My Background | Spill the Tea

Education and Experience

MA in Marriage and Family Therapy from Southern Connecticut State University
BA in English from the University of Connecticut
Concentration in Gestalt Therapy
Certified in Evidence Based Practices
Systemic Family Constellations Facilitator
Clinical experience working in residential, partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient settings for eating disorder treatment with female adolescents and adults
Experience facilitating group therapy (i.e.: DBT, Assertiveness, Process Group, Support Groups)
Provided counseling services to individuals, couples and families ranging in age from tween to adult
Frequent collaboration with psychiatrists, medical providers, and school systems
Member of AAMFT
Certified Xpert Pole Instructor
14 years experience teaching Sensual Pole Dance, Pole Fitness and Group Fitness to women

Pole Dance Background

I started pole dancing in 2009 at a female fitness studio. I knew after my first class that this was something sacred and something I needed to be apart of. One year later, I had the honor of being trained for Sensual Pole Dance level 1, 2 and 3 and began teaching. I had zero dance background. What I loved about this type of movement was that you did not need to be a good dancer. It was more about learning to be comfortable in your skin and allowing yourself to just move.

As pole became mainstream, our pole community started creating more classes to meet the needs of all the different women coming in. We started offering Pole Fitness - teaching beginner to advanced levels, Pole Choreography, and Pole Conditioning.

Pole continued to evolve, our community grew and craved more. So, we gave them more! We began offering even more levels, combination classes, pole paired with a chair, floor work, and more. The point is....pole is always evolving. However, the reason pole continues to evolve is because of women who want to know themselves on a more intimate level and allow themselves new experiences.

It amazes me when I think about how timid some of my students were in the beginning-constantly asking permission or trying to meet some expectation they thought I had of them. After a while, I started to notice changes- they were setting their own expectations of themselves, they were no longer comparing themselves to others in the room and were asserting their needs.

While teaching classes, I was earning my Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy. I really enjoyed being in the program and the work I was doing but I could not stop entertaining the idea of somehow combining clinical practice with pole. When I started my concentration in Gestalt Therapy, everything clicked. I started talking to my peers about putting something together and was met with a lot of support. I decided it was time for pole to evolve into something more and began working on my own version of Pole Dance Therapy.