McMorrow painted over the past 2 years. Inside their collective gaze, visitors are invited to rest deeply and receive the accompanying sound healing journey and spoken messages of each Being. For more information about The Prayer Tent for the Divine Mother, including visiting or hosting the Prayer Tent in your community, please visit www.mountaintomountain.love.
Melissa Ming Foynes ~ (she/her) holds a Ph.D from the University of Oregon, has completed fellowships at Yale University School of Medicine and the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and held academic appointments at Harvard University and Boston University. Melissa is a clinical psychologist, international educator, co-founder of a therapy practice specializing in stress, trauma, grief, and loss, and owner of a holistic coaching practice. She is also a trauma-informed mindfulness, meditation, and yoga teacher, Ayurvedic doula, and host of the podcast The Science and Soul of Living Well. In her podcast, Melissa and her guests offer accessible ways to integrate evidence-based information from psychological science and complementary and alternative medicine into our daily lives so that we can cultivate resilience and live with more meaning, purpose and alignment with our values in all life domains even in the hardest and darkest of times. She has expertise in sexual trauma, interpersonal and institutional betrayal trauma, traumatic losses (e.g., loss of children, loss of loved ones to suicide, murder, illness, accidents, natural disasters) as well as grief and loss related to the perinatal period (e.g., birth trauma, obstetric violence, miscarriage, stillbirth, pregnancy termination) and pediatric medical complexities (e.g., cancer, autoimmune disorders). She also frequently consults with professionals who have experienced trauma, grief, and loss in the course of their work. She is deeply committed to working with people who have experienced discrimination, trauma and/or loss due to some aspect of identity like gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and religion. She has authored over 60 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and educational products, and has trained thousands of professionals. To learn more, follow her on Instagram @drfoynes or Facebook, listen to her podcast, or visit www.melissafoynes.com or www.openedhearttherapy.com.
Patricia Sullivan ~ (she/her) holds an MA in English Literature from the University of Chicago and an MA in Counseling Psychology from Santa Clara University in California. She is a former licensed marriage and family psychotherapist and clinical director in UCSF’s Department of Psychiatry, supervising both inpatient and outpatient programs for clients with HIV Disease who were also facing mental health and addiction issues, homelessness, and poverty. Patricia is a Level II Reiki practitioner and has also received advanced training in Celtic Shamanism. Patricia has always been drawn to working in liminal space and has over 30 years of clinical experience focusing on end-of-life issues related to death, loss, grief, chronic illness, and trauma. She currently resides in North Carolina and works as a freelance editor and writer, specializing in services for the psychology, personal development, and wellness fields. Her clients include psychologists, therapists, wellness experts, healthcare providers, and authors. Since relocating to North Carolina, Patricia was diagnosed with a serious, rare pituitary disorder. She has become an advocate for the rare disease community and now volunteers with the National Organization of Rare Disorders (NORD), serving as their Rare Disease Ambassador for North Carolina. Both Patricia’s professional clinical experience and her personal rare disease journey inform and support her work as an editor and writer. When she’s not working, Patricia’s tending to her farm, Three Crows Farm, where she cares for her sheep and chickens. She also has two willful cats and three amazing livestock guardian dogs. Learn more: www.pjgillgannon.com
Alexandra Fusco ~ (she/her) is an experienced psychodynamic psychotherapist, educator and life/wellbeing coach. She trained as a psychotherapist at The Ashburn Clinic in New Zealand and also has a Post-Graduate Diploma in Education. She is committed to providing a safe, non-judgmental, empathic, respectful approach in a caring and compassionate space. She trained as a psychotherapist in New Zealand and has over ten years of experience of working with people individually and in groups as they navigate many life challenges and mental health difficulties including, but not limited to: eating disorders, sexual trauma, grief – particularly people grieving the death of a loved one by suicide and postnatal depression. Having migrated to New Zealand and returned to the UK fifteen years later, she is experienced in the effect migration has on people’s lives from the practical to the emotional and the process of shifting, transitional space, change and settling. Her therapy work explores the present in the context of the past and her coaching work explores how the future can be impacted by the present. She has also completed the BBD teacher training. Alexandra is just about to embark on the journey of becoming a Biblio-poetry therapist and is exploring ways of using creative writing as a therapeutic tool. Alexandra feels privileged to do the work she does and to walk alongside people as they navigate their lives and the process of knowing themselves. She is continuously learning and developing ways to be of service in the world that are heart-centred. In the words of Rumi “we are all just walking each other home.”
Aditi Sethi, MD ~ (she/her) is a hospice and palliative care physician, end-of-life doula, and Executive Director of the Center for Conscious Living and Dying. Featured in the forthcoming film The Last Ecstatic Days, Aditi is an emerging and important voice for shifting our culture’s understanding and approach to dying, death, and bereavement care. As a child under the guidance of her parents (Kapil and Ranjit Sethi) and grandparents from India, Aditi studied devotional music from the Sikh and Hindu traditions. Her other music pursuits include playing music with her husband, Jay Brown, a musician and hospice music therapist. Aditi and Jay recently formed a group called The Appalucians, with Angie Heimann and Cas Sochaki. Releasing their first CD “Bright Hills” in 2018, the Appalucians play music from the mountains of Western North Carolina, featuring spirited songwriting, tight harmonies, and a lovely layered interplay between dobro, guitars, harp, bass, and banjo. Aditi and Jay are the parents of three amazing children. Learn more here.
Jay Brown ~ (he/him) is a board certified music therapist, a hospice music therapist, and teacher in Asheville, North Carolina. Jay is a prolific song writer who has been playing guitar since the age of 7 and writing songs since high school. Jay has spent years traveling and playing around the U.S., absorbing our rich musical heritage and he has also taken multiple trips to Ghana, West Africa. His eclectic musical tastes found expression in 1998, when he became a founding member of Lazybirds, a band that blends a wide variety of musical styles, including jazz and blues, country and rock ‘n roll, to create a fresh and soul stirring sound. Jay performs with Aditi, blending Aditi’s Indian folk and classical influences with his own folk and original music. A versatile musician, Jay is as much at home swingin’ the blues and boogie with his buddies in the Lazybirds as he is playing songwriter showcases and house concerts, but you can usually find him blending his styles in the pubs and listening rooms around the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina. Learn more here.
Anne Ferrier Crook ~ (she/her) holds a B.A. from American University in French Language and Western European Studies. She is a Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, AADP, Holding Space Consultant, Certified Birth Doula, CD(DONA), and Certified Medical Interpreter, CMI-Spanish. She has worked in many facets of healthcare for the past 20 years with regard to holding space for life’s sacred thresholds. Anne is passionate about supporting clients to heal and transform their body-mind-spirit from the inside out. She taught nutritional healing and provided wellness consults to clients from all over the world at Onsite — a therapeutic retreat center world-renowned for healing trauma. She specializes in supporting clients to move out of “dis-ease” from post-traumatic stress into greater ease and emotional freedom. She brings a compassionate presence and years of knowledge & expertise to clients as they explore the deeper meaning of “soul care” while courageously navigating life transitions. Her writing has been featured in childbirth magazines, online publications, and a best-seller book called “Thresholds: 75 Stories of How Changing Your Perspective Can Change Your Life.” Learn more.
Joanne Zerdy, PhD (she/her) is a former university professor in theatre arts, Joanne brings her experience as an educator, researcher, and grieving parent to her work at Inviting Abundance, co-created by Joanne and her husband Will Daddario (Listen to their Circle of Care webinar HERE). In addition to teaching Holding Space for Pregnancy Loss trainings, Joanne facilitates an online Grief Mapping course, a Grief Pen Pal Project, and Creative Grief Workshops. She also utilizes her communication, writing, editing, and curriculum-design skills as an education consultant. As part of her personal grief work since the death of her baby boy Finlay, Joanne studies permaculture design and herbal medicine; she makes herb-infused honeys and herbal tea blends for Finlay’s Garden. She enjoys exploring the outdoors with Finlay’s younger brothers, Phalen and Ren, and, when time allows, drinking a quiet cup of tea. Learn more here.
Michelle Smith is an interfaith minister, energy healing practitioner, and clinical hypnotherapist with a specialization in perinatal health, trauma, grief, and loss. Known for the soothing sound of her voice and calming presence, Michelle has trained extensively with The Institute for the Study of Birth, Breath, and Death. She is a professional midwife of thanatology (death midwife) and a certified Grief Educator trained directly by David Kessler—the World’s Leading Grief Expert. Childbirth education and labor support are passions of Michelle’s. As a doula and midwifery assistant, she’s been blessed to attend 750+ births and counting since formally training in 2000. Michelle founded the Birth Ease Method™ guided relaxation childbirth program and is a birth hypnosis specialist with 20 years of experience. In recent years, she became a Calm Birth prenatal meditation teacher, as well as a teacher-trainer. Michelle is now honored to be a member of the Calm Birth leadership team and to have helped create sets of meditations for healing after perinatal loss and abortion. Michelle is the host of The Birth Ease Podcast and the Birth Ease Loss Support podcast. She’s featured incredible experts on her podcasts from Jennie Joseph, Sabia Wade, and Cristen Pascucci, to Heidi Faith and The Institute’s Amy Wright Glenn. With almost 200 episodes between her two podcasts, she has gathered a library of knowledge for her listeners, which includes parents and professionals alike.
Marinah identifies as a first generation, two-spirit Chicanx/Indigenous daughter of a medicine woman from Chihuahua, Mexico, and mother to mixed race children including Mexican, Pascua Yaqui and Irish/English descent. Marinah is currently the Director of Organizational Wellness for Birth Center Equity, an organization created to make birth center care an option in every community, by growing and sustaining birth centers led by Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). She served as President to Executive Director from 2019-2021 for Changing Woman Initiative, a native-led health justice project, during which she developed clinical, organizational and policy initiatives whichfocused on COVID response, Native American and indigenous reproductive healthcare access and education via midwives, birth center development, and indigenous staff and student leadership development.
Her background also includes street medic work and immigration activism, clinical/government policy work in Mexico and Africa, organizational development and facilitation in the U.S and Mexico with various non-profits, and she is a founding board member of Phoenix Allies for Community Health, a free clinic primarily serving immigrant families. Marinah is an educator for traditional midwives, and in countless coalitions related to health justice. Marinah is the owner of Phoenix Midwife, a longstanding midwifery practice, and was the first person of color to serve as President of national midwifery association in North America recognized by the International Confederation of Midwives.
Marinah currently serves as a board member for the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, advisory board member for Birth Detroit, and is an Arizona Reproductive Justice Coalition founding member. Marinah is also the founder of Parteras de Maiz, an umbrella organization dedicated to advocacy and health justice, with projects such as the Dignity Birth Campaign which affirms the importance of midwives, and the Good Birth for All podcast which highlights national maternal and reproductive health leaders.
Reverend Bodhi Be ‘Warrior of the heart, protector of the sacred’.
Reverend Bodhi Be is an ordained interfaith minister and teacher in the Sufi lineage of Samuel Lewis and Hazrat Inayat Khan. He is the founder and executive director of Doorway Into Light, a nonprofit organization on Maui, which provides conscious and compassionate care for the dying, their families and the grieving, and has been offering community educational programs and trainings since 2006 in the fields of awakened living and dying and the care of the dying. Doorway Into Light operates Hawaii’s only nonprofit certified green funeral home and a storefront on Maui, ‘The Death Store’, an educational resource center and store providing education, support and counsel on a donation basis.
Bodhi is a funeral director, an end-of-life and bereavement counselor and educator; a hospice volunteer; a teacher and trainer of death doulas; a speaker and workshop leader. He has trained hundreds of doctors, nurses, hospice staff, social workers, ministers, chaplains, therapists, artists and lay people in the spiritual, psychological, emotional and logistical care of the dying and care of the dead, and for four years has taken dozens through a certification program for death doulas. As a ceremonial guide Bodhi leads memorial and funeral services and community grief rituals. He has facilitated grief support groups for teenagers at a local high school. He hosts a weekly streaming radio show, ‘Death Tracks’, on a Maui station. He is a notary public, a coffin maker and a Reiki practitioner.
Bodhi and his wife Leilah are organic, off-the-grid homesteaders in Hawaii who have been leading spiritual retreats around the world for over 25 years. For many years Bodhi collaborated with Ram Dass, a neighbor, mentor and friend, who served on Doorway Into Light’s Board of Directors. Bodhi is continuing the work Ram Dass helped birth in the fields of conscious dying in America.
Doorway Into Light is currently raising funds to develop a new model of land stewardship that includes a natural green burial ground, a sanctuary, a kids park, ceremony hall and community gathering place where “life and death interweave in healthy community life.” Learn more.
Sherri Doucette, founder of Litehouse Wellness – featured on ABC’s Daybreak at 8 and Good Morning Texas, BET and NBC – is a proud Los Angeleno. Litehouse Wellness is a 501c3 non-profit purposed to strengthen the African American family by bridging the wellness accessibility gap using contemplative practices, preventative health education and advocacy. Sherri recognizes the tremendous potential of this restorative framework to heal ongoing trauma and build sustainable resistance against oppressive systems and institutions. Sherri is a life span doula, yoga & meditation teacher, Reiki II healer, speaker and Yeye to Nova Rain. She studied social work at Clark Atlanta University and trained with international master teachers: Shosan Victoria Austin, San Francisco Zen Center; Maya Breuer; Chelsey Charbeneau; Chinook Gnome; Dr. Akua Gray, Life of Peace Wellness Education Institute, Cape Coast, Ghana; Krishna Kaur; Jana Long; Tracee Stanley; Mark Whitwell, Heart of Yoga; and Latham Thomas. Sherri lives in Dallas, Texas with her plant-babies and books. Learn more at www.litehousewellness.org and follow @litehousewellness
Melinda Hitchcock ~ (she/her) holds an MSW from Fordham University. In the last 20 years she has worked with families and individuals battling homelessness and addiction. At Little Sisters of the Assumption ~ a non- profit family health service in East Harlem, New York City ~ Melinda provided Spanish speaking services and support to immigrant families and refugees of all faiths to help them meet their most fundamental needs. At Angels at Risk in Los Angeles, California she helped guide students and their parents through life struggles and helped them build foundations for long term social stability. At In Balance Academy in Tucson, Arizona, a therapeutic boarding school for young men, Melinda used an array of experiential treatment modalities, including equine therapy, motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy and family therapy. Melinda now lives in upstate New York, while mentoring women in her community who are struggling with addiction and basic coping skills. Melinda’s life contains a myriad of experiences that, through triumphs and tragedies, have brought her to the reality of living her desires and being of service to others. Her focus is specifically on the development of the individual and the healing and strength of family relations through positive solutions. Her passion for her work extends beyond self, and her education. Her goal is to provide guidance and hope for all those who come under her care.
Paule Johanne Toussaint-Parrish (Joie) ~ (she/her) holds an Ed.S in Counseling from Rider University. Joie is the founder of Joie de Vivre Family Services. She is a Master Teacher, Educator, Birth Doula, Life coach, Parent Coach, Wife, and Mother. Joie holds an Administrative
Camille Hawkins is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in private practice specializing in Reproductive & Perinatal Mental Health. She began her career on the OB floor where she supported families in times of miscarriage, stillbirth, placing for adoption, and infant death. After a personal struggle with infertility and miscarriage, Camille founded the Utah Infertility Resource Center, a nonprofit organization which provides emotional support and education to thousands of families wishing and struggling to grow. In addition to supporting clients through professional counseling, Camille has spent years volunteering for local grief support organizations such as The Sharing Place and Share Parents of Utah. She is actively involved in research, advocacy endeavors, and serves on a number of community boards. Camille enjoys spending time with her husband and two daughters who joined their family through open adoption. She became a teacher for The Institute in honor of her daughter, Everly, who came from a surprise pregnancy after nine years of infertility, and died in utero at 31 weeks gestation. Learn more here.
Abby Jorgensen is a PhD candidate in sociology at the University of Notre Dame, a birth and bereavement doula, and a teacher. As a researcher, Abby studies how family transitions affect the way individuals view themselves and their societies. In her dissertation, she examines the ways that the work of motherhood that occurs before birth informs women’s self-concepts and relationships with government. Some of her other work focuses on explaining the connection of religious and feminist identities in weddings, evaluating governmental impacts on child mortality rates, and advocating for research methodologies that are appropriate, healthy, and beautiful. In addition to her research work as a lifelong learner, Abby is also an award-winning teacher of undergraduates, graduate students, birth workers, and expecting parents as professor and educator. Abby is a birth and bereavement doula in South Bend, Indiana, USA. In addition to serving private clients, she also works closely with her local Family Resource Center in providing events and classes and with The Mother Well in providing community groups for parents experiencing pregnancy, postpartum, and bereavement. Abby’s professional roles all revolve around the desire to companion parents through tender moments of transition and she companions them as they move through those moments. Abby lives in South Bend, Indiana, with her husband, their daughter, two dogs, a cat, and five chickens. Learn more here.
Kathleen Putnam holds an MS from Bastyr University and founder of NutritionWorks, with a specialty in nutrition science, mindfulness, and lifestyle coaching in Seattle WA. Kathleen is a Registered Dietitian, Certified Parent Coach, Educator, Group Facilitator, Food Therapist, Certified Death Doula, and Life Coach specializing in Life’s Transitions through Grief and Loss. Kathleen supervises graduate students at Bastyr Natural Health Clinic and has served as Associate Professor of Nutrition and Human Development in multiple higher education institutions in the Seattle area. With decades of work as a trainer and provider with the Dean Ornish Lifestyle Medicine and Laurel Mellin’s Emotional Brain Training programs, Kathleen has built a foundation of skills and tools of mindfulness, responsive education, group facilitation, and coaching that has led to the desire to be a healing presence for those experiencing transitions through loss, grief, and end of life. Kathleen’s known for her ability to meet people where they’re at while creating a safe and loving space free of shame and stigma. As a parent, partner, sister, daughter, and a survivor of divorce, Kathleen welcomes the opportunity to join the community of Amy Wright Glenn as we collectively and individually learn and grow to hold space for those in need. In a fun side project, Kathleen and her friends developed the nutrition bar, Zing. Kathleen offers coaching for individuals, parents, and families going through life transitions of loss, health, and end-of-life transitions and facilitates grief groups. Learn more.
Alicia Suárez ~ (she/her) holds a BCE from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. She also holds certifications as an educator, birth/postpartum doula, breast/chest feeding counselor, and yoga teacher. Alicia’s compassionate and mindful presence enables her to hold space for people navigating significant life changes including, but not limited to, death of a loved one, separation/divorce, pregnancy complications, caring for elderly/sick parents, loss of income/job, and the passing of beloved pets. Her work is greatly influenced by her studies in Body-Mind Centering®, as well as her background in perinatal psychology and mindfulness meditation. In 2013, Alicia founded La Luna Azul, a full-spectrum provider of holistic childbirth services located in New York City which focuses on supporting a spectrum of families through birth, adoption and/or surrogacy. In addition to offering Holding Space Consultations, Alicia is also a teacher of the Loving, Dying, and Letting Go workshop and has been trained by the Institute in art of group facilitation. She is humbled at the opportunity to witness and support the emotional journey of people of all races, gender identities, and financial standing. Alicia is fully bilingual and happy to offer her services in both English and Spanish. Learn more.
Laura Tashjian holds an M.A. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy with a focus in humanitarian studies, gender and conflict resolution and completed a certification in Global Nutrition Programming. She works in the field of gender justice and is a professional birth doula, lactation counselor and trained in bereavement and trauma-informed yoga therapy. Laura is deeply rooted in practices of meditation and somatic explorations through yoga, sound/music and mindful intuitive movement. She anchors her work around themes of sacred connection, cultivating healing through loss, inter-generational trauma, and navigating the vulnerable edges of cultural identity and social injustice. Laura accompanies individuals with compassion, deep listening and an open heart. Learn more.
Tobie Spears holds a BA in Sociology and Political Science from the University of Utah and has completed a Certificate in Criminology from the University of Utah. Tobie is the Founder of the nonprofit Be Humanitarian where she leads humanitarian-minded expeditions to explore Guatemala while paying it forward. Since 2007, Tobie has been working as a birth and postpartum doula where she has volunteered with the Utah Doula Association as President, Vice-President, Mentoring Chair, and Retreat Chair in service to birth and postpartum doulas across the state of Utah. Tobie has assisted families through the excitement of birth, the sorrow of loss, and has a particular focus/expertise in supporting people through postpartum depression, anxiety, and psychosis. Tobie is honored to be able to offer private consultations for individuals as they travel through life’s journey as a Holding Space Consultant for The Institute. Learn more.
Danielle Pacific holds a BS in Biology, became a Manual Therapist shortly after and remains fascinated with anatomy and movement. She trained in the Hatha style of Yoga and became a Birth Doula with ToLabor, and recently was trained by Bodhi be and INELDA as an End-of-Life Doula. She currently lives in Hawaii, and is passionate about learning indigenous Hawaiian culture and brings this information into Loving, Dying and Letting go. She holds Women’s Grief Groups and One-on-One Grief Sessions, mostly via zoom during this pandemic. Danielle values the lessons Amy shares about Holding Space and Companioning others , and has found her generosity and kindness are ever evolving as her work deepens. Learn more.
Trish Rux is Registered Nurse and holds a BA degree in Organizational Management and Communications from Concordia University. She is certified as a Hospice and Palliative Care Nurse with over eight years of experience in an inpatient hospice unit caring for people and their families during active dying. She is a certified end-of-life doula specializing in end-of-life care planning, vigil, and bereavement. She is faculty in a program for end-of-life doulas, coaches, and educators. Trish also teaches focused awareness meditation and mindfulness and uses those practices in her daily life. Trish is a member of the Institute for the Study of Birth, Breath, and Death and offers the Institute Course; Loving, Dying, and Letting Go to groups online. When she is not exploring ways to normalize talking about death she enjoys playing with her grandchildren, gardening, and reading.
Emily Gold holds a Masters of Public Health and is a Doula and Yoga Therapist. She has worked in the field of maternal and women’s health for over a decades in the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa and Asia. As a doula Emily has supported family through births as well as the loss of pregnancies. As a Yoga Therapist Emily works with clients on a variety of women’s health issues, including prenatal and postnatal anxiety and depression, birth trauma and fertility issues. Since utilizing yoga and meditation as part of her own healing following a miscarriage, she is committed to teaching others the healing capacities of mind-body work for pregnancy and loss. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Spiritual Mind Body Psychology at Columbia University’s Teachers College and plans on incorporating this education into her current work.
Heather Tolley holds a B.Sc. in Psychology from the University of Utah, has completed graduate level counseling training as an interfaith healthcare chaplain (Clinical Pastoral Education), and specialized training in supporting survivors of abuse and sexual assault. Heather offers compassion and skilled emotional support to those going through life’s most challenging experiences and specializes in assisting individuals and families who are in the midst of crisis and grief. Through her work as an interfaith hospice chaplain, she has helped many people transition through physical decline and prepare for the end of life. Having also trained as a birth and bereavement doula, Heather has offered support to individuals and families through both birth and death. Heather is honored to support those experiencing faith crisis, spiritual transition, and survivors of religious trauma. She supports the healing process by bringing softness to sharp moments through skilled listening and loving kindness.
Marialuz Castro holds a BA in Sociology/Anthropology (Concentration in Latin American Studies) from Swarthmore College and a MA in Rehabilitation Counseling (Concentration in Clinical Mental Health) from the University of the District of Columbia. She has served the metro Washington D.C. community for close to 20 years as a bilingual (Spanish-English) human services provider, parent educator, anti-bias facilitator and birth doula. Deeply shaped by her childhood travels with her father to countries in Latin America, Africa and Europe, Marialuz holds reverence for the wisdom and beauty within all cultures and worldviews. A lifelong student and steward of the human experience, Marialuz strives to create space for all the emotions present at any moment for people, honoring the messages within them. Marialuz is also a dancer and Reiki Level II practitioner, which has inspired her to explore how our experiences live in our bodies and to assist individuals in releasing what no longer serves them through breath, energy work, and movement.
Naima Beckles holds an MA from Loyola Marymount University and taught middle and high school students in Los Angeles, DC, and New York City. Naima is an educator, doula and founding director of For Your Birth – an intentionally diverse doula agency. Soon after the birth of her first child, she chose the work of supporting expectant parents and earned certifications from Lamaze and DONA. While training with Amy Glenn Wright in a pregnancy loss course, the desire to hold space for life’s big losses, including death, was sparked. As a teacher, doula, and mother; Naima lovingly stands alongside individuals navigating difficulties and triumphs. Naima offers private consultations with individuals who are experiencing any kind of loss during this confusing and difficult time. Learn more.
Feather Berkower, LCSW ~ Feather is a licensed clinical social worker and holds a Master’s of Social Welfare from the University of California, Berkeley. She has been a leader in child sexual abuse prevention since 1985 and has educated nearly one-hundred fifty thousand schoolchildren, parents and youth professionals. Her well-regarded workshop, Parenting Safe Children, empowers adults to keep children safe from sexual assault. Feather co-authored Off Limits, a parenting book that will change the way you think about keeping children safe. Her conversation-Starter Cards go with Off Limits to help you get conversations about body safety started with caregivers. She presents in schools, youth organizations, parenting groups, and businesses nation-wide. Feather is also available for private consultation in Colorado at an hourly rate. Feather believes that adults are responsible for protecting children from sexual assault. Feather makes this difficult topic less scary, and consistently impresses audiences with her knowledge, commitment, and warmth. Learn more.
One’s calling to home is one of the most powerful of human experiences we’ll ever know. Author Melody LeBaron has resided in more than 30 homes in the U.S. and Canada over the course of her life. These dwelling places have been some of her greatest teachers. Moving 8 times before attending college at 17, Melody gained a vast spiritual geography and appreciation for the gifts the land offers those who inhabit it. Her sense of the constancy of home was forged by summers spent in the southern Alberta prairie towns in which her parents were reared, punctuated by joyous family gatherings in the Canadian Rockies.
No wonder mountain spirits speak to Melody’s heart today. In 2017, she and her husband relocated to the Appalachians of western North Carolina.
In the decades between, Melody’s natural talent for organizing was augmented by systems training. The mother of 5, she worked as a holistic professional organizer, and in 2000, became the first organizer in the U.S. to receive Space and Personal Clearing training with Australian author and instructor Eric Dowsett. In the next five years of training, she learned how to dowse for and clear the stagnant, stuck energies and stresses affecting both land and homes. Also a Feng Shui and 9 Star Ki (Feng Shui of the birth date) practitioner, Melody realized the radical importance of fully and powerfully partnering with our environments.
For the past 30 years, Melody’s work with those being called “home” has included her role as midwife for the dying process. She now works with those at the end of life (and their loved ones and caregivers) to create a conscious death experience, partnering with the land and the room to hold sacred space for profound completion and healing. Melody understands that grief actively catalyzes difficult emotions and makes it possible to claim the healing gifts inherent to the grieving process.
Actively engaged in transforming space, self and loss, Melody also facilitates an empowerment process for women and coaches clients through meaningful change in their homes and workspaces, their relationships and their lives.