More about Christy

I live in a beautiful forest in Alsea, Oregon, just outside of Corvallis. I enjoy traveling, ecstatic dance, gardening, knitting and other fiber arts, learning Spanish, plunging into cold water as often as possible, and playing with my two kitties, Miel and Gus.

For over two decades, I worked with children and families as a nature connection mentor and preschool teacher. I founded a small Waldorf-inspired forest school back in 2010 in NW Portland where I shared my passions of nature connection, play, and community with families for 8 years. In 2020, after searching for a program where I could study conflict transformation, I found Process Work. Although I had become quite proficient at supporting young children through their conflicts, I wanted to learn more about supporting adults in conflict, well, because conflict is everywhere, and I was so curious to learn new ways to get through it. This path has led me to offering counseling and facilitation to those who are struggling in some way, as well as to a deeper understanding of myself and my own purpose in this life. What I love about Process Work is that it is non-pathologizing and intuitive, that it supports people to connect to and trust their own bodies and feelings, and that it empowers people to follow their own unique process.

I am a lifelong learner, and so while I am using my Process Work skills, I am also beginning some new trainings (see below) to gain more resources and skills so I can better support people with trauma, addiction, grief, and more.

Formal Education and Relevant Experience

  • BA in Early Childhood Education from Naropa University in Boulder, CO, 2005

  • Waldorf Teacher Training from the Micha-el Institute in Portland, OR, 2011

  • Founder and Teacher of Humming Hive Forest School in Portland, OR, 2010-2018

  • MA in Process-Oriented Facilitation and Conflict Studies from the Process Work Institute in Portland, OR, 2022

  • 1+ year of clinical training at River’s Way Community Clinic in Portland, OR, 2022

Current Trainings

  • Gabor Mate’s Compassionate Inquiry approach, September 2024-present

  • Grief Tender Mentoring Program, Sacred Groves, beginning October 2024-present

My approach

I believe that we are all born powerful, creative, intuitive beings, but many of us have been taught that power, knowledge, and healing come from outside of us, not from within. I am here for you, to support you in your journey of reconnecting with your intuition, creativity, inner power, purpose, and your self-healing capabilities.
Many symptoms of this disconnection from our inner powers look like anxiety and panic attacks, inner criticism, anger, perfectionism, people-pleasing, not knowing what you want, relationship conflict, feeling stuck, feeling creatively blocked, chronic body symptoms, addiction, and more.
I believe that symptoms on all levels, whether they be physical, emotional, spiritual, or interpersonal, are not problems to be fixed, but that they arise as messengers or helpers to show us where and how we need to pay attention.
When we work together, I will use my awareness skills, empathy, and intuition to help you listen to the messages in these challenges and conflicts you experience, to help you find the meaning and medicine that is contained within those messages. We may explore a body symptom you’re having, a night-time dream you just had, a relationship conflict that’s bothering you, and if none of these are present for you, we will be with what is present.
I do not have a textbook for knowing what each symptom or dream means. Process Work is all about awareness, noticing the signals that we are usually not conscious of. There is a wisdom in the body and it is always finding ways to express this wisdom, whether we are aware of it or not. So when we explore together, we will be following your unique process as it arises.
The conflicts in our lives are often showing us where we can grow and become more fully ourselves. As we explore these inner and outer conflicts together, we will naturally come up to your edges because this is where growth happens. I will always go at your pace, following your lead, with awareness and care, as we find compassionate, creative, and courageous ways to navigate these edges as you re-connect with the parts of yourself that had been marginalized.
I like to go slowly, supporting you to notice your own feelings, body experiences, and intuition.

For more information about Process Work, or Process-Oriented Psychology, which began with Arnold Mindell, please read here and here.