I hold a Master’s degree in Social Work from Radford
University (2004), and was licensed as a clinical social worker (LCSW) in
December 2006. Earlier in my life, I graduated from the University of Hawaii
with a Master’s degree in Anthropology (1997). Living in Japan, Thailand, and Australia
for extended periods of time has given me an appreciation of cross-cultural
differences, something which informs my professional practice to this day.
Besides being a therapist and personal coach, over the past
three years I have worked with adults diagnosed with serious mental illnesses,
first at Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare (a local community service board) and
then with Emotional Health Stabilization (a private mental health support
company), both in Roanoke, Virginia.
I also love to teach, and am an adjunct faculty member at
Hollins University, in the Women’s Studies Department, where I teach graduate
and undergraduate courses which focus on gender and sexuality. At Roanoke
College I teach a class on social welfare in the Sociology Department.
Gender issues are very important to me. I have extensive
experience working with transgender communities in Thailand and Hawaii. I am
the author of the book O Au No Keia: Voices from Hawaii’s Mahu and
Transgender Communities, (2001) and
co-author of Male Bodies, Women’s Souls: Personal Narrative of
Thailand’s Transgendered Youth (2007, with
LeeRay Costa). I also focus on women’s postpartum experiences. New mothers
sometimes face depression or anxiety, and women who undergo cesarean sections
may be traumatized by this invasive type of surgery. Education, support, and
counseling can be very beneficial to these women, as well as to their families.
I have spent the last five years using sound as a
therapeutic tool. Sound affects us physically, emotionally, mentally, and
spiritually. According to quantum physics, all matter is energy, which means
that everything in the universe, from planets to cells, vibrates. Indeed, our body is a vibrational energy system, as
it both emits and absorbs sound waves.
A body is healthy when each of its systems, down to the
cellular level, resonates in harmony with the others. Ill health occurs when
one part of the body vibrates out of tune with the rest. Thus, powerful sound
waves coupled with positive intentions (on the part of both sender and
receiver) can restore the body to its natural state of balance.
Although I have used drums and percussion instruments in the
past, currently my tools of choice are crystal and Tibetan singing bowls. As a
singing bowl sound bath facilitator, I have worked with groups such as
Alzheimers patients, substance abusers, the seriously mentally ill, college
students, and the general public. I also have training in Acutonics, a system
of vibrational healing that uses tuning forks on acupressure points.
