The Origin
The question I kept asking
Why do people use harmful substances in quantities that hurt them? That question — asked in a substance abuse prevention office in East Texas — became the doorway into twenty years of research, practice, grief, and discovery. The answer, when it finally came, reoriented everything.
New York
After Indiana University's Individualized Major in anthropology, linguistics, and theatre, a move to New York City to stage manage Broadway productions that probed systems of exclusion — Athol Fugard's Boesman and Lena, George C. Wolfe's Jelly's Last Jam. National Guard assignment at a Brooklyn Armory. During the Crown Heights riots: a soldier on standby with riot gear, and a stage manager walking past peaceful protestors on the way to the theatre six days a week. Both, simultaneously.
International
Time in Rio de Janeiro deepened a fascination with the intersections of Black American and Afro-Brazilian culture, and introduced firsthand experience of class discrimination and national discrimination — layers of trauma that would later inform research into how cultural identity shapes the experience of belonging and its absence.
2016–2018
Crisis intervention work in East Texas. Hundreds of hours of training. An Associate Prevention Certificate. And the question, asked of every trainer, supervisor, and colleague: Why? What are we missing that drives this behavior? No one offered a satisfying answer — until a CEO who was a retired cardiac surgery nurse introduced Trauma-Informed Care. The connection between unresolved trauma and self-medication finally named. The trajectory of independent research redirected permanently.
The 2020 racial uprisings as a global traumatic event. Black Healing Circles at New City Church, facilitated by a licensed Black therapist. Writing for The Uptake on race, gender, and class in the workplace. An international conversation facilitated for German colleagues watching U.S. events unfold. An 8-week Octavia Butler book group. And the birth of Contemplation & Action (C&A) — a 7-session BIPOC healing workshop that has been in continuous facilitation since 2022.
Metropolitan State University's Individualized Program. Research spanning epigenetics, the neurobiology of trauma, restorative justice, decolonization, somatic psychology, and transformative justice — with faculty advisor Dr. Raj Sethraju. Original scholarship including the Trauma Ecosystem conceptual model (adapted from Danieli's Rupture Diagram), the Dark Matter framework, and the Five Prison Constructs. MA conferred 2024.
2023–2024
A position with a district attorney's office in the Victim Services unit, supporting attorneys in special investigations, misconduct cases, and exoneration work. Firsthand observation of how an extremely perpetrator-focused system retraumatizes the people it claims to protect. Research on restorative justice vs. punitive costs in Pennsylvania born directly from this experience. The Rebecca Campbell neurobiology of trauma video used in staff training.
Launching Arc Continuum Consulting with the ANCHOR framework, training bundles, and a webinar series grounded in three years of academic research and decades of field practice. Conference speaking accepted for 2025. The Dark Matter Collective — a nonprofit for somatic healing, restorative justice, and community-centered education — in formation. The work continues, now with an MA in the bio.