Team

She has dedicated the past 20 years to working with adolescents and adults who suffer from anxiety, trauma, addiction and eating disorders. 

Åsa is the founder of The Institute for Equine Assisted Practices INC and is currently seeing clients and offering trainings at her barn in Auburn, CA.  She has developed her own treatment modality called Embodied Equine Psychotherapy™, and holds certification courses yearly. 

Embodied Equine Psychotherapy, was created to help clients reconnect with the truth of who they are. Sessions guide clients through the layers of old beliefs, traumas and protective barriers to find - who you are now. From this place, clients make choices that are aligned in the moment feeling both powerful and soft, free and connected.

Åsa is passionate about using her training and personal experience to help others move beyond fear and limitations to a life of freedom and trust.  She believes that we all have unique gifts and talents. “Dream big and do what you love”, is her motto, which often becomes a goal for her clients.

Åsa has had many equine partners who have assisted her in her growth as a human and as a horse woman. She is committed to her own continued inward journey, utilizing yoga, meditation and her time with her horses to guide her to a deep, authentic place, and connect to her InnerLight. 

"I love seeing the change in people and horses when they experience true connection through vulnerability" - Åsa Woodman

She graduated from Pacifica Graduate Institute with a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology with emphasis on Marriage and Family Therapy, Professional Clinical Counseling, and Depth Psychology. Her educational and professional training was rooted in psychodynamic and humanistic approaches; from that foundation, Akasha utilizes an integrative, holistic approach to her practice of psychotherapy–employing various modalities and interventions based on the specific needs of each client and of the therapeutic relationship. In addition to her work as an AMFT, she is currently in the process of becoming an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist–with speciality certifications in both Kink-Informed and Consensual Non-Monogamy work–as well as a CCE Board Certified Coach.

Akasha identifies as a Caucasian, Malaysian, and Native American cis-gendered, queer woman. The life experience supporting her work includes previous careers in both the tech industry and corporate world, being a single mother, a sexual assault and domestic violence survivor, and struggles with obesity. Further, Akasha holds the task of expanding awareness of other identities, cultures, and orientations to the human experience as a top priority in both her personal and professional life. As such, Akasha remains open to working with all people, issues, and circumstances. However, her expertise is developing primarily in the areas of LGBTQ+, kink, and alternative relationship dynamics.

In our work together, we will create space for parts of ourselves we might typically push away and welcome any and all thoughts, emotions, or sensations that arise as a means of accessing a lived experience of your true essence. Whether you feel overtaken by depression, anxiety, overwhelm, or trauma, this inner knowledge awaits as a path to healing. I offer a somatic and heart-centered approach and am honored to join the journey you have already started to come to know your true self.

I completed my Master's in Social Work at Temple University and trained in somatic therapy through the Somatic Experience Institute.

I specialize in early childhood trauma and attachment wounds, using a collaborative approach grounded in attachment theory, Internal Family Systems, and the Townsend model.

I hold certifications in gut health, hormone and testosterone balance, and am nearly finished with my 200-hour yoga instructor training. I’m also pursuing advanced training in Polyvagal Theory, Food as Medicine for Mental Health, and Complex Trauma treatment.

As a Somatic Practitioner and Meditation Guide, I integrate body-based tools like breathwork and grounding to help you reconnect with your body and manage overwhelming emotions.

Together, we’ll work toward healing and balance: mind, body, and spirit! 

I support individuals and families navigating anxiety, depression, grief, life transitions, and difficult emotions, as well as transgender and nonbinary individuals navigating transition-related changes. Maybe you understand your patterns intellectually, but still find yourself overwhelmed, disconnected, or caught in emotional cycles that are difficult to shift. I believe feeling seen and understood is at the heart of meaningful therapy. My goal is to offer a compassionate, grounded space where you can slow down, make sense of what you’re experiencing, and feel less alone. Together, we can build greater self-understanding, self-compassion, and confidence for moving forward.

I bring a calm, collaborative, and holistic approach to therapy, incorporating the mind, body, emotions, and nervous system into the therapeutic process. Sessions may include mindfulness, cognitive behavioral strategies, somatic techniques, and nervous system regulation. Rather than a one-size fits all approach, I use evidence-based holistic approachs to meet the client where they are and explore what may be happening beneath the surface and develop practical ways to respond differently.

Before becoming a therapist, I spent more than ten years teaching trauma-conscious meditation, yoga, and mind-body wellness. This experience continues to inform my belief that healing can happen through authentic connection, self-compassion, and a deeper relationship with ourselves. I strive to create a welcoming, affirming space where clients feel seen, respected, and supported as they move toward meaningful change.

As a clinician, I integrate psychodynamic depth work with somatic awareness, holding space for both the unconscious mind and the wisdom of the physical body. Together, we pay attention to patterns, relationships, emotional defenses, and the implicit signals of your nervous system - the tension, posture, breath, and gut responses that tell the story beneath your words. Rather than getting lost in the past, we use these insights to ground you in the present moment, expanding your capacity for ease, connection, and real choice moving forward. I bring warmth, grounded presence, candor, and, when it serves us, humor.

I especially enjoy working with artists and creative minds, adults with ADHD, and entrepreneurs or business leaders whose capable exteriors may conceal internal overwhelm, chronic tension, or nervous systems that rarely get to settle. Our work balances practical support with deep, embodied exploration: developing structures that work with your unique self, releasing somatic blocks to creativity, and untangling how ambition, identity, and self-worth may be bound up in stress patterns.

I also hold deep respect for grief in its many forms - the loss of a loved one, ending a relationship, estrangement, or grieving a hoped-for version of life. Grief is felt as much in the body as in the mind. Whatever brings you to therapy, I offer a collaborative, grounded space where you can slow down, drop into your body, and reconnect with what truly serves the life you want to live.