For as long as I can remember, I’ve been learning about and observing how nervous systems affect our brains and our bodies.

These days, it feels like the whole world is exhausted and in a constant state of threat.

If you’re looking for someone who can help you understand what is going on in our brains and bodies, translate all the neuroscience geek talk into real people words, and help you harness resilience and agency, you’ve come to the right place.

Hi! I’m Dara.

Here’s where I’ve been

Firefighters are with people on the worst days of their lives, and that’s what I’ve been doing for over 15 years. Working alongside first responder colleagues who are in those situations of raw trauma repeatedly, I’ve also learned a lot about the cumulative effect of secondary or vicarious trauma on our overall health and wellness. When adrenaline, cortisol, trauma, exhaustion, and sleep disturbances all mix themselves up into one recipe, it becomes really important to understand the brain and body connection to our nervous systems, and I’ve been delving into the neuroscience of exactly that.

As a former foster parent in the child welfare system, I learned a lot about how the body holds trauma. There’s a lot going on inside anyone who has experienced the trauma of family separation overlapping with systemic and intergenerational traumas, and those become part of a little human’s lived experience while they’re trying to develop and learn and grow into adults. Learning how to access felt safety and calm with some of the bravest little humans I know has been the greatest privilege of my life.

For over a decade, I also worked in the education sector with exceedingly courageous folks who came to this country as newcomers. I’ve been constantly fascinated by human resilience, and a daily observer to the ways that traumatic stress changes how our brains and bodies work, but also of the actual healing powers of community and social connection.

Here’s what I’ve learned

I love learning about nervous systems, neurobiology, trauma, resilience, and the brain/body connection.

Certification and Courses:

  • Understanding Trauma: Foundations

  • The Complexity of Adaptation to Trauma

  • The Nature of Trauma: Developmental Neurobiology, Neuroimaging Research, and Effective Integration

  • Neurobiology of Trauma Treatment: EMDR and New Research Directions

  • Adult Attachment Relationships

  • The Roles Intersectionality and Cultural Humility Play When Working With Diverse Client Populations

  • The Field Guide for Barefoot Psychology: Making Psychoeducation Relevant and Scalable Across Cultures

  • Trauma Through the Lense of Polyvagal Theory

  • Childhood Trauma: Finding a Way Through

  • Childhood Anxiety: Helping Children Heal

  • The Making of a Resilient Child: Practical Tools and Strategies

  • Compassionate Discipline: Raising Resilient Children

  • Parenting Children Who Have Experienced Trauma and Loss