My work
I am an advanced practitioner and instructor of the Duggan/French Approach (DFA) for Somatic Pattern Recognition. I received my certification as a practitioner in 1988, as an advanced practitioner in 1990 and 1992, and as an instructor in 1997 from the creators of DFA, Annie B. Duggan and Janie French. In 2012 I concluded a complementary study program as an Archetypal Pattern Analyst at the Assisi Institute for the Study of Archetypal Pattern Analysis, under the direction of Dr. Michael Conforti, in Brattleboro, Vermont. Between 1998 and 2004 I deepened my understanding of Family Constellations. Since 2020 I regularly participate in the Collective Trauma courses and summits with Thomas Hübl and the Pocket Project.
I work in private practice, workshops and professional trainings, from 1989 to 1999 in the European DFA Center and as of 1999 in the studio for breathing, movement and structural integration, ermie, in Barcelona.
Publications
In 1997 I publishedCon los pies en el suelo: forma del cuerpo y visión del mundo (With your Feet on the Ground: Body Shape and World View) at Ediciones Icaria andRespirar con árboles: el poder de la respiración y la conexión con la naturaleza (Breathing with Tree: The Power of Breathing and the Connection with Nature), at Ediciones Urano in 2013, both in Barcelona, the city where I live and work. Sporadically I have published articles in magazines like Cuerpomente, Integral, Medicinas Complementarias and others in Spanish and in several issues of the Yearbook of the International Association for Structural Integrators in English.
External collaboration
From 2001 to 2007 I belonged to the external team of Kurklinikum, a Clinic for Psychotherapeutic and Psychosomatic Crisis Management, until the cutbacks in insurance of public services left a successful project without finances.
Professional associations
I am a member of the Guild for Structural Integration, GSI, the International Association for Structural Integrators, IASI, the Depth Psychology Alliance and a friend of the Institute for Science in Society, i-sis.
Research
Since the late 90s, my interest is focused on two areas of research: the water hydrating the tissues of our bodies and the effects of trauma on the first, second and third generation.
Congresses
I assisted at the First Fascia Research Congress in Boston in 2007, in two IASI Symposia IASI, in 2005 in Seattle and in 2007 in Boston and at the 6th Interdisciplinary Congress about Lower Back and Pelvic Pain in 2007 in Barcelona, as continued education. I participated as a speaker in two Body Wisdom Spain Congresses, in Benicassim in 2012 and 2014.
In the 7th, 8th, and 9th Annual Conference about the Chemistry, Physics and Biology of Water in 2012, 2013 and 2014 I presented posters about the interaction between hydration water and the excess of involuntary tension in muscles and connective tissues present in habitual holding patterns, in order to verify my hypothesis with the water researchers from the point of view of their respective specialties.
Continued education
I belong to the Yun Hwa Sangha for World Social Buddhism. Since 1988 I follow a daily practice under the guidance of Supreme Matriarch Ji Kwang Dae Poep Sa Nim. I took the precepts of a Dharma teacher in 1991 and completed retreats for self-development and world peace in 2005, 2007 and 2013 at the Lotus Buddhist Monastery School for Monks and Nuns in Hawaii.
Beginnings
I began my professional life as a translator in Barcelona from 1980 to 1989 after finishing my studies in Applied Linguistic Sciences at FAS Germersheim of the Johannes-Gutenberg University, Mainz, 1979 for German, English and Spanish and in 1980 for French. In 1984 I began to look for an alternative profession.
Motivation
I liked the idea of helping people to communicate and understand each other even when they speak different languages. In retrospect, when I became interested in the history of my parents and grandparents, it became clear to what extent my decisions in life where determined by traumas from the Third Reich and both world wars. More than anything I wanted (and I want) to help people understand themselves, to care for their own health and the health of our planet and to live together in peace. Therefore, in 1984, I oriented my professional path towards the understanding of the body, because only if we understand our bodies are we able to decide freely how we are going to relate to ourselves and others. I studied movement and the interrelation between body and mind in several schools and centers for personal work within my reach. For my professional practice I chose DFA Somatic Pattern Recognition because its methods are specific and effective in developing the awareness that is necessary to recognize habit patterns so that, instead of being carried away by them, it becomes possible to create responsiveness and freedom of movement in the present moment.