"Alyssa is a natural born leader; this was evident on a daily basis throughout this service-learning trip. She was able to manage difficult cross-cultural situations, logistics and personalities with grace and ease, while continually offering supportive “teaching moments” in a professional manner. I learned so much from being a witness to Alyssa’s leadership skills and also her role as an art therapist. Overall, the optimism and compassion that the she radiates to everyone she encounters is an inspiration to be a part of." Jessica, travel participant
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Alyssa believes that meaningful personal and social change can be trauma informed, healing centered, and focused on collective liberation. She embodies both her privileged and marginalized identities with humility, activism and a centered sense of compassion for self and other. She is an artist, educator, board certified art therapist, licensed mental health counselor, clinical supervisor and consultant in private practice. Alyssa integrates tenets of cultural humility, liberation psychology, somatic engagement, and a sense of playfulness in her diverse roles and global experiences. Her work and learning is based on experiential creative practice and spans from coast to coast in the United States and in communities around the globe. Alyssa is a cliniciaan in private practice, and serves as Teaching Faculty while pursuing a doctorate in Counselor Education and Supervision at Antioch University Seattle. She takes her work seriously, but believes that an equal measures of levity and depth are what creates sustainability in praxis. Alyssa is trained in Clay Field Therapy and Guided Drawing through the wise magic of Cornelia Elbrecht at the Institute for Sensorimotor Art Therapy. She is trained in EMDR therapy through the Institute for Creative Mindfulness, and holds multiple certificates and trainings in psychedelic assisted psychotherapy, research and integration through the California Institute of Integral Studies, The Earth Medicine Center, The Wisdom in Nature Alliance, and Polaris Insight Center. She has completed over 500 hours of yoga teacher training, and uses sensorimotor art therapy practices in her teaching and clinical practices. She develops experiential international programming for clinical counseling programs, with a focus on collaboration, cultural humility and attention to indigenous practices that support healing and wellness around the world. Alyssa is the founder and director of Ebb & Flow Adventures. She has lead volunteers, undergraduate students, and master’s level and doctoral candidates on trips around the world, from the Himalayas of Nepal to the southern beaches of Kerala. Travel and service-learning in the United States and around the world have both shaped and transformed Alyssa’s life in profound ways. Alyssa served at the United Nation’s High Commission for Refugee’s Reception Center for New Refugees in Dharamsala, India, and on the Board for the Tibetan Children’s Education Foundation and lead TCEF’s first collaborative, psychology based study-abroad program in India. She has spent years living in India and has a great love, respect and reverence for the culture, people, and creativity inherent in India’s landscape. She loves sharing her passion and skills as a world traveler, educator, art therapist, clinical counselor, and leader with others and can’t wait to plan an international trip for you! Alyssa holds a CACREP and CAAHEP accredited Master of Arts in Counseling and Art Therapy from Antioch University Seattle. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in Counselor Education and Supervision. Her studies have focused on the use of art as a tool for social action, the integration of psychedelic healing and art therapy, community based healing, inpatient psychiatric treatment, and cross-cultural initiatives in art therapy. Alyssa has served as adjunct faculty at Naropa University, provides art therapy based supervision at Lesley University, and served as the International Program Director at LEAPNOW.org. She is a founding member, Lead Trainer and Program Development Specialist at ResourceArts.org. Alyssa learned the traditional art of Mendhi from artists in India and also works a henna body artist, ritualist and ceramicist. She loves to play in clay, see loads of live music, take walks with her magical dog, Mako, get hands dirty in the garden, and spend time on the ocean- eyes peeled wide for whales amongst the sparkling waves. |