Hi, I’m Shari. I’m a certified Somatic Sexologist and Relationship Coach, a certified EFT (tapping) practitioner, and a graduate student in clinical psychology at Antioch University in Los Angeles. I blend these modalities to create coaching programs that address the root causes of sexual trauma and childhood wounding, where we won’t just talk about your problems, we’ll use experiential practices to heal sexual shame, create secure attachment, embodiment, self-expression, and deepen intimacy in all of your relationships.
I incorporate my studies in psychodynamic theory, queer and feminist theory, Internal Family Systems, Emotionally Focused Therapy and attachment theory, Hakomi mindfulness-based somatic psychotherapy, meditation and mindfulness, Authentic Movement, Authentic Relating and Circling, ancestral healing, Tantra, and depth psychology to create sessions that blend science-based tools and research with somatic, intuitive, and mystical practices. Our session will feel grounded, practical, AND magical and transform how you relate to yourself, your loved ones, and the world around you.
I’m also certified in Michaela Boehm’s Nonlinear Movement Method and as a dating and relationship coach for LGBTQIA+ women and non-binary people through the Conscious Girlfriend Academy.
I’ve been seeing clients since 2017, but my journey started long before then.
I was a sensual being from the start. I have vivid memories from my childhood of the taste of strawberries on my 3rd birthday cake, the rough texture of my dog’s fur, the smell of playing in freshly mowed grass…
Even as a little girl, I was wired to get big pleasure from small things.
I was born with a natural curiosity, playfulness, and appetite for doing what feels good, but growing up in the Bible Belt of South Carolina put a big damper on my self-- and sexual-- expression. I got the whole buffet of shaming messages about my body and my sexuality: It’s dirty. It’s bad. It’s wrong. Don’t talk about it.
I was fed the message that my sexuality was for other people. I felt like I needed to be grateful for any attention I received, and that my life depended on figuring out what other people wanted and being that. Sexuality was something that I got really good at performing, but I had no idea what I wanted or that my pleasure mattered.
After years of trying to be what I thought other people wanted me to be, I made a pivotal decision: Pleasure, love, and connection were my birthright and I was NOT going to abandon myself to make others more comfortable.
This meant:
Learning to listen to and respect my body and choosing partners who do, too.
Speaking frankly about sexual health, desires, fears, and boundaries-- before, during, and after sex.
Creating a fun and fulfilling sex life with myself, and learning how to give myself the love, pleasure, touch, and turn on I crave.
Exploring and owning my queerness, sitting with my own internalized homophobia and narrow definitions of gender, and giving myself permission to love who and how I want.
Navigating open relating and choosing the relationship structure that works best for me and my partner at that time, no matter what anyone else thinks.
Living with chronic pelvic pain and painful intercourse from endometriosis and fibroids, and learning to have juicy, mind-blowing, connective sex without penetration as the destination.
Flash forward to now, creating deeply satisfying sexual and romantic relationships has been my greatest and most satisfying accomplishment.
I want this for you too.
Getting to know who you are and what you need to feel safe and loved is foundational to everything you want to accomplish in your life.
With this awareness, nothing can stop you from having deeply connected, intimate relationships in every area of your life, and sex that satisfies your soul.
Helping you unlock your erotic power is my pleasure.
The work of relating starts with ourselves and the people we love, but our work is incomplete unless we expand our circles of relating outward and ask ourselves, how am I relating to my community? to those I disagree with? to the natural world? to my ancestors? An important step in situating ourselves in the web of life is knowing and acknowledging the first people of the place you live, and becoming familiar with their stories.
In this spirit, I acknowledge that my home in west Los Angeles occupies the unceded lands of the Chumash and Gabrielino/Tongva peoples, who stewarded this area for centuries before their genocide, enslavement, and displacement by colonial settlers. These tribes continue to protect this land and water, maintain vibrant traditions and culture, and contribute to society in significant but often unseen ways.