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She/Her/Hers
Therapist, Co-Founder, Director
It is an honor to walk alongside those on their path towards finding their way back home to self in a world that can be difficult and inhospitable. My vision since cofounding Liberating Jasper in 2018 has been to support others on their journey towards freedom and
liberation, be it in the capacity as a therapist, or as a supervisor to therapists and students working in the eating disorder field.
As a licensed marriage and family therapist with 15 years ofexperience, a Certified Body Trust® Provider since 2016, and aWashington state approved supervisor, I naturally bring a systemicand inclusive lens to the populations with whom I work. I practicefrom a body liberation, Health at Every Size®, social justice,somatic, and spiritual lens. With a long background in socialactivism, I am always listening for ways to support clients andclinicians in dismantling their internalized systems of oppression,which might be influencing their access to freedom and care. As awhite, cis, able-bodied person, I am committed to investigating theways my privileges contribute to the marginalization of others.
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My lived experience is why I do this work and why I have dedicated my life to helping those whose voices are the least often heard and most marginalized. I developed an eating disorder at the onset of puberty to simultaneously cope with grief and family tragedy, and with a body that was different from most. I was born with a genetic anomaly called Poland Syndrome, have a large burn scar on one arm, and am a natural redhead (a rare genetic abnormality). After puberty, my eating disorder and body hatred continued to rage for decades. What I lost most during those years was my trust in self and my connection to my body, mind, and spirit. I channeled my self-loathing and body hatred into activism, fighting the “good fight” in animal rights, HIV/AIDS awareness, and gender equity.
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After over a decade in activist work, I decided it was time to become a therapist. I was hoping to find my own healing alongside my work with others, and that is exactly how it went. During that time, I also became a parent and then a single mom to a neurodiverse child. In seeking interventions for my child and advocating on their behalf, I began to recognize neurodiversity in myself and was diagnosed with ADHD later in life. From that experience, I began to understand more deeply the eating disorder and body distress I had experienced for decades. I feel so fortunate that now, in midlife, I can incorporate the full spectrum of myself into my work with clients. I now give myself the permission to be my authentic self, and I hope to inspire others to do the same.
colleen@liberatingjasper.com
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She/Her/Hers​
Nutritionist, Co-Founder, Director
If your body could speak your language, what would it ask for? How does your body’s unique
constellation of characteristics and needs influence food choices? What role does pleasure play
in nourishing your body? I love exploring these questions and others like it with clients looking to
heal their relationship to food and body.​
Like so many of us, I was indoctrinated into diet culture at a very early age. I learned that my
body’s ability (and inherently wise propensity) to hold onto weight was a problem that needed to
be fixed. This message was reinforced into my adulthood by a medical system that pathologized
weight and encouraged or prescribed disordered eating behaviors as a means of fixing what
was never broken. Unknowingly, I struggled with an undiagnosed eating disorder for decades,
simply because my body did not look the part.
In 2000, I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Tulsa in Tulsa,
OK. My original plan to take a year-long break from school before returning (and eventually
becoming a mental health therapist) never came to pass. Instead, I worked as a professional
writer until 2014, when I moved across the country to pursue a Master of Science in Nutrition
from the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, OR. While it wasn’t possible for me
to undo the harm anti-fat bias had done to me and my body, I could help educate healthcare
providers on the importance of weight-inclusivity and compassionate care. After graduating in
2015, I entered the non-profit world of medical education to do just that.
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As part of my professional development, I completed the Center for Body Trust’s Body Trust®
Provider certification program in 2016. During the course of that life-changing experience, I
realized how critical it was for fat people like myself to see themselves reflected in their
providers. So, I began working part-time at an eating disorder treatment facility, where I gained
invaluable experience working with folks in active stages of healing from various eating
disorders. In 2018, I cofounded Liberating Jasper, with the vision of creating a group practice
focused on outpatient eating disorder care, body liberation, and community healing. In 2020, I
left both the corporate eating disorder and medical education environments to focus my energy
solely on Jasper and my work as an outpatient nutritionist.
Today, I enjoy working with folks who are at the intersections where disordered eating overlaps
with neurodiversity, queerness/gender identity, digestive health, autoimmune conditions, and life after intentional weight loss surgery (bariatric surgery). As a provider, my approach is informed by a trauma-informed, harm-reductive, Health at Every Size® (HAES) framework that centerson personalized and attuned nutrition interventions.
The human experience is complicated, and our relationship to food and body is often times a
large part of that. Being a queer, fat, neurodiverse person, I know firsthand how these identities
often impact one’s ability to access our intuition and feel safe living a fully embodied, fully
nourished life. At the same time, my identities do not erase the many unearned privileges I
have—namely being white, cisgender, and able-bodied—which I continue to examine, address,
and unlearn things about every day.
Hello there! My name is Angelica and I am Liberating Jasper's operations manager.
I hold years of experience working in mental healthcare including having the honor of aiding in the opening of two new eating disorder recovery programs in Pierce County. In addition to my experience, I have a deep understanding of the complexities involved in this important work and am excited to help empower individuals to begin their body liberation journey!
I am responsible for overseeing the day-to-day, behind the scenes operations of our agency and ensuring that all activities are in compliance with industry regulations. I am committed to creating a supportive environment for clients to access the care they need to continue their healing journey. I work closely with a team of highly skilled and caring professionals, including therapists and nutritionists, to provide a comprehensive approach to recovery.
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Due to my personal and professional background, I am passionate about compassionate mental healthcare and am honored to be a part of an organization offering healing and liberation to all bodies!
