© Alisha Musicant 2023
SOMATIC EXPERIENCING & INTEGRATIVE BODYWORK
About Alisha
Alisha has been in private practice as a holistic healer since 2009. She is trained in Somatic Experiencing trauma healing, developed by Dr. Peter Levine, and has studied with a number of wonderful teachers: Steve Hoskinson, Ariel Giarretto, Kathy Kain, Joshua Sylvae, Abi Blakeslee, and Raja Selvam. Ray Castellino, founder of the Womb Surround work and the Ojai-based BEBA clinic, has also had a significant influence on her practice, along with Mary Jackson and Tara Blasco.
Alisha's background includes Ray Castellino's Pre & Perinatal Foundations, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy, Hugh Milne's Visionary Craniosacral Work, lactation counseling, massage therapy, Hatha Yoga, and mindfulness meditation. Besides a background in these holistic modalities, she is a registered nurse with a masters in nursing, and has worked primarily in the areas of perinatal nursing, community health, and clinical nursing education.
In 2001, as a young college student, Alisha was led to a path of healing after leaving an abusive relationship and experiencing a bicycling accident that left her with broken bones and a shaken nervous system. She discovered the power of hands-on healing in the study of Reiki, and found her way to the Yellow Springs Dharma Center where she began practicing meditation. After graduating from Antioch College with a degree in Cultural Interdisciplinary Studies, she began to deepen in her meditation practice. She travelled to Burma and practiced with Sayadaw U Tejaniya, known for making the practice of insight meditation accessible to daily life, not just on the meditation cushion. She has been a student of the Diamond Approach since 2012, an approach that has supported her in bringing a spirit of inquiry and compassion to session work. She has also been influenced by Non-Violent Communication (NVC), several yoga traditions, pilgrimage, contact improvisation, indigenous traditions, Judaism, and many wonderful wisdom holders in these lineages to whom she owes a debt of gratitude.
Client Testimonials
"Working with Alisha has been nothing short of transformative for me. I leave every session feeling deeply heard, seen, supported and with more access to resources in my daily life. I am so grateful for her gentle, attentive and powerfully skillful abilities to help my nervous system process stress and recover from the impacts of surgical and birth traumas. Thank you so much for doing what you do Alisha!"
~ C.M.
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"I have worked with Alisha for several years and she is truly a remarkable therapist.... She is intuitive, patient, nurturing, courageous, and sensitive. This work has supported me through stress, difficulty, and injury; and it has given me back clarity and perspective when they were lost. Alisha works with your whole person in a way that is graceful, curious, and respectful - arising instinctively from a place of deep listening."
~J.M.
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I cannot adequately express my gratitude for Alisha and her practice. I also cannot recommend her enough to any and everyone. She understands the whole picture and how connected our stories are to our bodies. After my first meeting with her, I left feeling so much more grounded in myself and supported by her guidance. It was the first time I left any kind of therapy session feeling more regulated, and not simply emotionally undone and exhausted.
~N.H.
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Alisha is an extraordinary Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. For me, somatic experiencing is an incredibly supportive therapy modality. This work has helped me go much deeper than traditional talk therapy. With her innate intuitive abilities, Alisha holds a space that makes me feel safe to go deep into my process. She has helped me with understanding my boundaries and how to communicate them. And she has given me tools to understand my nervous system and how to regulate it, which for me has been life-changing.
~R.N.