About Therese
Harvest of Peace is more than just some fancy words on a page. It is literally the meaning of my name. Therese comes from the French language and means harvester. Irene is Greek for peace. And to make things just a little more spicy, I was named for my mother and my grandmother.
For many years I rebelled against that legacy. I fought to be ME amid the comparisons to my maternal lineage. It took many years for me to see I am not one of them. I am not both of them. I am me. I am all of us. ALL OF US. Me and YOU too. I am the trees and the rocks. The water and the fire. I am the air and the sweet bird song. When I finally came to KNOW this, it was time to make some changes to the work I do in the world.
Massage Therapy and energy healing is something I have always done for myself. From the start, I recognized the healing power of body work. In my younger days, I even thought about becoming a massage therapist but never had the courage to take the leap. I always seemed to find myself pulled toward “something else”. And there have been lots of detours.
I am, by nature, a pretty solitary kind of person. Aside from my husband, my best friend is a cat (or whatever form my familiar decides to take on their spiritual journey). I have a deep love for Earth and desire to leave this place better than I found it.
I am on this land because of the forced removal of its traditional people by colonists and settlers. As a white person of European descent who is a guest/settler on this land, I would like to recognize the native communities in my region and offer gratitude for their past and continued stewardship of these lands. The land I steward is on unceeded territories of the Cowlitz tribe.
As a practitioner of Craniosacral Therapy, I would also like to acknowledge its indigenous roots with Cherokee and Shawnee healers.
I work to respect and honor the origins of the modalities I practice. I do this by continuing to learn, working to make bodywork accessible and bringing light to the origins of what I practice. I am continually learning and adjusting how I practice body work thanks to feedback I have received and will continue to receive.
To have a good harvest you must first plant good seeds. To plant good seeds you first need to have a good dream. And to have a good dream, you need to relax with a damn good massage!
Come see me, Your Harvest of Peace is waiting.
Therese is a member of ABMP and received her MLD certification through the Academy of Lymphatic Studies. She received osteopathic craniosacral and neural manipulation training through the Upledger Institute and Barral Institute. Future continuing education will include courses in oncology and visceral manipulation. Prior to becoming a massage therapist, Therese spent over 10 years training physicians and nurses in the use of electronic medical records software in hospitals and clinics across the United States. Therese is an avid gardener who utilizes many methods of food preservation to save the harvest.
