Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Haberer.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Elizabeth. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My journey into the body began by experiencing it as a foreign, dangerous place. As an anxiety sufferer, I never knew when my body would suddenly turn on me and leave me shaky and breathless. When I began studying mental health in graduate school, I took my first yoga class and felt a moment of peaceful abiding I had never experienced.
I wanted more. I continued my journey into the mind and became a licensed psychotherapist. My yoga practice sustained me as I gathered myself to give to others in contexts such as psychiatric hospitals, intensive outpatient programs, outpatient settings working with children and adults who struggled with sexual abuse, dual disorders, addiction and OCD.
I became a yoga teacher about ten years ago and realized that I had kept my two worlds- psychotherapy and yoga- compartmentalized, much like we like we sever our bodies from our minds and spirits in our culture. I believe that psychopathology and illness result from people being fragmented and separated – from the earth, from each other, and from the various parts of ourselves. My mission and life’s work through the creation of my Thrive program is to facilitate integration so that people can experience fuller, more authentic version of themselves.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Of course not! I believe that a true dedication to integration and healing always entails struggle. I remember telling my husband “we need to move to a city where trauma-informed yoga is a thing, you know, like NYC, or LA, or San Francisco. No one will be interested in that here!” When I clicked “register” to go to my Trauma-Sensitive Yoga teacher training at the Trauma Center in Massachusetts I had recently launched my private psychotherapy practice, and part of what I was most excited about was the freedom I now had to create a trauma-informed yoga program.
In launching and nurturing this program, I’ve made various mistakes along the way and I thankfully continue to learn from them. I am grateful that I was wrong about my prediction that no one would be interested in trauma-informed yoga, and that people are eager to learn about how they can integrate their bodies into their healing journey.
I am so glad to see that psychotherapists are willing to bring in the body in new ways into their clinical practice. I am also thrilled to see that yoga teachers in this town are such a vivacious group of people who are tirelessly hungry about learning new things to benefit their students and are eager to learn about trauma-informed yoga. I look forward to growing this program and to embracing the continued joy and struggles along the way!
Please tell us about Thrive Trauma-Informed Yoga.
Mindful Psychotherapy provides two main services: psychotherapy and the program I have been highlighting today, THRIVE Trauma-Informed Yoga. I bring my expertise as a skilled licensed psychotherapist and my skills as a sensitively attuned and experienced yoga teacher who reveres the practice of yoga.
I am most proud of the innovative nature of this program, and of creating something that was needed in my city rather than going in search of it elsewhere. I am also proud of its integrity, which is sustained by the mentors, teachers and colleagues who support me on the path.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
One of my favorite memories from childhood is hanging out at my “Abuelita’s” house every Sunday in Mexico City where I grew up. All my tios and tias (aunts and uncles) would be there and she would spend hours pouring all her love into making the most glorious mole for us.
It didn’t register for me that there was such a thing as “extended” family. I always met a new relative I didn’t know and everyone was welcome, even though there was no more room at the table. There were dozens of people, lots of food, lots of noise. I didn’t want Sundays to end.
Contact Info:
- Address: 535 W.20th St. Suite 215 Houston TX 77008
- Website: https://www.thrivetraumainformedyoga.com/
- Phone: (713) 257 96-19
- Email: thriveyogi@gmail.com
- Instagram: thrive_traumainformedyoga
- Facebook: Thrive Trauma-Informed Yoga
- Other: http://www.elizabethhaberer.com/
Image Credit:
Silvina Rearte
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