Andra Benson Email and Phone Number

I have worked as a foster mom, I have worked as a youth counselor in a residential facility, co-lead domestic violence and parenting classes, and created a treatment plan for children with Reactive Attachment Disorder while finishing my bachelors degree in the Arts of Psychology. I have been teaching yoga for 7+ years while researching how yoga and mindfulness practices can help people who have experienced trauma. I had not planned to release this program yet. It wasn't 'perfect' and 'polished'. The pandemic hit us along with politics and natural disasters. Students started talking to me about wait times to see counselors and psychiatrist being 6-12 months out. One student sent me a photo of a letter she was handed at her doctors office that stated they would not be making any referrals to psychiatrists for the next 12 months due to the lack of availablity. I am not a counselor and cannot provide the services that a counselor, therapist, or psychiatrist can provide.However, I can teach tools to help the body release the trauma story, self-regulating skill for panic and anxiety attacks, breath work techniques that help people who have experienced trauma to find their breath again, and yoga practices to help the mind and body start to reconnect. I have created a safe enviornment for women to connect with other women like themselves where there is no judgment only understanding and compassion. Groups are small 3-5 women and while we do not share our trauma stories we do share the affects trauma has had on our lives and to understand that we are not alone in our experiences.