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About Tatianah

Belonging is the most fundamental need we share as humans.  Belonging to ourselves, to each other, to the land, to our lineages and to a story that unifies us, not just as humans, but with a way of being that illuminates our interdependence with all beings, and honors our vulnerability for the precious short time we're here on this sacred planet Earth.

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MY PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE:​


After 15 years of public service as a clinical social worker, in 2011, I got laid off from my school social work position.  A lot of people did that year.  So I took that opportunity to pause.  I studied Thai Yoga massage, taught Hatha yoga and partner yoga classes, began leading retreats, and transitioned to a full-time private practice in Ann Arbor.  I've been offering holistic psychotherapy for adults and couples since, as well as teaching yoga classes, workshops and leading retreats.

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In my practice, my primary orientation to meeting the call to heal the impact of complex developmental, generational, relational, institutional and systemic trauma and to fully awaken the capacity to thrive is interdisciplinary.  I'm part scientist and part mystic.  I dig the latest techniques to fine tune our psycho-neuro-biology and relational skills, and I bow to the wisdom of what humans have been practicing for centuries to arrive home to spacious present moment awareness, where we're certain of our belonging to ourselves, each other, the planet and the cosmos.  Both paths are not linear or even sequential or hierarchical.  Remembering is simultaneous.  And it's sparked in loving relationship.  

 

I bring together my life experience with a fusion of decades of clinical training.  I'm most present to how the wisdom and integration of somatic psychotherapy, polyvagal theory, HeartMath®, IFS, EMDR, transpersonal and ecopsychology, attachment theory and compassionate communication meet the developmental needs of couples and individuals in distress.   

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My yogic path encompasses ethics, postures, breathing, meditation, mantra, and chanting, and we'll go there in session when it meets the moment.  I also share the power of singing simple songs, like nursery rhymes, for adults.  While I don't offer this for clients directly, I do guide some couples in the basics of Thai yoga massage, a practice I taught for five years. I am also a Reiki Master and am deepening my skills as a channel of this resourcing energy.  There's a massage table in my office and sometimes clients opt to receive energy support while integrating their body wisdom. 

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After teaching in yoga studios for 8 years, I accepted a part-time faculty position at Washtenaw Community College from 2014-2021, where I taught a two-credit course on the philosophy and practice of Hatha yoga.  My mission was to inspire students to claim an ever deepening commitment to what I discovered a few decades ago:  there's sovereignty and agency in the simplicity of stretching, regulating breathing and focusing our attention and awareness. I'm currently on sabbatical from teaching yoga classes and am currently focused on my Bhakti practice, co-leading singing workshops and retreats.  Check out the Events page for more information.

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EDUCATION:
 
CERTIFICATIONS:

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LICENSE & PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS:

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ETHICS:

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MY PERSONAL PRACTICE:

Music moves me every day and I'm a playlist curator and improvisational dancer, co-hosting dance jams. Singing in choirs lit me up me when I was young and I'm still singing, mostly acapella, vibing on harmonies with devotional lyrics with friends in a handful of local ensembles.  

Creating beautiful and tranquil sanctuaries through inviting interior design captivates me almost daily.  I'm an avid gardener and house plant tender, and will be happily learning to connect with plants and herbal medicine for the rest of my days. 

I harvest energy as an ambivert, swaying between social extroversion and introversion, and am a soul family tender and community cultivator. 
 

I've been an auntie and godmother to children for decades and enjoy young people so much that I worked in K-12 schools for 10 years. And, I chose not to be a birth mom this time around.  I've always loved cats, and currently share home with a young and wild tuxedo kitty, Cleo, whom we rescued early on in the pandemic. 

I have a strong bicultural identity since my mom grew up in the Arctic, speaks two languages, raised us to assimilate as well as honor her culture. I'm Norwegian-American.  I feel a sense of kinship with folks who have immigrated more recently to the United States from around the globe.  

I'm white and that's an unearned privilege in this and many other countries.  I was raised to be an ally and accomplice to Black, Indigenous and People of Culture, as well as non-Christians, which is an ever widening community practice that I'm devoted to.  

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Christianity is part of my heritage but I am more deeply connected to my pre-Christian roots and the wisdom traditions of yoga, with a sensitivity to cultural appropriation.  

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My pronouns are she/her/hers and I identify as a woman and femme.  Early on, I was initiated into an interfaith and multi-cultural feminism, and to this day gather with women to celebrate the cycles of the earth, sun and moon, continuously uplifting one another in a culture that devalues us.  My favorite temples to visit are vast wild landscapes in nature, and I prioritize outdoor adventures, the more remote, the better, most especially, lately, on my trusty bicycle.  

Long before all the resource sharing of social media and the internet was available, I came out as bisexual as a teen, which was a relief having known I was a sexual minority since I was five. Over time, my sexual identity has expanded to include queer, femme, omnisexual and ecosexual.  I am an ally to folx on their own sexual and gender identity journeys.

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Being a cancer thriver means I survived the diagnosis and treatment phase of that ground zero awakening, and that I'm cancer free! Big lessons in love are still rippling out from that experience. I keep consulting with holistic practitioners on what a cancer prevention diet and lifestyle are all about, and pass this wisdom on when asked. 

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Lastly, while Greta Thunberg and I may or may not be related, I share her concern about climate change, and she and others inspire me to take action in the small ways one person can, including a delicious whole food plant based diet. 

That's a snapshot about me.  Our work together is going to be focused on you or your partnership or marriage.  I encourage folks to build a team of practitioners, practices and loved ones to help them find their way through tight places and grief spaces, because being well supported lights the way and cushions in some kindness when reorienting in the dark.  There's not really one ultimate destination I can help you get to, but I would be honored to offer my gifts in service to your lifelong journey of rediscovering wholeness, moment by moment, which will ease whatever transition you're in and help you reorient your compass to presence.  Check out my contact info below to reach out.  

Blessings to you and yours,

Tatianah

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