As a bodywork + movement therapist and somatic coach, I work with people who:

• struggle with physical pain,

• feel that it may be connected to current or past stressful experiences,

• and are looking for a holistic path towards pain relief and emotional healing.

As a dance teacher, I build individual and community resilience through group movement classes.

My background as a dance artist infuses all of my work with an appreciation for beauty, imagination, deep feeling, and creativity.

Explore the website for details and feel free to reach out with any questions.

Education, Certification, and Licenses

• Master’s of the Fine Arts (MFA) in Choreography and Performance, Smith College, 2020

• Body Mind Centering Somatic Movement Educator (SME), 2019

• Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor, Associate (LCMHCA #12435), 2016

• M.Ed. in Clinical Mental Health Therapy, North Carolina State University, 2016

• Licensed Massage and Bodywork Therapist (NC LMBT #12685), Body Therapy Institute, 2012

• B.A. in Dance, Wesleyan University, 2009

• 200-hour yoga teacher training, Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, 2007

Journey in Three Interrelated Modalities of Work

~ You can get into the details on their respective pages ~

Bodywork and Movement Therapy
Toni began her professional healing arts journey at age 19 when she completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training at Kripalu in Western Massachusetts.  Later, she studied massage therapy at Body Therapy Institute in Siler City, North Carolina, graduating in 2012. She continued her education in hands-on healing through the study of Trager Bodywork, Thai Massage, Craniosacral Therapy, Neuromuscular Reprogramming, Sound Healing, and Body-Mind Centering.  In addition to honing her hands-on technique, she has completed 150 hours of training on somatic approaches to teaching, learning, and change with the Center for Embodied Education. She has extensive background in the of anatomy and biomechanics through her study of yoga, Body-Mind Centering, the Axis Syllabus, and through 6 years of undergraduate and graduate study of dance. Toni is well-prepared to support clients with hands-on work, movement education, and an embodied approach to processing and integrating emotions. Bodywork and movement therapy supports clients in deepening their relationship to themselves and finding…

Pain relief
Freedom, ease and comfort in movement
More equanimity and joy!

Somatic Coaching
Toni is a 2016 graduate of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program (M.Ed.) at North Carolina State University. Toni worked as a psychotherapist providing individual, group, and family therapy to clients in recovery from addiction and co-occurring mental health disorders from 2016-2018, as well as to the general population in her own private practice from 2021-2023. In 2024, she decided to shift her focus from psychotherapy to coaching, enjoying the more present and future-oriented nature of coaching, the faster pace, and the easeful integration with touch and movement-based work. The word “coach” brings to mind a supportive guide, who is there to help you reach your full potential. A “somatic” approach integrates information from all aspects of who we are (sensation, emotion, behavior, thinking). As a somatic coach, Toni helps clients build awareness around how their many layers are influencing each other, and introduces tools that can create a positive shifts their life experience. Approaches include body-awareness work, imagery, connecting with values, addressing negative patterns of thinking, proposing new ways of perceiving and focusing attention, lifestyle and behavior change, and more. She has made an ongoing study of body-oriented counseling and coaching modalities and is influenced by Somatic Experiencing, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Focusing, Parts Work (Internal Family Systems), the Embodied Recovery model, and the Strozzi Institute.

Dance
Toni’s work as a dance artist has been influenced by her professional experience in healing arts and psychotherapy, as well as her longtime practice of Contact Improvisation, Body-Mind Centering, and Authentic Movement. As a dance-maker, she integrates set choreography with improvisational scores to create work that communicates the performers’ subjectivity and facilitates a deepened experience of community and humanity for audiences. Toni holds an M.F.A from Smith College, where she received a full scholarship and Teaching Fellowship. Her current focus in dance is teaching Contact Improvisation via the Living Arts Collective in Durham, NC. In addition to her teaching, she also curates classes by other teachers and has co-created a robust program of somatic education, providing trauma-informed, fun, healing, and community-oriented movement classes to over 80 students per week.