Hello and welcome to Healing Bridges’ website.
We hope you find this website both interesting and informative.
Healing Bridges ~ a bridge to mindbodyheartspirit well-being: let your mind teach you, your body ground you, your heart guide you and your spirit soar!
Find support in integrating each of these aspects of well-being; as a health educator, fitness trainer, fitness nutrition specialist, lifestyle counselor, psychodramatist, yoga instructor, mind/body specialist and ordained interfaith minister.
Discover the profound benefits of enlivening your body, expanding your mind, healing your heart, and connecting with your spirit:
Your Mind
Learn the facts vs. the myths of wellness through health education; and explore options to reduce stress and enhance your mental well-being. Click on Upcoming Workshops,
Your Body
Yoga, Pilates classes, personal training, and nutritional education. (Click on Yoga/Meditation/Pilates; Exercise; Nutrition/Recipes/Supplements)
Your Heart
Heal emotional wounds from trauma, loss, eating disorders, addictions, interpersonal conflicts through experiential methods that go beyond verbal modalities to mend heartwounds. (Click on Psychodrama Articles, The Healing Power of Art, Upcoming Workshops, Transformation Through Action Methods, Souldrama®)
Your Spirit
Deepen your connection and communication with the Divine Source through spiritual practices like meditation and prayer; reiki. Explore options for house blessings, wedding ceremonies, blessings for other special occasions. Release your potential for creativity while transforming old patterns of living into a life of positive choices and meaningful purpose through expressive arts. (Click on Reiki; Upcoming Workshops; Jeanne Leto ‘s book entitled Angel Chills and Ministerial Services and Spiritual Support, Souldrama®)
LINDA CIOTOLA, M.ED., TEP ~ MY STORY AND MISSION
Even as a child, I was on a mission, driven to discover the fullness of well-being. I danced, acted in theatre, played the piano, read, wrote poetry and as I grew discovered that it was – no, it is – the creative process that holds the power to heal. At the same time, I knew that the body is the battleground, holding the pain of unresolved life stories. This led me to the field of health and fitness – becoming a certified group fitness instructor, personal trainer, and health coach, with a concentration in nutrition and eating disorders.
Then, when I experienced my first psychodrama workshop, I exclaimed, “Psychodrama! Where have you been all my life?!” It was that day that I signed up for training to become a certified psychodramatist. Immersed in this field, I became a board certified trainer-educator-practitioner of psychodrama, sociometry and group psychotherapy as well as a trainer in a specialized psychodramatic trauma treatment method: The Therapeutic Spiral ModelTM. Being faithful to the bodymindheartspirit connection, I earned certification as a yoga instructor, Master Reiki Teacher and more recently a certification in Souldrama®. In collaboration with professionals from a variety of fields, I have interwoven these modalities to create a unique and wholistic strategy of healing.
Linda and Zerka Moreno, 2006 at Zerka’s home in Charlottesville, VA.
As a recipient of the Zerka Moreno Award focused on increasing utilization and awareness of psychodrama, my efforts are now to inspire and mentor others. I am passing on what I have learned through written articles, co-authorship of a book, presentations at workshops and conferences. I am deeply devoted to the words of JL Moreno, the founder of psychodrama, who once said, “No truly therapeutic endeavor can have as its mission anything less than the healing of all humankind.”
LINDA CIOTOLA, M.ED., CHES (ret.),TEP, PSYCHODRAMATIST, WORKSHOP FACILITATOR & CERTIFIED HEALTH EDUCATION SPECIALIST (ret.)
Linda Ciotola is a Certified TEP: trainer-educator-practitioner of psychodrama, group psychotherapy, and sociometry, and a Certified Health Education Specialist (ret) with 50 plus years experience in education, group facilitation, and lifestyle counseling. She is an American Council on Exercise Gold Certified Personal Trainer and ACE Certified Fitness Instructor and Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist. She holds additional certifications in Yoga, indoor cycling, and as a MindBody specialist. Linda is an ACE Gold Certified Health Coach, as well as a Certified Post-Rehab Fitness Specialist, and IDEA Master Trainer. Linda is a Certified Usui Reiki Master Teacher and Certified Lightarian Reiki Master Practitioner and Interfaith Minister. Her areas of expertise include nutrition, exercise, stress management, trauma, eating disorders, women’s health, body image, mindbody wellness. She has designed and taught health and fitness classes at the college level, facilitated eating disorders support groups, and worked in academic, hospital, and community settings as well as private practice. She has presented widely at regional, national and international conferences. Linda is a master member of I.D.E.A., (The Association of Fitness Professionals), International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals, The American Counseling Association, The National Eating Disorders Association, The American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama and The United States Association of Body Psychotherapists. She is a certified trainer-educator-practitioner of group psychotherapy, sociometry, and psychodrama and is an accredited Certified Trainer in the Therapeutic Spiral Model ™ of psychodrama used specifically for working with trauma survivors, and is Co-Leader and Developer of the Therapeutic Spiral Bodyworkshop specifically designed for healing body-based trauma issues, and is a Certified Souldrama® Trainer.The Who’s Who of American Women, and the Who’s Who Registry of Business Leaders have honored Linda’s professional work and contributions to her field. IDEA acknowledged her as a Master Trainer, the highest level of recognition in the personal training profession.
WHAT IS A “CHES”?
A CHES is a Certified Health Education Specialist, having passed requirements established by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, The American Association for Health Education, and The Society for Public Health Education. A CHES has demonstrated competencies in the designated Seven Areas of Responsibility:
- Assess individual and community needs for health education.
- Plan health education strategies, interventions, and programs.
- Implement health education strategies, interventions, and programs.
- Conduct evaluation and research related to health education.
- Administer health education strategies, interventions, and programs and serves as a health education resource person.
- Communicate and advocate for health and health education On-going continuing education is required to maintain CHES certification. Linda Ciotola became CHES certified in 1992 and now has CHES (ret) status.
WHAT IS A BODY PSYCHOTHERAPIST?
A body psychotherapist sees a person as an essential embodiment of mental, emotional, social, and spiritual life. Goals of body psychotherapy include conscious integration of alienated aspects of the self, and psycho-somatic integration. Body psychotherapists work with psychiatric clients; traumatized clients; clients with addictions and/or eating disorders; clients with psycho-somatic symptoms; clients wishing to enhance life skills, relationships, communication skills, or psychosomatic functioning. The goal is to help clients work toward a greater sense of self-regulation and self-determination. An atmosphere of safety, mindfulness, mindbodyspirit interactions, attention to in-the-moment experiencing, and respectful pacing are fundamental to this work.
WHAT IS A T.E.P.?
A TEP is a certified trainer-educator-practioner of psychodrama, group psychotherapy, and sociometry who has passed rigorous requirements established by the American Board of Examiners in Psychodrama, Sociometry, and Group Psychotherapy including a Master’s Degree in a human relations field, plus several hundred hours of training and supervision in psychodrama, and has passed a comprehensive written examination as well as an on-site exam in action. Linda is a fellow of the ASGPP and the 2008 recipient of the prestigious Zerka Moreno Award, given for outstanding contributions in the field of Psychodrama, Sociometry, and Group Psychotherapy by the ASGPP. Click here for Linda’s awards.
We hope you check out this website. You will be able to find articles Linda has written on psychodrama, exercise, yoga, and eating disorders. She has provided links to several organizations, which may be of interest to you.
Anyone browsing this website and who wants to use any of the material may do so by requesting and receiving permission. You may place your request by e-mail and we will direct you from there. Contact Linda for clarification on her copyrighted materials.