Laughs with Crows is the principal practitioner and educator at this time. As a member of the Bird Clan from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Laughs with Crows is her native name given in ceremony.
She studied Cultural Anthropology and Comparative Religious Studies in one of the top Anthropology programs, where she focused on cross-cultural consciousness and health models. She graduated with an MSW from the number-one ranked master of social work program. In addition to this more traditional education, Laughs with Crows graduated from the Clairvoyant Training Program at CDM in 1993 and continued with graduate studies there, eventually teaching courses at their school, the Berkeley Psychic Institute. She trained at the premier Hypnotherapy Academy of America in an intensive 300-hour hypnotherapy training. A Rosicrucian initiate, she concurrently undertook apprentice training in a type of touch healing, chakral alignment, transmedium healing and other modes of energy work. Her multi-ethnic background informs her practice: traditions from her Native, African and Irish heritage contribute complementary resonance in her work.
Laughs with Crows has been a bodywork practitioner since 1992 and a fitness educator since 1988. She has over 1000 hours of formal training, consisting of applied practice and academic coursework, in kinesiology, nutrition, anatomy and physiology, exercise theory and practice, and various bodywork modalities, including: Swedish, Shiatsu, reflexology, sports and rehabilitative massage. Additionally, her ongoing clinical experience has included the healing application of Trigger Point therapy, cranial sacral therapy, acupressure, lymphatic massage, visceral massage, and more.
As a minister, Laughs with Crows has provided intuitive and pastoral counseling since 1993, working in particular with clients who have roots in addiction and dysfunctional family systems. This followed several years of peer counseling in various service agencies and recovery-based groups. To this area, she has applied hypnotherapy, EFT and other somatic methods in her work with clients.
Laughs with Crows continues to explore and integrate clinical experience, formal and practical education, and ongoing research to add value and depth to every treatment. She follows the current research literature in consciousness journals and other applied theories advanced by the scientific work of leaders such as Candace Pert and Bruce Lipton. She also regularly engages in continuing education and field symposiums, focusing on nutrition as medicine and subtle body energy work.