About Me

Hi, I’m Ana ( SEP, TST, TEB), Nervous System Specialist and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner!

I help adults with trauma histories, specifically those who have experienced personal,  relationship, social or authoritarian abuse in their families of origin and/or have intergenerational trauma history stored in their bodies. I help people release their deepest traumas and grief from their nervous system through Somatic Experiencing practice, somatic touch, polyvagal-informed education, practical somatic neurosensory modalities, and mindful support.

 

This page will list my degrees and credentials later, but first I want this page to help you make an informed decision if we can “click” and also I want you to know who I am in my life and what is and what was my life, not just list the things I’ve accomplished.

What you probably want to know also is: do I know what I’m doing and, what inspires me to work with trauma survivors, i.e., sexual, physical, emotional abuse, child abuse, cultural and social oppression. My degrees and credentials will answer the first part, though my work and experience are informed by what I’m about to share.

Would I be able to hold and understand your pain, suffering, and trauma and help you heal? And why share my story?  Because I believe in transparency, because you want to know that there’s someone who can understand what you’re experiencing, who is very much alive. I share this because I lived it. I get it. And I can help. 

In the session, we will not talk about me, but you have the right to know that we are equal in this life journey. Maybe different parts of the journey but always equal – always human.

Read my life journey

I lived through 3 different wars from the age of 14 to 22, survived four open-space bombings and an execution attempt. I was trained to be an army sniper at the age of 14 and was a refugee for four years.

I was displaced, exiled, and lived through the most hostile environments. 

I have lived through the horror of wars, genocide and gun violence but the impact of relational and human-to-human trauma and moral injury was more impactful.

I am coming from a lineage of oppressed, and Holocaust survivors ( Slavic Serb).

Do you think I have the capacity to be able to understand your pain, trauma, oppression, and hold an honest and safe space for you? Do you think I believe in your deep healing, transformation, and growth? Absolutely, by all means, yes.

As someone who has lived a trauma-filled life, I want you to know that you are not alone, that you matter, no matter what you may be going through. Please remember, no trauma is ever small. No pain is ever small. No isolation is ever small. I will repeat this: No trauma is ever small, no pain is ever small, no isolation is ever small.

And please do not minimize or dismiss or let anyone minimize or dismiss your pain ever – especially if you are saying to yourself :” I had privileged life. My parents loved me. Who am I to complain about anything compare what someone else goes through? Who am I to say I have trauma?”.  And no, you don’t need to go through wars, or be abused to experience trauma. Read more about ” Do I have trauma?”.

Also, I want to let you know that healing and growth beyond your ever imagined expectations are possible. Liberation from traumatizing patterns and attachments is possible. This is what is called Post Traumatic Growth. Life with content, peace, health, and pain free body, knowing your truth and owning your story without any shame, fear, and guilt with free inner expression is not only possible, but it is going to be our recovery goal the moment you step in my office.

How do I work?

Because I am a Trauma Survivor and a Thriver, I know the work and commitment it takes to heal, and I do my best to work with clients who are so fed up with being miserable that they’re willing to make necessary changes in their life. I can’t change you. You have to change you, you have to take responsibility for your life 100% – not me, but I will professionally guide you to heal yourself, supporting and educating you on your recovery and wellbeing journeys all the way in the proven modalities I am trained at.

And just so you know, I am not smile and nod practitioner who takes a lot of notes and is not talking or responding back to you. Although I do smile often, I will be rolling up my sleeves and diving into the trenches with you.

I serve not as an expert or someone with all the answers, but as a collaborative guide who values and deeply respects who my clients are and the wisdom and consciousness, they already have within.

I’ll honor precisely where you are in the moment while gently encouraging you to go out of your comfort zone (only when you’re ready). Through it all, I will meet you exactly where you are and support you in growing towards where you need to go.

Training and Education

I acknowledge the traditional territory and traditional keepers of the land upon which I live and practice: the Mississaugas of the New Credit, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Anishinaabe and pay respect to the Elders, past, present and emerging.

 I am a member of Kinsey Institute Traumatic Stress Research Consortium at Indiana University and Somatic Experiencing Institute. I am working under aegis of Somatic Experiencing Institute and I am bound by ethical code and principals of  SE Institute. I hold an M.Sc. degree and further trainings with continuous educational case consults, supervision and mentorship by:

• Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner, SEP, Dr. Peter Levine  (body-oriented approach to the healing of trauma, PTSD and other stress disorders). Learn More.

• Polyvagal Theory Informed Practice, Dr. Stephen Porges. Neuroscience and trauma brain recovery. Learn more.

• Somatic Practice – Touch Skills Training for Trauma Therapist, TST, including trauma recovery, somatic touch, self-regulation skills, and resilience for trauma body, PhD. Kathy Kain

• Somatic Touch, Transforming Touch Therapist®, Transforming the Experience-Based Brain , TEB, for Developmental Trauma, including inherited, conception trauma, utero trauma, birth trauma, and postnatal trauma. Learn more.

• The Somatics of Complex Emotions – Repair of heartbreak, despair, betrayal, humiliation, anguish, and disgust in body structures and tissues.  PhD. Kathy Kain and Dr. Tony Richardson

• The Neurobiology of Feeling Safe and Boundaries Development

• Perpetrator victim dynamics in sadistic and narcissistic abuse. Somatic restoration of safety, dignity and resiliency. Dynamic Attachment Re-Patterning Experience.

• Somatic Attachment and Relationship Trauma Repairing through out Somatic Experiencing® and Neuroscience, DAREe

• Compassionate Inquiry training, Dr. Gabor Mate ( mind body oriented approach to the healing of childhood trauma, adult trauma, PTSD and addiction ). Learn More.

•  Inherited Family Trauma & Family Constellations and Ancestors Trauma Healing in Our Bodies

•  Internal Family System Coaching – IFS Institute, Dr. Richard Schwartz, Internal Family Systems

• CBRT – Compassion-Based Resilience Teacher Training

• Collective Intergenerational Trauma and Conscious Healing

• MBAR – Mindfulness-Based Addiction and Relapse Recovery Teacher Training

• MAST-ER – Mindfulness and Stabilization Training for Emotional Resilience

What is essential for you is that I have tremendous life experience of healing from that deep place of isolation to become a fully-functional and thriving person along with my education and leading edge professional training in emotional trauma recovery. I am an advocate for Anti Oppression and Post Traumatic Growth, having witnessed the most powerful transformations and growth in trauma survivors.

I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In my free time, I run mindfulness meditation classes to cPTSD, trauma, and abuse survivors’ support groups. I am an advocate for somatic dance and sound movement as a new tool for PTSD recovery.

And I will always be an advocate for Post Traumatic Growth and Thriving and give back my free time to communities and oppressed groups in need.