about denise

denise (they/them) is a genderqueer, autistic, solo-polyamorous, immigrant of taoist malaysian chinese ancestry. they are currently creating home on the occupied potawatomi, ojibwe, odawa territories known as chicago.

denise is a somatic trauma resolution practitioner, an erotic movement arts instructor and founder of the school of consensual culture. their work centers healing justice through healing in community, feeling our subtle body, practicing our embodiment, liberating our erotic essence-nature and queering our ways of being.

they are a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and adult sexual assault and harm, with complex developmental trauma (like most of us). they practice relationship anarchy and have a hyper-sensitivity to power dynamics in all their relations, and therefore feels adamant about being a conduit for consensual culture, no matter how hard it feels at times.

they are devoted to making their life an offering to the embodiment of Quan Yin and Shakti ma as divine forces to illuminate our way through, committed to imagining and creating the world that emerges from the dismantling of the white supremacist capitalist patriarchy.

they acknowledge teachers, writers, black feminists, thinkers and friends Audre Lorde, adrienne maree brown, bell hooks, Rachael Maddox, Rie Katagiri, Elydé Arroyo, Kai Cheng Thom, Prentis Hemphill, Resmaa Menakem, Bayo Akomolafe, Grace Lee Boggs and countless others as influential to their work.

they are fueled by decaffeinated coffee, long walks with their pitbull baloo, lazy afternoon breaks, talking to trees and crows, and erotic qi or pole dancing. denise is also a reiki energy healer, psychic medium, poet and writer, and is aspiring to be a doctor of acupuncture, qi gong, and chinese medicine.

trainings + education

  • Serpent + Rose Apprenticeship with Rie Katagiri (October 2023-present)
  • Relational Facilitators with Courage of Care (October 2023-present)
  • Alchemical Alignment: Trauma Resolution and Embodiment of Spirit with Tele Darden (September 2023-present)
  • Rooted Global Village with Karine Bell, Oceana Sawyer + others (Sept. 2022-March 2023, October 2023-present)
  • Somatic Attachment Therapy Certificate with The Embody Lab (August 2022)
  • Certificate in Somatic Embodiment & Regulation Strategies with Linda Thai (Sept. – Dec. 2022)
  • Brave School with Daje James (April- Sept. 2022)
  • Erotic Movement Arts Teacher Training Level 1 with Rie Katagiri (Feb. – March 2022)
  • Shakti Movement Medicine Training with Rie Katagiri (Oct. 2021 – Jan. 2022)
  • Reclaiming Pleasure: Embodied Joy in Trauma Recovery and Social Change with Kai Cheng Thom (Feb. 2022)
  • Foundations of Somatic Abolitionism with Resmaa Menakem (Nov. 2021)
  • Revolutionary Rising for Entrepreneurs of Color with Gieselle Allen (March – August 2021)
  • School of Superpleasure with Ann Nguyen (March – June 2021)
  • ReBloom Trauma Resolution Coach Training Level 2 with Rachael Maddox (Certified in Sept. 2021)
  • ReBloom Trauma Resolution Coach Training Level 1 with Rachael Maddox (Jan. – April 2020)
  • Consensual Business Course with Rachael Maddox (Nov. – Dec. 2019)
  • ThetaHealing Basic, Advanced and Dig Deeper + psychic mentorship with Marie Miller (Jan. – March 2019)
  • 100-hr Anusara Immersion in Classical Tantra with Robin Christ (Jan. – March 2019)
  • Reiki Mastership Level 3 & 4 with Shawna Schenk (Sept. 2018 – August 2019)
  • Reiki Energy Healing Practitioner Level 1 & 2 with Melanie Esperon (April 2018)
  • Circle Facilitator Training with Breath of Blake (April 2018)
  • Trauma-Informed Yoga with Prison Yoga Project (Jan. 2018)
  • Certification Training for Sexual Violence with SDSU Women’s Resource Center- The BRAVE Project (Nov. – Dec. 2017)
  • 200-hr Yoga Teacher Training and Positive Psychology with Karson McGinley and Tierney Lawson (Sept. – Dec. 2017)