Eliza Combs, MA, LPCC, ATR, RPT, SAP®, RYT 200, CADS
Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor,
Registered Art Therapist,
Registered Play Therapist,
Somatic Archaeology Practitioner,
Registered Yoga Teacher 200 hours,
Certified Acudetox Specialist
Hello I am Eliza. I grew up between the traditional homelands of Creek, Cherokee, Shawnee, Miami and Delaware peoples - Alabama and Ohio. I am of working class, settler, immigrant, Irish, Cornish, German and ancestral lineages still being learned. I moved to the homelands of Navajo, Apache, 19 remaining Pueblos (Acoma, Cochiti, Isleta, Jemez, Laguna, Nambé, Ohkay Owingeh, Picuris, Pojoaque, Sandia, San Felipe, San Ildefonso, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Santo Domingo, Taos, Tesuque, Zia, Zuni) Tiwa, Towa, Keres, Tewa and Zuni people - (New Mexico), in 2010 to complete my Master of Arts degree in Art Therapy and Counseling. I use they/them pronouns.
I hold multiple identities and work from a lived experience of understanding mental health through a lens of trauma, history, violence and systems of oppression. I believe we all carry ancestral wisdom that can serve our healing – and that the work and practice can't be done alone- we need each other. I’m passionate about the work I completed in 2019, a 200 hour, year long training on historical trauma recovery and somatic archaeology through Freedom Lodge. This process has allowed me to more deeply explore my own healing and integrate powerful body centered practices with expressive arts modalities in therapy. These days I'm deeply drawn to and challenged to practice the work of Somatic Abolitionism.
I’m guided in my work by the folks I work with, Black queer feminism (anti-racist/intersectional/social justice approaches), ancestral and Indigenous wisdom, the earth, the body, mystery, deep listening, presence, intuition, play, curiosity and creativity. I believe that personal healing and collective liberation are connected. I am so honored and grateful to be a mental health professional specializing in body centered expressive arts and bringing naming and acknowledgement of power, privilege and systems of oppression (white supremacist, capitalist, patriarchy) to my healing work with people.
Growing up, I loved creativity, stories, play and dance as a child. I also loved the earth and its deep colors running from dark sienna and burnt umbers to copper and crimson, its holding and its safety. These practices of play, creativity and expression were a refuge and they saved my life and so did the people I was lucky
enough to find that were present and clear enough to provide support,
inspiration and sanctuary.
In being loved I found passion – creating sacred space, loving others and supporting connection to the power of presence, refuge and life through
self expression, intuition and the wisdom of the body. I have been witness, facilitator and participant in
the power of ART to transform, empower and heal for over 25 years.
I've been honored to be in community and work with folks who hold multiple identities in varied settings: on the street, in schools, in shelter, half way houses, prisons, residential programs, community organizations, retreat settings, workshops, medical/healthcare settings, survivor advocacy agencies and a tribal college.
In both personal and professional work I come from an understanding of the intersections of race, class, gender, disability and sexual identities and strive to practice solidarity for shared liberation and social justice in my community and the world. As a clinician I connect experiences of intergenerational/historical trauma, violence, oppression and discrimination with mental health and healing, explore internalized feelings of hate and shame, encourage reclaimation of identity, feeling emotions and ancestral wisdom as power and see advocacy as integral to my role.
I've been honored to be in community and work with folks who hold multiple identities in varied settings: on the street, in schools, in shelter, half way houses, prisons, residential programs, community organizations, retreat settings, workshops, medical/healthcare settings, survivor advocacy agencies and a tribal college.
In both personal and professional work I come from an understanding of the intersections of race, class, gender, disability and sexual identities and strive to practice solidarity for shared liberation and social justice in my community and the world. As a clinician I connect experiences of intergenerational/historical trauma, violence, oppression and discrimination with mental health and healing, explore internalized feelings of hate and shame, encourage reclaimation of identity, feeling emotions and ancestral wisdom as power and see advocacy as integral to my role.
I am passionate about expressive arts, liberating education, justice, and experiential therapeutic work. In my professional roles, I practice being with humans and connecting with the power of healing using presence, relationship, sacred space, naming and dispelling oppressive systems and experiences, body-centered practices, ancestral wisdom, and expressive arts.
I offer sanctuary, a place to return – a tender opening, in which you can experience relative safety and relative wholeness and explore what is arising in you.
Research in
neuroscience, attachment, and understanding aspects of brain and biology (neurobiology, polyvagal theory) say in those languages what many Indigenous peoples, wisdom traditions and healers have known for thousands of years. Humans are wired in the nervous system for love, community, connection and healing. Humans are oriented toward health and wholeness.
Wounding takes place in relationship and is healed in relationship and
community. Being in the presence of someone who is present is healing. The body
holds information and stores emotion that isn’t able to be processed during
times of intense stress, trauma, terror and survival. Holding stress and emotion in the
body impacts our physical and mental well being. Art and movement can be pathways toward release
and integration.
I practice client centered, trauma conscious, body-centered therapy and expressive arts. I see my role as a support
person who helps to amplify and draw out the wisdom, healing and wholeness already
present within people, their communities, and lineages.
Credentials/Training:
I obtained my Bachelor of Fine Art in Sculpture and Art History in 2002 from the Art Academy of Cincinnati.
In 2013 I completed a year long Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program with Chris Zydel of Creative Juices Arts in Calistoga, California.
In 2014 I completed my Masters in Counseling & Art Therapy from Southwestern College in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
In 2019 I completed a 200 hour Historical Trauma Master Class with Dr. Ruby Gibson at Freedom Lodge from the Black Hills Historical Trauma Research & Recovery Center.
In 2021 I completed a 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training Program with Yoga Source in Santa Fe, NM.
Clinical Mental Health Counselor, LPCC - License # CCMH0187061
National Registered Art Therapist, ATR - Registration # 16-196
Clinical Mental Health Counselor, LPCC - License # CCMH0187061
National Registered Art Therapist, ATR - Registration # 16-196
SAP® Historical Trauma Recovery Specialist® &
Somatic Archaeology Practitioner® through Freedom Lodge
200 Hours
National Registered Play Therapist, RPT - Registration # T5319
Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher, RYT 200 #358256
Certified Acudetox Specialist, CADS, #CADS22001
Here are some projects I was a part of and people I have studied with:
Septima Clark Literacy Center Dr. Elizabeth Peavy - studying the work of Paulo Freire & Myles Horton
Nonprofit Leadership Development Program Public Allies
A Small Group Peter Block
Documentarist Barbara Wolf
Contemporary Dance Theater INSIDE/OUTSIDE: The Prison Project
Visionary & Metaphysical Artist C.Pic Michel
Public Community Artist Jan Brown Checco
Henna & Mural Artist John Rapach
Expressive Arts Facilitator Chris Zydel
Founder & Creator of Touch Drawing Deborah Koff Chapin
Co-Founder of Santa Fe Embody Dance Tracy Collins
Here are some projects I was a part of and people I have studied with:
Septima Clark Literacy Center Dr. Elizabeth Peavy - studying the work of Paulo Freire & Myles Horton
Nonprofit Leadership Development Program Public Allies
A Small Group Peter Block
Documentarist Barbara Wolf
Contemporary Dance Theater INSIDE/OUTSIDE: The Prison Project
Visionary & Metaphysical Artist C.Pic Michel
Public Community Artist Jan Brown Checco
Henna & Mural Artist John Rapach
Expressive Arts Facilitator Chris Zydel
Founder & Creator of Touch Drawing Deborah Koff Chapin
Co-Founder of Santa Fe Embody Dance Tracy Collins
Circle of Security Parenting & Advanced Course Glen Cooper
Mythological and Psychological Astrology Jason Holley
Restorative Resources Amber Elizabeth Gray
Sandtray Training Institute Theresa Kestly
Institute for Sensorimotor & Initiatic Art Therapy Corneilia Elbrecht
Ancestral Medicine Dr. Daniel Foor
Freedom Lodge Dr. Ruby Gibson
Mythological and Psychological Astrology Jason Holley
Restorative Resources Amber Elizabeth Gray
Sandtray Training Institute Theresa Kestly
Institute for Sensorimotor & Initiatic Art Therapy Corneilia Elbrecht
Ancestral Medicine Dr. Daniel Foor
Freedom Lodge Dr. Ruby Gibson
Sound Healing Academy Tony Nec & Natalie Brown
Child Counseling Center & Play Therapy Institute of NM Suzy Bienvenu
Rooted and Embodied Karine Bell
YogaSource Wendelin, Shawn & Amy
ASL Levels I-IV with Daniel Heinze @SFCC
Trauma Conscious Yoga Nityda Gessel
Trauma Informed Yoga Training - 8 modules Zabie Yamasaki
CreatingMandalas Susanne Fincher
Public Health Acupuncture of NM for Certified Acudetox Specialist Eleni Fredlund
Deep Gratitude for all who have been my teachers, mentors and guides. Thank you for providing me with presence, love, healing and wisdom on my journey.
Public Health Acupuncture of NM for Certified Acudetox Specialist Eleni Fredlund
Deep Gratitude for all who have been my teachers, mentors and guides. Thank you for providing me with presence, love, healing and wisdom on my journey.
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| A deeply healing ritual performed by participants and led by Tracy Collins in her Immerse/Emerge Retreat 2014. |