I am a physician (MD) and licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT), coach and consultant with 20+ years of clinical and teaching experience. I bring extensive knowledge and expertise at the intersection of different modalities of care to offer you an integrative and inclusive approach, centering your lived experience. I am also someone who has recovered from chronic pain.

I have postgraduate studies in medical family therapy, body psychotherapy, mind-body medicine, sciences of complexity, neuroscience of pain, diagnosis and treatment of nociplastic pain and other persistent symptoms, and feminist approaches to health from different higher education institutions, including UNAM, University of California San Diego, Harvard University, University of Rochester, University of New Mexico, and Oxford University.

I am intimately familiar with bodies and minds and our healing processes, and how to relate to, nourish and take care of ourselves and our bodies in ways that bring us closer to wholeness, radical presence, embodied wellbeing and joy. 

In the field of chronic pain recovery, I am a certified Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) Mastery Level and OvidDx provider. I’ve also trained in Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET); psychophysiologic disorders; assessment and education for patients with neural circuit conditions; Freedom from Chronic Pain; Somatic Interventions for Chronic Pain and Syndromes; Explain Pain; and Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) for Functional Somatic Disorders.

I am a member of The Better Mind Center’s Medical Advisory Board, and a teacher in Movement + and Terapia Reversión del Dolor. I was a clinical advisor for Lin Health for two years.

I am also an eating disorders specialist and clinical supervisor; mindfulness, compassion and mindful eating instructor ; certified therapeutic and restorative yoga teacher; death doula; bereavement counselor; Healthy Boundaries for Kind People® Coach and Facilitator, integrative somatic trauma therapy practitioner, Well Now trainee and Body Trust® Provider.

I am known for pioneering mindfulness and compassion based eating and weight inclusive care in the Spanish speaking world, as well as for bringing together radical care paradigms in the field of mind-body medicine. I was the first healthcare professional in Mexico to be certified in pain reprocessing therapy (PRT) and emotional awareness & expression therapy (EAET).

All of this learning has been made possible by the labor and generosity of multiple teachers. You can read a bit more about them below.

I am a (cis, hetero) woman, my pronouns are she/her. I was born and raised in Mexico City, where I’ve lived for most of my life. I live with my husband and our two beloved rescue cats, Ziggy and Lupito. I am mostly able bodied and I live in a small fat body. I am neurodivergent (2e: “highly gifted” Aspie). I am a feminist, irreverent, critical thinker. My sense of humor is a bit (or perhaps a lot) acid. I am an asphalt flower and nature lover, I love quiet and at the same time find it really hard to stay still. I am endlessly curious, if you want to see me squirm just tell me you have “something” to tell me and leave me hanging.

I smile a lot and I’m warm in close interaction, but if we don’t know each other or we meet in a crowded space you’ll probably think I’m serious and aloof (this is one of the ways in which my introversion and neurodivergence show up).

I love deep conversations and completely lack ability for small talk. I can find it difficult to know when someone is teasing and when they’re being serious (my mom, sister, partner and a couple of friends find this endlessly amusing).

I have vivid and bizarre dreams that I can recall with great detail almost every night, and I often wake up with a song stuck in my head (this phenomenon is called “ear worms”, Oliver Sacks describes it in his book Musicophilia). What kind of songs? From Beethoven to Juan Gabriel, from Melodie Gardot to A-Ha (it might be a song I like, or a song I hate).

I am a super taster and enjoy new and complex flavors, tisanes, and home baked bread. I am nourished by baking sourdough and getting involved in culinary experiments, particularly desserts. I love swimming, I think I must have been a mermaid in another life. I adore visiting new places and reading all kinds of stories, especially while lying down in my hammock and with a bit of sun.

I want peace, justice, and body liberation, and I know that the work starts with me and at the same time with us-in-relationship-and-interconnection.

For the past 25 years (over half my life), I have found refuge in the teachings of Buddhism and I’ve practiced meditation and yoga. This practice has literally saved my life and has shaped my way of being present in the world.

My own life experiences with developmental and complex trauma, depression, anxiety, neurodivergence, and chronic pain, together with a healing journey that has involved psychotherapy and mind-body practices, have shaped the way I approach my suffering and that of others. I consider it my privilege, purpose and deepest source of fulfillment to be able to witness and support others in their own healing path.

Throughout my life, I have found belonging in a tradition of rebels in academia and the health professions. Although it would be impossible to include all of the people whose teachings and support have shaped my approach and helped me in my own healing journey, I do want to acknowledge some whose influence is most salient for me at the moment. It’s important for me that you know who I’ve learned from and, borrowing words from my dear Lupita Rozada, name and give thanks to those who have been a gift in my life.

• Ada Jaarsma

• Andréa Ranae Johnson

• Bessel van der Kolk

• Carmen Cool

• Deb Burgard

• Francis Weller

• Gabor Maté

• Gloria Lucas

• Gregory Bateson

• Holly Truhlar

• Howard Schubiner

• Jan Chozen Bays, Roshi

• Jillian Pransky

• Jon Kabat-Zinn

• Kelly Diels

• Lama Rod Owens

This list needs to include all of my patients, students, and clients, as each and every one of them has been a teacher. And of course my colleagues in the Colectiva de Alimentación Conectada: Lupita Rozada, Gina Tager, Pili Muguira, and Lore Aranda, all of them great teachers and cherished friends.