Biography

Karishma Deanna is a licensed psychotherapist in private practice in the Sierra Foothills of California. She works with individuals and facilitates somatically oriented process groups. She also teaches and leads workshops. Her lifetime interest in human relationships, how people relate to themselves, others and their environment has lead her to study subjects ranging from philosophy, and the humanities to neuroscience. Karishma Deanna received her BA in liberal studies with a focus on humanities, religious studies, and philosophy. She completed her master’s degree at Pacifica Graduate Institute where the emphasis is in archetypal psychology. 

From 2000 to 2003 Karishma Deanna worked for Nevada County Mental Health as a member of their crisis team. This work initiated an awareness of the effects of trauma and its treatment, which became a focus of study for several years and led to the study of the effects of acute and developmental trauma.

      Additionally, Karishma Deanna has trained in

        • Massage Therapy

        • Rosen Method Bodywork

        • Hypnotherapy

        • NLP (neuro-linguistic programming)

        • CranioSacral Bodywork 

        • Sensorimotor Psychotherapy

The collected synthesis of Karishma Deanna’s experience and education has directed her awareness to the centrality of the body in the development and maintenance of our sense of self, how we related to others, and how we perceive the world around us. Presently she is studying MindBody Psychotherapy with Susan Aposhyan, FACS (facial action coding system - the work of Paul Ekman) with Erika Rosenberg, and is in the 3rd year of her PhD studies at Santa Barbara Graduate Institute.

Karishma Deanna currently offers workshops at Esalen Institute, renowned for its commitment to innovative, creative, forward thinking. She is dedicated to participating in furthering the field of somatic psychotherapy. Her interest is in the ongoing development of touch as a safe and useful means of communication and intervention in the therapeutic setting. She sees the body and mind as a seamless unity - the mind effects and reflects the body’s postures, gestures, movements, facial expression, and voice tones. All of these affect how we behave and respond in relationship to others. Our body is our vehicle for receiving and sending information to others. Karishma Deanna is enthusiastically devoted to supporting well-being intrapersonally and interpersonally through deepening awareness of our living, embodied experience.

Karishma

Deanna Darby, MFT