Meet Ondina

I am committed to assisting my clients in moving from struggle or feeling stuck into graceful ease, flow and empowerment. I strive to create a safe place for healing to happen. My approach uses a variety of eclectic methods tailored to my individual clients’ needs.

My interest in body-based approaches to healing began in the late 1980s. I taught Yoga as a certified Hatha Yoga teacher in Sivananda Centers in New York and San Francisco. Later I became a certified Swedish and Shiatsu Massage Therapist and Level 1 Reiki Practitioner.

My desire to consolidate these body-based healing practices under an academic umbrella led me to the California Institute of Integral Studies and its Somatic Psychotherapy program, where I received my Masters. I also completed the Hakomi Somatics Institute 6 month Intensive Trauma Training in 2001. This foundation in both the experimental and academic disciplines allows me to offer a grounded, centered therapeutic approach.

In April 2006, as a supervisor on the Substance Abuse Recovery team at Family Services Agency of Marin, I designed and implemented a highly successful seven-week group for women with food and body image struggles. I was also Director of the Eating Disorders program at the Community Institute of Psychotherapy in San Rafael from 2008 to 2013. I am a member of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists.

My Grandfather taught me to stand on my head when I was 12 years old. He was doing it to help manage his war traumas. This was back in 1978 when yoga was relatively new to the western world. I remember my Grandmother closing the curtains when we practiced because she was worried what the neighbors would think! Yoga has been such a gift in my life. It has been the main vehicle for developing a loving and nurturing relationship to my body. I completed my second yoga certification in my fifties in order to be able to teach Vinyasa flow yoga in prisons and senior facilities. I want the joys and benefits of yoga to be accessible to everyone. 

I have also been an astrologer for over 36 years and have studied in London and the Bay Area. The birth chart can be a useful addition to therapy. It provides a transpersonal perspective and a language for inner dynamics that might otherwise be difficult to verbalize. It can offer a fresh new perspective on an age-old problem or issue. I am a member of the National Council for Geocosmic Research, a national education and research organization for astrologers.

Certifications

Certified Hatha Yoga Instructor – 1988

Hakomi Trauma Training – 2000
CISM – ‘Critical Incident Stress Management’- Group Crisis Intervention – June 2007
AEDP – ‘Accelerated Experiential- Dynamic Psychotherapy’ trained Jan 2008
EMDR – ‘Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing’ trained – Oct 2008
EFT – ‘Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples’ – Advanced training and EFT supervision completed – 2010
PACT – ‘Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy,’ Level II Certification – Oct 2013
Certified Hypnotherapist – November 2014

Certified Vinyasa Flow Yoga Instructor – Dec 2018