More About Lumia
LUMIA, from Latin, translates to LIGHT. It's also used in Scandinavia, my ancestral homeland, to refer to SNOW. Its meanings capture our experiences as we heal. LUMIA evokes our natural cocooning and need for safe, warm shelter in winter, seasonally & symbolically. LUMIA also reflects the evolving emergence of Light that illuminates the things within us requiring gentle holding in order to heal, grow, and become.
As a holistic psychotherapist, my approach centers on Internal Adaptation & Innate Resource principles. This means understanding challenges not as psychiatric diagnoses but as natural adaptations to unsupportive environments. I believe we possess the power to shift and adapt, freeing ourselves from what no longer serves us.
Psychiatric diagnoses categorize clusters of symptoms but overlook root causes of psychological suffering, systemic wounds, and relational trauma. Healing involves understanding that survival adaptations were often formed unconsciously and, when they persist outside of their original context, sometimes reinforce patterns & beliefs that hinder growth and wellbeing.
Working from a bio-psycho-social perspective and using relational, compassionate inquiry, and somatic approaches, we'll gently explore the origins and functions of adaptations while elevating innate resources for relational and self-support. It is in this healing space that we'll lean into your strengths and inner wisdom, locating paths that will guide your growth and restore authentic connection within yourself and far beyond.
I look so forward to joining you in this work.
Ethics & Commitments
I am committed to providing therapy within the
ethics of Belonging and Solidarity
in Resistance to systematic marginalization and oppression.
I am committed to Justice-Doing in my work and
to the Pursuit of Collective Liberation and wellbeing.
I call regularly on my ancestors, elders, mentors, colleagues, and many other relational supports to guide and hold me accountable.
In addition, I uphold and am bound by the National Association of Social Wokers' Social Work Code of Ethics and by the ethics and values all social workers share:
Importance of Human Relationships
Dignity and Worth of the Person
Social Justice
Integrity
Service
Competence
Education
2024-2025 Compassionate Inquiry Master Practitioner Psychotherapy Training under Dr. Gabor Maté
2023: Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Alaska License #: 209807
2022-2023: Compassionate Inquiry Year-Long Masters Certification Psychotherapy Training under Dr. Gabor Maté.
2020: Master of Social Work, University of Alaska Anchorage. 4.0 GPA
Wholehearted: Masterclass for Healers with Dr. Gabor Maté: June-July, 2020
Social Work, White Supremacy, & Racial Justice Symposium: Nov. 2020 – February 2021
2018: National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine: Treating Trauma Master’s Series
2017: Masters Graduate Certificate in Mental Health Recovery and Trauma Informed Care, San Diego State University, 4.0 GPA
2015: Bachelor of Arts: Rural Social Work, University of Alaska Fairbanks
4.0 GPA in all 60 hours of major & minor area required courses
Alaskan Advanced Trauma Institute 3 Day Conference, Anchorage