Hi, I’m Tessa.
I use she/they pronouns and identify as a gay, white, Southern woman. I love animals, plants, being outside, sweating from digging in the dirt or building things, reading in a sunny spot on a chilly afternoon, cooking for loved ones or just to experiment.
My own journey has been one of challenge in ways that early on committed me to “breaking wide open” rather than every breaking down or closing off. I have been there: abandonment, abuse, trauma, loss. I come out of it all believing in compassion, believing in love.
Hypnotherapy allows me to bring all my passion for people, the inner workings of our minds and imaginations, our histories and personal narratives, the stories of who we are, and combine all that with a self-resourcing approach to healing and wellness.
I have had more different jobs than typical, but started a real career early at 25, teaching creative and academic writing. I was driven by the study and creation of stories—teaching writing from a woman’s frame, teaching literature of women, oral history, fairytales and myths. In 2002, while still teaching, I trained in Kripalu style yoga and then taught asanas and mindfulness meditation for years, in classes, one-on-one, and also in senior centers and domestic abuse shelters. Healing, energy work, and somatics and how these intersect with our narratives has been a huge part of my adulthood and how I walk through the world. Dialogic yoga therapy was a deep part of my own re-claiming of my life.
My passion for hypnotherapy grew out of personal a work with a psychic that I first met in 1998, who had first trained in hypnotherapy. Years later, I started reading and listening to podcasts, experienced my own past life regression session, and was hooked. In the winter of 2022 I began a certification course led by two amazing trainers who came out of the Newton school (Life Between Lives), and started my practice as soon as I was officially certified, nine months later, in the fall of 2022. I love learning and am always in some mode of study.
I live, love and learn on the lands of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, on a small homestead in rural Hillsborough, central North Carolina. Here, my wife and I live with a passel of critters, grow vegetables/tea/fruit, innoculate anything and everything with mushrooms, and go woods walking as often as possible. Our household is Jewish, my wife is Vietnamese so much of our foodways are Asian. We work with and for our community to support wellness and safety, opportunities for all to thrive.
I’ve been engaged in racial equity and justice work for the last 25 years: coaching, designing and leading trainings, developing curricula, developing and coordinating communities of practice with multi-organizational coalitions which include businesses, state agencies and community based organizations. The last fifteen years I’ve worked for a state agency in community food systems, focusing on racial equity, youth, and schools. Before I began this, I taught university in oral history, folklore, creative writing, performance, and ethnography. I’ve rooted my working career in relationality, storytelling, and practice.
Over the decades, I’ve served on numerous boards and advisory committees—for national, statewide, and local organizations and groups—as well as volunteered broadly, supporting work in child education, folklore, food justice, and BIPOC justice and land access. Just like you, I’m on my journey of discovery and connection, seeking to find and live my purpose. I look forward to connecting with you as you travel your path.
certifications. attagirls.
Transpersonal Hypnosis Certification; Certified Member of IACT, International association of counselors and Therapists www.hypnosisalliance.com/iact
REPARATIVE COMMUNAL CONSULTING: completion of six month program with Resmaa Menakem’s Education for Racial Equity
FOUNDATIONS IN SOMATIC ABOLITIONISM: completion of six month program with Resmaa Menakem’s Education for Racial Equity
graduate of duke non-profit management program
graduate of EVAP UNC Chapel Hill nonprofit evaluation program
ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP PROGRAM, Southeastern Regional Fellow: leadership program for social and environmental justicE
200 Hour yoga teacher training program with Ti Harmony (2005-2006)
Resources & Referrals
coming soon