KAREN L. BOLESKY M.A., L.M.H.C., L.M.P., LAMP, CSP, has been a psychotherapist, and licensed Mental Health Counselor since 1975 with a broad scope of psychological and somatic training. In 1986 she became a SOMA practitioner and instructor. She has owned the SOMA Institute since 1986.

She studied Gestalt therapy with the Polsters, grief therapy in death and dying with Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, M.D., and drawing interpretation with Gregg M. Furth, Ph.D. Her B.A. is in Fine Art and she uses drawing interpretation as a tool to enhance personal development. She learned nutrition and business in Florida by owning health food stores. Her powerful work with her clients and students, tapping their personal creativity and the capacity to manifest their vision and wisdom, is aided by her own synthesis of the creative process and knowledge of somatic education. Karen authored a case study in the book, The Indigo Children.

Karen has written a book entitled:  Bony Landmarks-Making Somatic Connections.

"I want the student to leave with a true and deep sense of their own self, to live the work they are providing, to have a powerful experiential and academic knowledge of SOMA to take forth as a creative act."

JESSE GUERRERO LMP, CSP, has been in private practice of Soma since 2002.   Jesse began his connection with Soma when he was eight years old and his Aunt Karen took over the Soma Training.  He overcame severe asthma and many sports injuries by receiving the Soma work.  He gained intrinsic knowledge and appreciation for his bodymind which he now gives to his students and clients.  Jesse shares his knowledge, wisdom and gentle spirit that honor his Apache background with the students and his clients.  He teaches Somassage®, and somatic movement in USA and Europe and is core faculty at the Institute.

“I want to leave the students with the ability to find themselves in the work, to realize their own gifts and creativity that they have to offer.  Time and time again I see students graduate from the Soma Institute with extremely strong manual skills and good touch.  I want to give them a sense of their own unique capabilities, so that they may truly master the art of Structural Integration."

Website: www.risingbody.com
Email: risingbody@msn.com

SYDNEY CULVER BA, LMP, graduated Soma in 2001.  Sydney brings over a decade of personal experience and dedicated study in the healing arts, including: yoga, dance, mediation, energy work, anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology.   Her BA is in Spiritual Psychology and Expressive arts.  Sydney honors the body as the primary instrument of practical and creative life expression.  The intent of her practice is to facilitate a greater capacity for creative expression, fulfillment and connection within each of her clients.    Her grasp of the connections between body, mind and spirit create a unique unfolding within the students of their ability to embody real life changes. Sydney is core faculty at the Institute.

"I want to inspire the student to bring forth their own depth and clarity.  I want to assist them to open the door of their intuition, and enter the realm where their practice becomes a profound creative state".

Website: www.somabodywork.org

LANII CHAPMAN LMP, CSP, has practiced Soma SI since 2005.  Her first career, as a dancer beginning at age 17 in a contemporary repertoire company.  Lanii brings years of movement training to her work.  Lanii works with students learning Soma to elicit ease and grounding in their body mechanics.  She has practiced Buddhism for 30 years, a journey that has enhanced her empathy, presence, joy and vivid understanding of the inseparability of body and mind.   Her Soma practice and teaching seeks to instill an inner sense of freedom so students and clients can tap their limitless intuition and energy for positive change and creative response.

“I want each student to increase self-actualization and reliance, unleashing the ability to translate that to their clients.  And I want to support them to find ease in their own bodies as they work so they experience the vitality of Soma.”

Website: www.facilitatinggrace.com
Email: lanii@facilitatinggrace.com

JENNIFER LOVEJOY BA, LMP, LAMP, CSP, has been practicing Soma since 2007.  In her private practice she works with both people and horses. Her fascinations with how humans interact with their environment lead her to complete a BA in Human Ecology.  For Jennifer, Soma is a beautiful examination of systems thinking, a model that looks at how one part affects every other part of a whole system. Whether looking at the body as a system or the universe as a system, the expression of the deep connections between the "parts" of a larger whole are the subjects of her life's study. In this exploration, Jennifer has studied yoga, natural health and healing, energy work, psychology and many spiritual traditions. She is an avid horsewoman and explores the world of deep connections through her relationships with her horses and being in nature.

"I want to leave the students with a sense of their own brilliance, deep trust for themselves, and the bravery to really look at the deepest parts of their being.  I want them to know how to release resistance from within and know what it is to live in a healthy vibrant body.  With this deep knowing and armed with the powerful knowledge of the Soma work, each student can leave the Institute to serve as an exquisite example of authentic living and facilitate powerful change for their clients and in their own lives."

Website: www.greenhorsebodyworks.com
Email: jennifer@greenhorsebodyworks.com

DENISE FOSTER SCOTT LMP, CSP, seeking a meaningful career, left the world of aviation to receive her training as a Structural Integrator at the Soma Institute in 2007.  Shortly after graduation, she began a yearlong internship with Karen Bolesky in which she explored client relationships and delving into the heart of structural work.  Denise has a deep fascination about how our individual facets (emotional, spiritual, intellectual) affect the structure of the body and how to use these connections in ourselves to create spacious and openness within.  She has special interest in anatomy and structure and pays close attention to the relationship between form and function in her work with clients and students.  Denise is in training to be involved in the administrative tasks of the school.

"I want the students to leave with a tremendous sense of confidence that their work will create profound changes in the bodies and lives around them.  SOMA opens the door to awareness, creating choices and the potential for change.  It is my wish that the students take this opportunity to shed their self-imposed limitations that mask actuality.  This way they are able to recognize and encourage these same changes in others."

Website: www.somavitality.com
Email: somavitality@hotmail.com

TRESSA JAMES BA, LMP, LAMP, CSP, CSI, has been consciously practicing spiritual and Structural Integration since 2000.  Soma structural integration has been the journey of her life as she honors the reflection process of being in the healing field.  Growing up on a horse ranch refined her sense of touch long before she knew about the connections and existence of body and mind.  Her relationship with horses and animals in general, has taught her a great sensitivity.  It is through the exploration of instructing that she feels a refined understanding of how to allow our innate healing abilities to create wholeness.

"Our bodies are constantly looking for homeostasis, a sense of wholeness. Communicating with and allowing the body's ability to heal itself is my primary goal in teaching students."

Website: www.gupbodyworks.com
Email: gupbodyworks@gmail.com