Hi! My name is Ashley Berry and I am so honored to join the beautiful community of practitioners at Soul Body Ojai. I think on some level I always knew that I was destined to find my way onto the healer’s path. I grew up in a home environment where mental illness and abuse were present and, even as a very young child, I felt a strong pull to try to support my family members as they navigated challenging mental and emotional health issues. It wasn’t until my late teens that I became aware of how deeply the traumas I experienced had impacted me as well.
Shortly after I began my undergraduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley, I found myself descending into severe depression and anxiety. The coping mechanisms I had leaned into within my family system were no longer serving me and without any consistent forms of support or guidance around how to process and release the traumas I had experienced, I resorted to a range of self-destructive behaviors to try to escape my own pain. It took years of self-abuse before it became really clear to me that my lifestyle was not only unsustainable, but was destroying me, probably physically, and definitely on a soul level.
I wish I could say that there was one pivotal moment in which everything changed and that from that moment forward I only moved toward healing and wellness, but my process was not quite so linear. I spent many years exploring different avenues for healing. I worked with psychotherapists, energy healers, homeopathic doctors, acupuncturists, and bodyworkers, and the more I worked into my own healing, the more I felt called to step into service and support the healing of others.
I spent two years studying at the graduate level to be a Marriage and Family Therapist, but ultimately left my program during my practicum upon realizing that I wanted to work in modalities that focused less on pathology and revisiting trauma and more on healing through personal empowerment, positive lifestyle shift, and nourishing connection with self and others.
I went on to attain certifications in Holistic Health Coaching from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, Breathwork Healing through David Elliott’s Healer Training program, Reiki levels I & II from Lara Elliott and Jamie Wozny, respectively, the way of Council from The Ojai Foundation, and DoTerra’s AromaTouch essential oil application technique.
My practice is founded on the belief that every individual has innate capacities for self-healing and that my role is to help my clients uncover their unique gifts. I take great pride in creating safe, inclusive, and nourishing spaces for whole-being healing and find deep fulfillment through supporting my clients in developing deeper and more loving connections with their hearts, minds, and bodies.
I don’t offer my work as someone who has “completely healed” or has all the answers, but rather as a fellow-human who has come a long way, who continues to walk her healing journey with an open and humble heart, and is honored to have the privilege of lending tender guidance and support to those who are navigating healing journeys of their own.
If you feel called to reach out to me for a healing session, wellness coaching, or card reading, I would be truly delighted to connect with you.