How did I get interested in this line of work?

My love for massage and touch started at a very early age.  I even have some childhood friends who recall how I used to give them back rubs in front of Saturday morning cartoons.

Although I didn’t fully realize it at the time, on some deep level I think I actually decided to become a healer when I was fourteen years old.  My mother’s friend was having some neck pain, and I offered to give her a little massage to see if I could help.  After about five minutes she moved her neck around and said, “Hey, it feels so much better, you could do that professionally!”  My response to her was, “Well, maybe if I have a mid-life crisis and hate my career, I can go and get certified and do that for a while.” (As you can see by my response, I was not your average teenager).

Fast forward eleven years to when I was twenty-five.  I had taken a more traditional path of going to university, studying abroad, and then landing a job in hotel management.  After two years in the corporate world, I could feel that the work was not feeding my soul.  I asked myself, “Why do I have to be in mid-life and hate my career in order to do something I think I would love?”  So, instead of waiting for a crisis, I gave myself permission to reevaluate my life in my mid-twenties, instead of waiting until I was in my mid-life.  I have absolutely no regrets about making this shift.

What is my massage background & training?

My beginning bodywork studies began in 1992 while I was an undergraduate at Tulane University, studying Shiatsu with one of the Judo professors.  In 1997, I dove deep into the world of massage and healing when I enrolled in Blue Cliff School of Therapeutic Massage in New Orleans.

My training at Blue Cliff ignited my passion to learn more about the body and the healing arts. This passion for learning has lead me on adventures all over the globe, including Thailand, India, Peru, Mexico, Europe and across the United States.  Some of the areas I have had the opportunity to study in depth include: Thai massage, Deep Tissue, CranioSacral therapy, myofascial release, structural integration, and energy work.  I have over 1800 hours of training, and I still have a curiosity to grow.  The next layer of my unfolding includes exploring aquatic bodywork (Watsu) and deepening my innate gifts as an energy healer.

• Oregon State Licensed Massage Therapist OR #14049
• Louisiana State Board Provider for Continuing Education #LAP100
• NCBTMB Approved Provider for Continuing Education #425441-00

Click Here for a Resume of Stephanie’s Massage & Bodywork Training – PDF

What about my role as a Healer?

Over the years, I have had clients reflect to me that my work often had a shamanic component and that I was a ‘healer.’  I had always known that ‘massage’ was too small of a box to put the expansiveness of my work into, but I had a huge resistance to accepting the title of ‘healer’.  In my heart, I know that you are, ultimately, the real healer, and that as a facilitator I just help to remind you and your system of your innate ability to heal.  Although this is true for me, I will be honest that for over a decade, I hid many of my own gifts by passing the title of ‘healer’ solely back onto my clients.

It took one of my teachers doing a reading of my hands in 2010 for me to have a shift in the way I was willing to perceive myself.  He stated that I have a ‘quality of stillness’ and frequency in my hands that has the potential to truly help people heal.  This reading both excited me and also terrified certain parts of me.  I no longer had the excuse of staying small in my old ways of practicing.

Now I accept that both are true:  my clients are their own healers and I have innate divinely-given gifts as a healer.  Using my gifts and your deep willingness to heal, each session truly becomes a co-creation.

Healer, Heal Thyself

One of the greatest gifts about choosing to shift my career, is it has also given me a great opportunity to shift my life.  I truly believe that if I am going to help others grow and heal themselves, I have to be willing to be proactive in healing my own wounds and growing to be as authentic and healthy as possible.  My curiosity about the connection between the mind, body, emotions, and spirit has lead me to study in places such as the Process Work Institute in Portland, OR and to study and work at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA.  I have also been gifted with great teachers, ranging from shamanic to cosmic, from Gestalt awareness practice to dance.  Since 2008, I have also immersed myself in a challenging yet rewarding practice called EBE (Emotional Body Enlightenment).  I have found that these years of self inquiry truly enhance my ability to be present for my clients and enhance my healing sessions overall.