About Tracy
I’ve been working as a healing practitioner in the Boston area since 2012. In 2021 I took the leap to full-time practice, and since then it has been a beautiful expansion.
I’ve studied various modalities, and I draw inspiration from modern trauma techniques including:
Bessel Van Der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score
Inner Child work
As a longtime student of the Diamond Approach, I am greatly influenced by their techniques involving inquiry and Presence. I am not certified or ordained in any of these techniques.
I have studied various hands-on healing approaches such as Reiki but what I do is quite different. My hands-on work can best be described as presence work, clearing away what’s not needed and allowing you to rest in your being.
I earned a Master’s of Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a degree in Psychology from the University of Alberta. I have many influences at Harvard, most notably the work of Eleanor Duckworth on critical exploration. This is a style where the teacher does a lot more listening than speaking, and allows the interests and abilities of the student to guide the interaction.
In my previous career as an educator, I crafted learning experiences for all ages, ranging from preschoolers to seasoned education officers overseas. Teaching remains a passion of mine.
I’ve found It’s all the same — people know what they need: all it takes is a little space and support to get there!
About Healing Work
What is Healing?
Healing is the process of coming into ease, to peace and acceptance of what is (or was). Everyone is engaged in the healing process, more or less, all the time because life constantly sends us situations from which we need to recover. Mostly we do this automatically, but there are times when more focused work on healing is necessary.
It is easy to tell when additional support is needed: you feel frayed at the edges, stressed out, burned out and not coping as well as you could. You feel put-upon, overdrawn, cranky and ill-used. Maybe you feel lost in the needs of others with a sense of not ever being able to find time for yourself. When this happens, it is time to look inward in a focused way to see what is going on.
Healing Work
I settled on the term “Healing Work” to describe what I do because while I cannot say exactly what will happen in a given session — which techniques I will use and how the work will play out — what I have seen is that healing is the thread that joins all of these techniques together. We look for the hurt places, and watch as our attention and presence transforms them.
Healing Conversations
In my work with clients there is usually an element of talk — we sit together and discuss how you are doing. I ask questions, and together we try to understand the forces that drive you to experience the world the way you do. These conversations can feel like an intimate talk with a non-judgmental and warmhearted friend who really wants to know and understand you.
These conversations differ from the dialog that might happen with a psychotherapist in that we stay mostly with the present moment. I ask, “What is happening for you now?” and we examine where that feeling or sensation might have come from. It is not important for me to know your life story, and you do not have to re-tell your traumatic experiences in a Healing Work session. You may choose to do that at times, but unlike with clinical therapy, my work does not require that.
Energy Work
There is another large part of healing work: energy work. You may have heard of Reiki, hands-on-healing, faith healing, or healing touch. All of these are modalities of energy work, and they are all based on the truth that when one person puts hands on another and concentrates in a certain way, healing can occur.
For those less esoterically inclined, imagine getting onto a massage table where someone stands next to you and says “I’m here for you” with a warm smile, and just stays like that for 30 minutes or so while you rest. It feels like being held by a loving parent or grandparent, and the result is relaxation, release, and peace.
My style of energy work is a little different from any modality I have studied. If you’re comfortable with it, I will use touch and light massage as I sense into your body and energy system and invite it to organize and settle. Some people like to talk during this process, others settle in so deeply they start to snore. I do not have to touch you if you prefer, and you don’t have to talk during this restorative component of our work together.
Clients have had a range of experiences on my table — from poignant dreams, to the sense of connecting with lost loved ones, to symbolic messages and clarity about situations past and present, to relief from physical pain and expedited healing of injury and disease.
I use breathing techniques and hand motions to work with the energy in and around you. Every session is unique; it’s incredible.
Support and follow up
After the bodywork, as we sit together and drink some fruit-infused water together, we discuss your experience and “compare notes” with mine. Often there is followup work for you to do on your own — to continue what was learned — maybe a focus, something to notice and report back about, or a list to write down. I will often send you a text message summary of what we discussed, so you can refer back as needed.
How many sessions?
People come to me for so many different reasons, so the schedule or their work with me can look different. In general, we start with weekly sessions, then shift to every 2, 3, then 4 weeks. Some choose to “graduate” and come back only as needed. Some choose to continue as a regular support for their development.
Healing Work for Kids
Do you work with kids?
Yes! I will work with any age, but 6-17 is the usual range. In general you can count on your child staying on the massage table for about 3 minutes per year of age. So if your child is 9, she will stay on the table for (9x3=) 27 minutes.
Children younger than 6-years, tend not to lay still on the massage table. But I’m open — I love babies and kids and if you think your child is a good fit, I’ll be happy to try.
What happens in a Healing Work session for kids?
At the beginning I will ask your child what is happening in their body, with a focus on the stressful times – I do this gently and carefully. Your child should get a sense for the difficult feelings without becoming overwhelmed.
Once we have a sense for the body state, we move to the massage table for light touch and energy work, which has the effect of smoothing out and relaxing the stressful state. Most children love this part.
When they’ve had enough, they will get up off the table and we will talk about the experience of the more relaxed state and compare it with the earlier stressful state. Your child will learn to describe stressful and relaxed states, and will learn how to recognize where they are on this spectrum.
Is it like psychotherapy?
Not really. Healing Work looks for the difficult spots and helps to unwind them. Therapy has a much broader scope. The two work well together. Healing Work tends not to carry on as long as therapy. Some kids are finished after just a few sessions.
Make room for your unique process of healing and growth.
Details
Scope of Practice
My role as Healing Work practitioner and bodyworker is to support my clients’ wellbeing by listening, asking questions, sensing, conducting energy work and providing guidance to support the natural process of healing. My expertise is in providing a soft place in which to know and heal wounded places. While I have degrees in psychology and education, I do not have clinical or medical training and so should not be treated as such. I cannot diagnose:
Trauma
Mental illness
Physical conditions
Disease and chronic illness
This does not mean that I will not see clients with these conditions. On the contrary — Healing Work has been an exceptional support to my clients with all kinds of mental and physical conditions.
Ethical Standards
I adhere to the International Reiki Association Standards, which can be summarized by saying that, without exception, our work together:
Takes place fully clothed
Will not include unexpected or sexual touch
Will be confidential
Cannot guarantee any particular outcome - healing has its own intelligence!
Healing doesn’t happen when you do not feel comfortable and safe, so it’s important to mention any concerns as they arise.
Cancelation Policy
I ask for 24 hours notice of a cancelation — less than that and I ask for 50% of the cost of the session.
Contact Me
Have a look at the FAQ page for more about me and the work we might do together. Feel free also to reach out with more questions — I’d love to tell you more.