Creative Somatic EcoTherapist
For women and youth reclaiming their wild sense of self.
You’re not broken. You’re just tired of squeezing into systems that never fit. I help you calm your nervous system, work with your body—not against it—and remember who you were before the world told you otherwise.
Who I Work With
Women who are stuck, burned out, and so over it.
You’ve done the talk therapy, the journaling, the trying-harder… but your body is still holding the stress, shame, and “not enough-ness.” I help you slow down, drop in, and return to your own rhythm—so you can feel clear, alive, and deeply you again.
Youth who don’t fit in the system—and shouldn’t have to.
Sensitive, neurodivergent, creative, or just overwhelmed… I offer space to untangle, reconnect, and feel safe in your own skin. My work supports young people to regulate their nervous system, express their truth, and walk their own path with confidence. I do one on ones as a therapist and I run a Ecotherapy program for youth called Natural Leaders.
How I Work
I didn’t come into this work through textbooks—I came through the fire.
My early life was shaped by intergenerational trauma, abuse, addiction, and codependency. Healing felt like navigating a minefield. I tried mainstream talk therapy, but instead of helping me break free, it often kept me circling old stories—reinforcing my identity as a victim instead of supporting my growth.
As someone who is neurodivergent and deeply empathetic, I felt everything intensely—often absorbing the emotions of everyone around me. I didn’t have the tools to manage that as a child, and I often wished for a wise, grounded guide to help me make sense of all those big feelings.
What I needed back then is exactly what I now offer others.
I found my way through a different kind of healing—one that works with the whole self, not just the mind. A path of unlearning, unbinding, and rewilding. And what I once saw as my greatest challenges—my sensitivity, intensity, and neurodivergence—have become superpowers in my work as a therapist.
Now, I offer a space grounded in body-based, loving presence.
A space where you can safely explore:
— what’s truly yours
— what never was
— and what you’re finally ready to release.
Together, we’ll shape a new path forward—creatively, gently, and in partnership with your own body’s wisdom and your wild, radiant Self.
My Core Tools:
Somatic Therapy
We tune into your body’s intelligence—often the part that’s been ignored the longest—and follow its cues toward healing.
Hakomi-Informed Parts Work
Together, we meet the inner protectors who formed during trauma or stress. They’re not your enemies—they’re your earliest survival strategies. We help them update and relax.
EcoTherapy
I don’t usually work in traditional therapy rooms. Nature is my co-therapist. Trees, wind, birdsong—these elements hold space and help your nervous system return to a natural rhythm.
Creative Expression
Sometimes what words can’t say, art can. Movement, photography, storytelling, even play—these are powerful portals for integration and insight.
Body Compassion Work
Especially for those navigating body shame, chronic stress, or weight stigma. We soften the inner critic, explore stuck patterns, and gently return you to yourself—without trying to “fix” what was never broken.
Compassionate Release of Non-Self Energies
When your system is carrying something foreign—ancestral burdens, energetic attachments, or lingering impressions—it can drain your vitality. This work supports you in restoring energetic integrity and reclaiming your inner clarity. I have done advanced training with Robert Falconer and use his methods. This process helps identify and release non-self energies that may be affecting your sense of safety, clarity, or vitality - without force, drama, or fear.
About Me
I’m Mandi—neurodiverse, playful, fiercely compassionate, and a mum to three grown humans and one ridiculously floofy Irish Doodle named Gritty.
My journey into healing work has been anything but linear. I trained as a holistic nurse in my 20s while serving in the US Navy—learning how to tend both body and spirit under pressure.
In my 30s, I raised a family, worked as a women’s health nurse consultant, and ran an organic blueberry farm in the lush Akatarawa Valley of Aotearoa.
(It was as wholesome and chaotic as it sounds.)
My 40s brought a creative pivot. I began using photography as a tool for healing body shame, eventually founding the Every Body is a Treasure Trust—a charitable organisation with a big mission:
To stop trauma from spreading to the next generation.
That led me deeper into the body—through somatic therapy, ecotherapy, parts work, and an ever-growing toolkit of gentle, trauma-informed approaches. I now work with both adults and youth to untangle what’s holding them back and reconnect with their soulful sense of self.
In my 50s, I directed my first film, Finding Venus—a documentary exploring the intersection of creativity, body shame, and healing. It won a bunch of international awards (which is cool and all)… but my proudest moments come from the transformations I witness every week in our Natural Leaders youth programme.
I’m still learning. Still growing. Still wildly devoted to the idea that we heal in connection—with nature, with creativity, with each other, and with the wise whispers of our own bodies.
Press Coverage of my work:
Youth work:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/565076/how-a-bushcraft-programme-helped-turn-a-13-year-old-life-around
Body Compassion work / Film Maker
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/culture-101/audio/2018943746/to-deal-with-body-shame-mandi-lynn-turned-300-women-gold-and-photographed-them-nude
https://www.thepost.co.nz/culture/350309689/mandi-lynn-wants-help-women-find-body-gratitude