"When awareness and embodiment entwine, the body turns from a prison to a question – a question of spirit, of love and of meaning." Mark Walsh
Welcome, dear one! I'm so happy you're here.
I'm Lily, and I’ll be delighted to support you in reclaiming your life from chronic pain and other symptoms.
You’re here because you want to reclaim your life from chronic pain, fatigue, anxiety, depression, post-COVID syndrome, complex post-traumatic stress, eating related concerns, or other persistent symptoms for which you haven’t yet found effective treatment. I know what it’s like to struggle with symptoms and find no answers or cure in conventional medicine. And I also know that there is hope, that it’s possible to heal.
I’m a physician, psychotherapist, educator, coach, and consultant, among other things, and also someone who has recovered from chronic pain and other nociplastic symptoms, and who continues to heal. I’m a mind-body medicine specialist, and I have trained in different health related fields to connect them as part of an integrative approach to wellbeing. You can learn a bit more about me and my training here.
I integrate different healing approaches and modalities harnessing the power of bio- and neuroplasticity, from an understanding that we are complex beings, and that every single one of our experiences in the realm of health and illness encompasses mind, body, spirit, and a relational web with other beings, human and non-human, and land. This work emphasizes the oneness and interconnectedness of our bodymind and its ability to adapt, often through intentional practices such as mindfulness, movement, or other forms of somatic awareness. It includes mindfulness and compassion based trauma sensitive care, a focus on growth and resilience, and the neuroscience of pain and wellbeing to foster healing, and is informed by somatics, a holistic methodology that understands, in the words of Staci Haines, that both the individual and the collective are a combination of biological, evolutionary, emotional, and psychological aspects, shaped by social and historical norms, and adaptive to a wide array of both resilient and oppressive forces. The word somatics comes from the Greek root soma, which means “the living organism in its wholeness”.
I love the work I do, I know myself to be deeply fortunate and privileged to do something meaningful and gratifying, something that allows me to participate in experiences of deep change, healing and growth. I am particularly skilled in offering a safe space within which to be fully present and hold your lived experience in lovingkindness and compassion. I will be delighted to embark on a collaborative journey to together explore and make sense of your experience and expand the possibilities for ease and wellbeing, with your lived experience front and center.
In 2020, I experienced the gift of recovering from a chronic back pain process that started with an injury, involved 3 surgeries and left me incapacitated several times throughout almost 10 years. Today I am pain free, and I have trained in education, assessment and treatment of neuroplastic pain and other nociplastic symptoms to help more people live pain free.
I am a member of The Better Mind Center’s Medical Advisory Board, and a teacher in the Movement + platform. I was also clinical advisor and clinical lead for Lin Health.
Working With Me…
My approach is collaborative, and my style is warm and gentle, though the work we’ll do together will invite you to be vulnerable and brave. The words people who work with me most often use to describe me and my approach are: warm, compassionate, caring, fierce, empathetic, generous, brave, genuine, honest, insightful, intelligent, kind, open, and passionate.
We will engage in conversations and practices for healing, centering your lived experience, your strengths, hopes, and values to grow in ease and wellbeing, and working through challenges and obstacles* that may be standing in the way of you living a full and gratifying life.
*Some of these obstacles are systemic, and I understand that change in this realm needs to be collective. I will not pathologize adaptive responses to oppressive narratives and systems, and I actively continue to do my own work to unlearn internalized oppressive narratives.
We will together make sense of your story and explore how your particular context has shaped your experience of embodiment, health, and wellbeing. We will create space for the grief that comes from the inevitability of facing illness, dis-ease and pain that living in a human bodymind involves, and from particular experiences of adversity, including systemic oppression. From my own lived experience, and that of the many people I've had the honor to help in my practice, I know that we can find radical healing and come to wholeness even in the presence of illness, and pain, and loss. I don’t know what this will look like for you, because no one else (including me) can tell you what health and wellbeing should/could/might be/look like for you. I will listen and bear witness with genuine curiosity, compassion, warmth, and a little humor.
Our work together is mindfulness and compassion based, and may include meditation and somatic practices, emotional expression, journaling, kind boundaries that honor you and your values, relational aspects, mindful movement, education, pain reprocessing skills, inquiry, and more.
I integrate an understanding of neuroscience in a bio-psycho-social-spiritual-ecological approach, as well as a feminist intersectional lens and critical theory.
I can help if…
you are experiencing chronic pain and/or other persistent symptoms that bring dis-ease, including fatigue, fibromyalgia, and functional digestive symptoms (e.g. GERD, IBS) or post-COVID syndrome;
you have received one of the diagnoses in this list;
despite experiencing different persistent and troublesome symptoms and consulting with multiple healthcare professionals, you haven’t yet received a clear diagnosis, your symptoms are still a mystery, and/or the treatments you’ve been offered have only provided partial and temporary relief;
you are considering a surgical procedure for some kind of chronic pain, e.g. spinal surgery for chronic back pain, and you’d like to explore alternatives;
you’ve been told your symptoms may be stress related;
you’ve been told you have multiple food allergies or sensitivities, but the treatment has either not worked or worsened your symptoms, your diet is so restrictive it impairs your life, or you have contradictory information and want to find an approach that works for you;
you experience struggles in your relationship with food and/or body;
you experience anxiety and/or depression;
you are questioning what about the medical information you’ve received is relevant or true for you;
you want to take care of you on your own terms, and want someone who will be able to support you in self care skills that actually work for you;
you wish to cultivate and honor healthy boundaries that allow for your own self-care and replenishing empathy and compassion.
If you’re a provider in healthcare and/or coaching, and you want to deepen your understanding and expand your skills in this field, or get support with the challenges of the work you do, it will be my joy to offer you a space of (un)learning and mentoring.
“I would like to share my experience with Lily, in case it helps other people.
First of all, and something very important for me, I want to highlight Lily's impressive personal touch. She is gentle, kind, and affectionate. You can tell that she does not judge you and that she genuinely empathizes with you. Additionally, it is evident that she is very well trained and up to date, and I felt that I was in the best hands in that sense, that I could trust her judgment 100%.
In my case, after 16 years with chronic pain and a lot of suffering, I had been to many psychologists and accumulated a lot of frustration, since no one understood me before and I felt a little helpless, “a hopeless case”.
Lily had a very keen eye as a diagnostician, since she has extensive experience with patients with chronic pain (I also appreciate that I didn’t need to go through endless assessment sessions). She told me about a possible neurodivergence, and how my nervous system reacts more intensely and in a threatening way to certain stimuli that are registered as harmless by other people, which may explain my chronic pain, my sensitivity to drugs, foods, social situations… and so many other things. She recommended several very interesting books on the subject, helped me with guidelines to regulate myself and find a balance between dosing the “stressors” and facing them. For me, it was as if Lily turned on a light that helped me explain my past and present, to be more compassionate with myself and have a clearer path to follow in the future.
I will be eternally grateful to you, Lily.”
B.V.
Our Sessions
Our focus together:
Bodymind (re)learning for wellbeing and ease. Positive bioplasticity / embodied neuroplasticity: Let’s try out new language!
What we focus on grows, so I’m leaning away from terms like “pain” and moving towards terms that emphasize the oneness and interconnectedness of our bodymind and its ability to adapt and heal through intentional practices including mindfulness and different forms of somatic awareness. What other terms for our work together would you like to add to the list?
Types of session:
Neural Circuit Repatterning Therapy for healing, including Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) and Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy
Mindfulness and Compassion Based Programs for relapse prevention in depression and other conditions
Coaching and consulting for (re)learning wellbeing and ease, Healthy Boundaries for Kind People®, mindfulness and compassion based practices
Education on topics related to mind-body medicine, wellness, and healing
Mind-body medicine and psychotherapy (for residents of Mexico)
Location & Schedule
We’ll meet online via Zoom. We can use video, audio, written chat, or any combination that suits you best for the duration of our session.
Office hours: Monday - Thursday 11 am - 1 pm and 2-6 pm*.
*I am currently in London, England (GMT) time. If you’re in the American continent, I’ll be available during your morning. If you need availability during your afternoons, I’m happy to share the contact info of one of my trusted colleagues, please contact me.
Fees
My full rates are as follows:
Intake £520—includes two 50 min sessions + in depth questionnaire and review of relevant and recent lab and imaging tests
Standalone 50 minute consulting session £250.
Follow up 50 min sessions £250.
Ready to schedule?
Equity-Based Pricing & Pay It Forward
My fees are needs-based, as my work is the primary source of livelihood for both myself and my financial dependents. Without access to generational wealth or social security, I have structured my pricing to fairly reflect the time, expertise, and energy I invest while ensuring the sustainability of my practice and the quality of care I provide.
At the same time, I recognize the systemic barriers that marginalized communities—particularly those experiencing poverty, discrimination, disability, and mental health challenges—face in accessing healthcare and wellness services. Equity and social justice are deeply important to me, and I am committed to sustaining my work while also contributing to accessibility in the services I provide.
I offer sliding scale, equity-based pricing for my clinical services in Mexico, starting at £100.
I also offer a limited number of sliding scale, equity-based pricing for my coaching services in the UK, starting at £120.
When you pay my full consulting fee you are helping me sustain myself and support others. When requesting a sliding scale slot, please be mindful of what you can truthfully afford, and of whether paying my full fee, or a rate at the higher end of my sliding scale, is difficult or detrimental for you. When choosing to work with me, you might have to cut back on other spending in your life (such as traveling, going out to dinner, buying coffee, a new outfit, or a new car), but this will not have a long term harmful impact on your life. It is an intentional choice in order to pursue something you are called to do and aligned with what you want for your well-being. If, however, paying my full fee or a rate at the higher end of my sliding scale would lead to a harmful impact on your life, such as not being able to put food on the table, pay rent, take care of your dependent family members, or pay for your transportation to get to work, then you are dealing with hardship and could benefit from the lower end of my sliding scale. If this lower end still involves financial hardship for you, please take care of yourself - I am happy to recommend other resources in support of your healing.
Support an individual to get the support they need
If you're able to give financial support for someone who needs to work with me, I've created a Pay-It-Forward fund. Any amount is appreciated. Just reach out to let me know you’d like to donate. Thank you for your generous support!
Thank you to Anuradha Kowtha from Manifest by Design, Alexis J. Cunningfolk and Hilary Kinavey and Dana Sturtevant from Be Nourished for their inspiration in wording this section on equity-based pricing and Pay-It-Forward.
Questions?
Please use the form below to share a bit about you with me.
Provision of Medical and/or Mental Health Services
I am licensed to practice medicine and psychotherapy in Mexico. I can provide primary medical and mental health care for residents of Mexico only.
If you are not a Mexican resident, the services provided by me will be limited to the purview of education, coaching, mentoring, and/or consulting. They do not constitute medical and/or mental health diagnosis, care, advice, treatment, or prescription, nor are they meant as replacement of medical and/or mental health care, or consultation with a healthcare professional. Please refer to my Terms & Conditions.