Deborah Hollins is a ceremonialist, healer, circle facilitator, teacher and social worker living on the traditional territories of the Snuneymuxw First Nations.
Deborah has a professional background in social work, with over 30 years experience creating, implementing and managing programs to address the mental health needs of her community.
Deborah began her healing practice more than 30 years ago, training in body-focused therapies, dance/movement, energy healing, and shamanic healing. Training with various teachers in shamanic journeying, soul retrieval, Celtic spirituality and the role of nature in healing the mind, body and soul Deborah has woven together a unique blend of offerings. She has been facilitating women’s healing circles for 25 years.
More recently, Deborah has been exploring the role of psychedelic plant medicine in the healing journey. Combining her knowledge of ceremony, healing and integration, Deborah has opened to new possibilities that working with plant medicines in a sacred way offers.
Utilizing both her formal education and her various trainings, Deborah has created a practice that invites clients to connect with the sacred nature of healing and, with intention, discover the infinite possibilities that arise on the journey.
Deborah has been formally trained in:
- Trauma informed counseling*
- Shamanic healing practices
- Reiki (Master level)
- Integrative body psychotherapy: a holistic approach to treatment that supports a person’s somatic experience as a path to self-awareness. To gain insight into one’s own self, one’s experiences must be felt in the core, and this integration of mind, body, and spirit can facilitate healing.
- 5 rhythms dance (healing through movement)
- Celtic spirituality and healing practices
- Psychedelic Therapy online course (Phoenix Academy) and Psychedelic Integration (Centre of the Heart)
Deborah has mentored and apprenticed many students through her wisdom-school (The Whispering Earth School of Remembering) in the healing arts.
Deborah says: “My best teachers have been those with whom I have sat in circle; danced, drummed, laughed and cried with, and been privileged to learn from their collective stories, wisdom and experiences.”
From Deborah:
After many years of seeking I found myself in Ireland…land of my Ancestors. Walking upon her green, rolling hills and valleys I felt as though I was truly home. I imagined walking in the steps of my ancestors and seeing the land through their eyes. This had a deep impact on me and I began to realize the sense of being lost that had plagued me was due to the disconnection between me and the great and ancient experience of my kind. As I entered the ageless mounds of Ireland, sat in the dark centre of these wombs, I was overcome with tears from coming to a deep understanding of what is lost when we don’t know our roots, the stories of our folk, the rich and illustrious history of our clans, tribes and people.
I also came to hear the silent whispers of the earth in these places…whispers that illuminated my heart and spirit, guiding me to the knowledge that She is everywhere…not contained to one country but She is alive in all the lands and can reach from the shores of my ancestor’s country to the confines of my back yard, and through Her I can remember…
Deborah Hollins
*although trained in trauma informed counseling, Deborah is not a licensed clinical therapist/counselor.