work with me

Hello stranger or not-stranger. Like many of you, I am sorting out what it is to hold a practice across the many shifts and changes of the time we live in. I had opened my practice again in November 2025 and then promptly closed it during Operation Metro Surge. I started to tentatively reopen it in April and finally, in June, I feel as though I am starting to get on top of things. I will try to reach out to you as soon as I can, but I run with a waiting list so it sometimes might take me a few weeks to reach back and then, sometimes, a bit more time before I am open. If you are looking for someone who can support you in an immediate way, that is likely not me. However, feel free to reach out to me via the contact form on this website if you need something that does not have time or spaciousness baked in. I might not be able to meet you, but it is the way I can be sure I will see your request. I have a schedule for when I look at the bodywork intake form that is at the bottom of this page.

My practice

Sessions are 90 minutes long. A teacher many years ago told me that this is the length of a nervous system cycle and so it is the best length of time for going deep and then integrating. I have always worked with this time scale - and sometimes longer - and it suits my work. 

You can come to me with something you want to work on or you can come because you want to deepen and explore. To schedule with me, you will see a form linked below. When it asks why you want to work with me, “I don’t know, I just do” is an acceptable answer.

Sessions usually start with a check in and then, depending on what you are bringing, we just follow the threads. That is what I call it. We follow what is rising, looking for what needs to reconnect, to unravel or to head off in a different direction. The first time I encountered string theory in quantum physics, I was elated. It was the best explanation for what it feels like to follow the ends of thread to see where they lead.

My training

I have had a body-based practice for 23 years. I am not a therapist but I am trained in a range of therapeutic approaches: craniosacral therapy through three different schools, Global Somatics which is a form of Body-Mind Centering and which includes massage, reiki, lymph work, fascia work, energy/vibration and bones and breath and developmental reflexes and more. I am also trained or mentored in Generative Somatics (T1, T2 and T3 from the old days), developmental trauma work through both NARM and Kathy Kain, apprenticing in Somatic Experiencing with a long-term practitioner, course work with Raja Selvam with Integral Somatic Psychology and storytelling/narrative and Cherokee traditional touch with Dr. Lewis Mehl-Madrona (Lakota). I have also worked with and been mentored by many different ancestral ritual teachers and practitioners, both as a student and as a co-facilitator, and I bring that into sessions as well. For a few years, I ran a small apprenticeship program to support folks wanting to learn to listen to bodies. I have also taught courses and workshops in many different places. I also have a community organizing history that started when I was 19 years old. Some of the things I learned through community organizing work apply just as strongly to working with the body - and vice versa. For local people, I offer table work. For nonlocal people and local people, I offer that thing that is called by many names: somatic coaching, body-based support, tendering.

The nuts and bolts

Right now, all sessions are either via zoom or if you are local, can be in person. I have an in-person practice in a space next to George Floyd Square on Mondays and Fridays. Sometimes it is possible to meet up on other days, but that is based on space and car availability. For local people, on Tues/Weds/Thurs I can sometimes come to your home or invite you to mine or meet somewhere like a coffee shop. For nonlocal people and local people who prefer zoom, I am available Monday-Friday.

Booking a single session.

This is for any number of things: somatic coaching or mentoring time, questions or feedback on your work, and more. A single 90 minute session just means you want a single thing or you don’t want to make an ongoing commitment. It’s a way for me to organize requests for a 1:1 with people I don’t know, however fabulous you are. Hello fabulous people.

Working together for a longer period.

At this point, I am suggesting people think of this in six session blocks, and those can take place at a frequency that feels good for you.

On payment and costs 

Money for this work is intense and sad. I say that because even after 23 years of practice, I still struggle with the capitalist notion that you have to pay for support. I am deeply sorry that we live in this world and I just want to say to you that you - and me and all of us - should never have to pay for our care. God damn it. And we do. And not everyone can afford it. And I don’t take insurance because the kind of work I offer is not covered by the health insurance industry. And all of this sucks and here we are. 

There is a belief system out there that we don’t talk directly about money when we talk about our work. The amount we ask comes through the conversation part of the work and isn’t written straight up like this. I want to write it here because everything about money is so fucked up. The current “market rate” for someone with my training and years of practice is between $150 and $300 for a 90-minute session and when minimum wage in Minnesota is less than $12/hour, this just makes me sick. Like absolutely utterly sick.

These days when people ask me what they should pay me, I tell them that this is largely up to them. The last time I had a sliding fee scale, which was about two years ago, it went from $85 to $200 with a recommendation of $100 for a session if someone needed me to tell them a number. If this is not affordable for you, I am open to you reaching out with a suggestion, as long as you are aware that I might say no, I am sorry. I am not able to afford that right now. Suggestions can also include bartering, but I wanted to talk a bit more about what I mean by that.

I have done a lot of bartering in my life and I love bartering but I only barter for things that my family can use. There is a big difference between bartering and gifts. I welcome gifts because they come from your heart, your gorgeous loving heart. It doesn’t matter what it is because it is a gift. And this Leo LOVES gifts. Bartering is about an exchange of labor so I want to be honest about it. I am going to list what I have experienced regarding bartering in the past so you can assess yourself.  If you raise chickens, eggs are awesome. I am a gardener and I put up a lot of food so we don’t need what you are growing if we are growing it as well but if you grow grains or hunt in a good way or fish, I am always open to those. Also, if you live in the cold north and it is winter and you grow fresh vegetables in a greenhouse or have access to a winter CSA, then fabulous!!  I live collectively and am part of close-knit communities that take care of each other so basic labor-exchange is not usually needed except on rare occasions. Having said that, if you or others in your family are plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and other kinds of skilled tradesfolk, I would be interested in a conversation. I also have solid trusted bodyworkers, astrologers, herbalists and tarot readers who I work with so those are not barter things for me. And I am not a thing-person so I want to admire your artwork - and receive it gratefully as a gift or buy it when it blows me away - but I don’t take artwork for barter except occasionally. In those cases, I usually will exchange a series of sessions for a piece of art that you create in response to the sessions. In other words, a way for me to better see and understand what you are experiencing through the lens of your creativity. It is rare that I do this, but sometimes I do.  If you have ideas for bartering not touched on here, I would love to know about them.

Next step

So, if all of this looks good to you, you are welcome to reach out to see if we can work together. To do so, just fill out this form and I will get back to you within a week. If you have questions that are not covered here, then feel free to email me at raffomn(at)pm.me or to contact me via the contact form on this website.

And what you are going to find with me once we talk is something like this: ok, so I wrote a lot of stuff on that form to help you get a sense of how and what I do but really, who are you and what do you need?