Program Staff

Dave Emerson, YACEP, TCTSY-F, 

Co-Founder & Co-Director Massachusetts, United States

Dave is the co-founder of Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) and the co-founder and co-director of the Center for Trauma and Embodiment at the Justice Resource Institute in Massachusetts. Dave has provided training internationally since 2006 and has developed, conducted, and supervised TCTSY groups for rape crisis centers, domestic violence programs, residential programs for youth, active duty military personnel, survivors of terrorism, and Veterans Administration centers and clinics and more. He is the author or co-author of numerous papers on yoga and trauma; the co-author of Overcoming Trauma through Yoga; and the author of, Trauma-Sensitive Yoga in Therapy. 

Jenn Turner, LMHC RYT, TCTSY-F/S

Co-Founder & Co-Director Massachusetts, United States

Jenn has had the honor of working with survivors of trauma for all of her career. Along with working in private practice as a trauma-informed therapist, Jenn is the Co-Director of the Center for Trauma and Embodiment where she works to oversee training and supports the development of body-first interventions for healing from trauma. Jenn also leads trainings in Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) throughout the U.S, provides consultation to organizations on how to become more trauma informed at all levels. Jenn co-founded the Center for Trauma and Embodiment at JRI in 2018.

Sydney Spears, PhD, LCSW, TCTSY-F

Leadership Team Member Missouri, United States

Sydney Spears (she/her) is a certified TCTSY-F facilitator, 200 hour yoga teacher, Center of Trauma and Embodiment Leadership Team member, and a private practice psychotherapist specializing in working with survivors of complex trauma and sociocultural trauma. Sydney has deep passion for advancing sociocultural equity and social justice for underserved communities across the globe. Additionally, she is highly committed to providing anti-oppressive practices and trauma-sensitive yoga facilitation into her clinical psychotherapy work.

A lifelong New Yorker, Karen has more than 30 years of experience helping people live happier, healthier lives. With a background combining social work, fitness instruction, yoga and yoga therapy, she has worked with people of all ages coping with a wide range of issues, including trauma, addiction, eating disorders, domestic violence, depression and anxiety, as well as with people seeking personal growth, greater well being and a deeper expression of their spirituality. In addition to maintaining a private practice, Karen serves as Director of Operations for the Center for Trauma and Embodiment at JRI. She is also a journalist whose work has appeared in a variety of online and print publications.

Krystal Pérez is a Puerto Rican sociologist passionate about eradicating gender based violence and understanding how traumatic experiences affect people's physical, emotional and social processes. With 15 years’ experience facilitating supporting groups of gender based violence victims she dedicated her graduate studies to find ways to improve care spaces for immigrant women in Puerto Rico and Spain, where she completed her Master's degree in Communication for Social Change and Development. In turn, she did her first Yoga TT in 2014 and went to India to deepen the practice. She is the Co-founder of “Arme: Narrativa Psico-corporal “ a program who gives psychotherapy and trauma sensitive yoga services for trauma survivors to Spanish speaking people in Latin America since 2017. She is a clinical intern for family and children therapy in “Gateway Mountain Center” In California. 

Anna is a social sciences graduate, yoga teacher, and TCTSY-F practitioner. She has extensive experience working with vulnerable communities, providing psychosocial, health, and social support through various organizations. Her work spans across children, youth, and adult migrants and refugees. Since 2022, she has been an active member of the TCTSY community, facilitating classes in both group and individual settings, as well as in prisons, migrant shelters, and women’s shelters.

Dr. Tiffany Johnson resides in Atlanta, GA and is a work, equity, and wellness researcher, writer, and teacher. She teaches Organizational Behavior at Georgia Tech and she does research related to work(places), equity, and wellness. Tiffany is also a registered yoga and meditation teacher. Having been trained by Octavia Raheem and Meryl Arnett in 2018-2019, she specializes in offering “chill” yoga classes – classes that honor and infuse movement and stillness-based practices. Her deep conviction for integrating research and practice(s) is embodied through her work consulting organizations on work and wellness related topics, guiding trauma-informed contemplative practices within organizations, and leading retreats, workshops, etc. for Black and Brown women in academia. Tiffany completed her TCTSY Certification in Fall 2020, and she looks forward to integrating all that she learns into her current and future work.

Keri Sawyer, has over a decade of experience facilitating movement and breath, embodiment, and trauma informed practices. She is a seasoned speaker and facilitator who has trained thousands of people as an experienced 500 hour yoga teacher and licensed Trainer with the Center for Trauma and Embodiment.

Keri provides Trauma Sensitive yoga to trauma survivors of all ages, facilitates trainings for yoga teachers and healthcare workers, and provides research-based information and trauma-informed treatment practices to the therapeutic world. She oversees the implementation of of trauma informed practices into therapeutic models in clinical and residential treatment programs across the country along with agency trainings and regular consultation for mental health clinicians, therapists, nurses, massage therapists, yoga teachers and more. Her passion is to provide an opportunity for survivors of trauma to have an authentic experience with a safe and predictable felt sense of their body along with spreading awareness of trauma-informed practices.

Keri is the owner of Openview yoga, Somatic Director at the Developmental Trauma Training Institute and The Trainer Liaison for the Center for Trauma and Embodiment where she supports, builds community and communicates with the training team. Keri is also the director of training for the Namapsa foundations non profit group that brings yoga into areas of Central Oregon that need it most. Keri specializes in training and facilitating Trauma Sensitive Yoga, yoga for mental health and therapeutic yoga. She also coaches new and advanced yoga teachers in deepening their personal practice and exploring teaching practices, workshops and business.