Alisha’s Story
I grew up in the wild winds and along the shores of the Pacific Northwest. Running through the forest, stirring pine needles in tree stump cauldrons at the thresholds of coming of age, I knew, without needing to be told, that I was connected to the natural world.
Somewhere in my transition to adulthood, I forgot that knowing. And with it, I lost a sense of belonging. In its place came a ladder to climb, a path defined by achievement. When I reached the top, all I could see were the playful things, the wild things, the rootedness I had left behind.
The birth of my first child called me back. Through story and natural observation, my senses reawakened. I began to hear again, those who do not speak. I remembered how to listen to the land and found kinship in the living world and memory in the songs and stories of my ancestors. I rediscoverd my own mythic imagination.
Life Storywork
My inspiration lies in land and story, and my practice is rooted in years of experience as a nurse; where I learned to witness, listen deeply, and hold space with care. Through therapeutic communication and active listening, I supported individuals and families during some of their most vulnerable moments. These skills continue to guide me in the work I do today.
While working with children and families in the Child Welfare system, I trained with Richard Rose in Life Storywork, a therapeutic process that helps children who are not living with their families of origin to remember, build, and create their own stories of self.
Life Storywork helps preserve the small, meaningful details of a child’s early life; their birth weight, first words, favorite foods, or colors. These fragments, often taken for granted, can become sacred keepsakes for children who may not have access to their beginnings. They serve as anchors of identity, belonging, and continuity.
As I moved through this work, I began to reflect on how little many of us know about our ancestors. The stories of our lineages that shaped us, that still live in our bones. Out of this reflection, Ancestral Storywork was born. An expansion of the Life Storywork process that invites individuals to reconnect with the memory carried in land, lineage, and story.
This work is not only for children. It is for anyone navigating Threshold moments: times of transformation, loss, birth, or reorientation. I believe the way we remember shapes the way we live. Story becomes a map, helping us move forward with creativity, resilience, and a deeper sense of who we are and where we come from.
If you're feeling called to explore your own story or the stories that live in your family, land, or lineage, I would be honored to walk alongside you.
My Mission
My mission is to support people in navigating the stories of their lives through ritual, imagination, and connection with nature. Born from my own journey of seeking belonging; within my family, my lineage, the land, and the thresholds of life. I guide others to remember where they come from, honor who they are and cultivate resilience for who they are becoming. Storywork is a living practice for embracing our beginnings, our ancestors, our thresholds, and the rhythms of the seasons, helping us rediscover meaning, connection and the stories we are ready to live.
Process Over Performance
Storywork is not about writing or performance. It is a living practice, accessible to anyone seeking connection, meaning and belonging.
Building Resilience
Creativity builds resilience. Through ritual and imagination, we remember who we are and learn to move with life’s cycles and thresholds.