Growing Capacity for Living with Change ~ Awakening Self Healing through Connection ~ In Service to Community and the Greater Earth Body
Healing Retreat Co-Facilitator Bios
Katie Spataro
Katie Spataro (she/her) Katie Spataro (she/her) is a certified Somatic Sex Educator, Holistic Pelvic Care provider and full spectrum doula residing on the unceded lands of the Duwamish people otherwise known as Seattle. Katie studies and practices at the intersections of birth work and sex work, drawing upon the embodied wisdom of these two lineages to support healing of the personal and collective cultural body. Katie blends various modalities of somatic practice, bodywork and skilled coaching in her private practice, and facilitates classes on sexual and reproductive wellness, embodied consent, grief and loss, pregnancy and birth, and erotic education through a trauma-informed and healing-centered lens. Sacred Womb Services
Marisa Taborga Byrne
Marisa, or Sasa, (she/her) devotes herself to the transformative, humbling work of uplifting sacred sexual wholeness. As a “light-bearer,” she is dedicated to easing the isolation and suffering of survivors of sexual trauma, supporting people– especially youth– to develop and sustain healthy and holistic relationships with their sexuality, and to educate and hold healing space for those who have caused sexual harm. As an incest survivor, Sasa has found healing through focusing on familial, global, and self-restoration. Her offerings reflect her experience as an advocate, sex educator, council carrier, ceremonialist and rite of passage facilitator. Her Bolivian/ Spanish and Irish/German ancestry, deep connection to Pachamama, belief in the revolutionary power of love, and practice of restorative and transformative justice shape how Sasa shows up to her work and to the world. Moonlit Path Advocacy
Kari Stettler
Kari Stettler, SEP (she/her) supports people feeling at home in their human body, free and spirited, interconnected in the web of life. At its core, her work is in service to healing relations with self, others, our communities and the greater Earth body that sustains us. As a rites of passage ceremonialist, she guides intensive nature based initiation processes supporting people in taking emboldened action in service to social and ecological justice and collective healing. Kari was mentored by deep ecologist and eco-philosopher, Joanna Macy, since 2005 and has been a facilitator of grief rituals and group work for personal and collective transformation since 2007. As a Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner, she works with individuals and groups to support trauma resolution and nervous system health education. Kari lives a land-based life in Sebastopol, California, where she grows food and medicine for her community and enjoys kayaking along the pacific coast. Somatic Resiliency
Jay Wade
Jay Wade (he/they) is a counselor, certified sexual health educator, and somatic coach who lives on the stolen territory of the Cowichan Tribes / Quw’utsun Nation. Through relational and embodied approaches to healing, Jay is honored to support those exploring their connection to themselves, others, and the natural world. Grounded in a deep reverence for ceremony, the wisdom of the body, and our inherent connection to nature, Jay has facilitated programs exploring masculinity, relationships, sexuality, grief, and nature awareness, and has nearly twenty years of experience working with youth and adults. He has a Certificate in Counselling and is currently completing a Master of Counselling Psychology degree at City University of Seattle. Jay is a settler of Italian, Irish, and English ancestry and grew up in the Great Lakes region on Treaty 19 lands. Jay Wade Counselling & Facilitation
Tere Carranza (she/her) is a beloved elder, carpenter, tender of the sacred and cat mama. She loves poetry, creating large art pieces and her grandchildren. Experiencing her cooking is a heavenly experience. We are so grateful to Tere for being with the Healing Retreat since its creation! Sacred Groves