Meet Erika
Boulder Intentional Creativity Guide
I’ve walked the path from a vibrant young adult, to a wife and mother of three, business owner and teacher, through menopause and into empty nesting, crossing new thresholds at every transition.
I know the feeling of depletion and disconnection when life is focused on others. I’ve been at the doorway where I longed for more freedom but was hesitant to leave the familiar. And then when I finally mustered up the courage to step through, I felt lost and afraid to go alone, and wasn't even sure who I was anymore!
I hear this same story from so many of my friends and colleagues. That haunting sense of having lost track of our truest self, and wanting more joy and freedom but feeling stuck.
Life is full of transitions and we are not designed to walk them alone.
I know that from spending the past 22 years of my life working with people in their childbearing years. As a childbirth educator, doula, and mentor, I guided people through some of the ultimate threshold experiences in life — pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and new parenting.
And now, as I cross new thresholds myself, as a parent of young adult children, I looked deeply into my heart for new, more expansive ways to support others through transitions in their lives.
Enter: Intentional Creativity - Finding Freedom, Flow, and Fun
As a childbirth educator, doula, and mentor for over 20 years, I guided more than 200 families through their childbearing years with heart and depth, art and ritual. I am fortunate to have learned many creative processes to explore what is in our hearts and discover our possibilities.
I’ve had a lifelong dedication to personal growth and the dismantling of dominant systems that are designed to oppress — rather than uplift — people.
Here are some of the remarkable trainings that have informed and influenced my work:
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Intentional Creativity with Shiloh Sophia McCloud, March 2023 - June 2024
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Birth Art, Birth Story Listening, and Birth as a Heroic Journey training with Pam England 2001-2021
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Somatic Abolitionism - Anti-Racism with Resmaa Menakem, 2021-2024
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Education for Racial Equity with Carlin Quinn, 4 day intensives for White Bodies, annually 2021-2023
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Welcoming the Unwelcome with Pema Chodron, 2018
My work always weaves the personal with the larger vision of how we exist within our families, communities, and world.
My own path as a mother and partner, friend, and human — always growing and expanding — has paved the way for the work I do with others. And, along the way, I have remembered that I am an artist… that in fact, just like when we were children… we are ALL artists.
I’d love to meet you where you are at, hold space for your intentions and desires, encourage your personal inquiry and growth, and honor your threshold moments.
Warmly,
“Erika does an amazing job guiding you on a journey of self exploration through paint and story. This workshop is a beautiful process of letting go and discovering the artist within. I loved it.”
My Certifications, Credentials, and Trainings:
- BA Psychology, University of Puget Sound 1993
- CAPPA Certified Birth Doula 2003
- BFW Certified Childbirth Educator, 2004
- BFW Certified Birth Doula, 2010
- BFW Certified Facilitator, 2018
- Musea Intentional Creativity Certified Guardian (Teacher), 2024
- Mentor and advisor to 50+ birth professionals for personal growth
Intentional Creativity with Shiloh Sophia McCloud:
Tempo, Mar-June 2023
Legend, June-August 2023
Origins Certification Program, August 2023- June 2024
Childbearing Year:
10+ trainings with Pam England, including Birth Art, Birth Story Listening, Birth as a Heroic Journey Childbirth Educator training 2001-2021
CAPPA Birth Doula Training, 2001
Social Justice/Anti-Racism:
University of Denver Department of Social Work: Jagged Justice Anti-Racism Training, 2016
Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition: Know Your Rights and Citizenship Campaign Training, 2017
Aimee Brill: Anti-Racism Training for Facilitators, 2019
Resmaa Menakem: Foundations of Somatic Abolitionism, 2021-2023
Resmaa Menakem: Somatic Abolitionism: Building an Embodied Anti-Racist Culture, 2021-2024
Valerie Kaur: The Revolutionary Love Project, 2021
Carlin Quinn: Education for Racial Equity, 4 day intensive for White Bodies, annually 2021-2023
Embodied Social Justice Certificate, 2022
Rev. Angel Kyoto: Radical Dharma Camp, 2022
Mindfulness, Storytelling, Ritual:
Lewis Mehl-Madrona: The Way of the Buffalo: Narrative Medicine, 2017
Brene Brown: Courage Works, 2017
Pema Chodron: Welcoming the Unwelcome, 2018
Gail Larsen: Transformative Speaking, 2019
Karine Bell: Awakening the Body: Somatic Mindfulness, 2022
