About Dana Brenner
Early Experience
I’ve come to know that our personal and professional lives are deeply intertwined. The lessons I’ve learned through both have given me a deep respect for the courage it takes to live in alignment with who we really are.
I grew up in Detroit in a large immigrant family that taught me about commitment to community, social justice, family, love, and intellectual inquiry. I was shaped by the cultural, gender, and place-based dynamics of the era and region, as well as the complexities of my family system. My family over-valued intellect, status-based achievement, pushing through, pushing down, and pushing out.
Like all of us, I learned ways to adapt—to maintain safety, dignity, and belonging in my context. Some of these strategies were wise and protective, and some came at a cost. I learned to put the dignity of others above my own, to shrink or expand myself to get needs met, to feel ashamed of and uncomfortable in my body, to over-ride discomfort, and to seek attention through reactivity. These patterns took root in my muscles, tissues, spirit, energy, and mind.
Buddhists talk about monkey mind, and I call these strategies monkey body-they are not character defects, they are simply wise, natural, and predictable adaptations that protect us. We learn to move toward, away, or against; to fawn, to freeze, and to compress things or go slack in our bodies in ways that become conditioned. This effects how we “be”. These strategies help us, as well as get in our way.
Over many years and through deep personal inquiry and practice, I have come to understand both the wisdom and cost of these adaptations; to learn how to release what no longer serves me, and to create new ways of being. To not identify with the strategies. I know that this is a path, and not a destination.
Finding purpose in work
These early experiences shaped my commitment to work in service of people and systems. I earned my degree in Community Development and began my career in non-profits—supporting people experiencing homelessness, running programs for those with disabilities, and managing services that preserved dignity and independence. Later, I earned my M.S. in Counseling Psychology, became a licensed therapist, and taught at universities briefly before moving into leadership development.
Over nearly three decades, I’ve coached, trained, and consulted with thousands of leaders in healthcare, education, government, non-profits, and mainly Fortune 500 corporations. I built a regional coaching and development firm with a team of 35 coaches serving thousands of leaders, designed large-scale leadership programs, and guided executives at a global level.
Through it all, I came to see that even the most capable, dedicated people can find themselves misaligned from their deepest values. Their leadership, relationships, health, and well-being often suffer. And what is more common- they simply keep their light and impact small and hampered, and the world misses out.
Graphic derived from the Strozzi Institute for Somatics’ Model of Somatic Transformation
Turning toward somatics
Alongside my professional journey, I began my own inner work. For almost 30 years, I have studied, practiced, and taught buddhist meditation and mindfulness. Slowly, I began cultivating greater presence, resilience, and compassion for myself and for others.
That led me to somatic coaching and bodywork through the Strozzi Institute, where I became certified in 2009 and am doing so again 16 years later. This opened new possibilities, both personally and professionally. I learned that transformation is not just about insight—it’s about embodiment.
Life itself reinforced the lesson. Parenting three children with complex challenges (including one with an ultra-rare genetic difference), navigating my own relapsing and remitting tickborne illness, dealing with recurrent loss and profound change—all stretched me in ways I never expected. These challenges became teachers, showing me the power of somatics not just to endure, but to live with clarity, courage, and love.
My practice now
Today, I bring together my decades of experience in psychology, leadership development, coaching, and group facilitation with the transformative practices of somatics, bodywork, meditation, and mindfulness. My work is about helping people find their ground and center, consciously access choice, and live in alignment with what matters most to them.
While I no longer practice psychotherapy, my therapeutic training informs everything I do. It gives me the ability to listen deeply, recognize patterns, and hold space with sensitivity and ground. My clients often describe this work as therapeutic because it helps release long-held tension and stories, feel more at home in their bodies, and allows them to connect with what it means to feel truly alive. It is not therapy in the clinical sense… but it is therapeutic; profoundly restorative, and transformational.
Whether I’m coaching one-on-one, guiding bodywork, or leading meditation groups, my commitment is the same: to create a space of trust, compassion, and possibility. I know firsthand how hard it can be to shift lifelong patterns—and I also know the freedom that comes when you do.
When I’m not engaging in work-love, you might find me pursuing joy in gardening, kayaking, making art, singing (long ago I was a semi-pro jazz and blues singer), hanging out with my kid or dogs, entertaining friends, soaking in salt water, or producing community events. I sit on the board of Wilsonville Pride.
Lineages & Influences
My work grows out of a deep weaving of somatics, psychology, meditation, coaching, and bodywork traditions. A bedrock of my somatic training has been The Strozzi Institute for Somatics, a methodology for transformation rooted in somatic awareness, opening, and practice. It draws from the wisdom of the martial art of Aikido. Strozzi bodywork is derivative of methods developed by pioneers such as Elsa Gindler, Wilhelm Reich, Ida Rolf, Randolph Stone, Moshe Feldenkrais, and Doris Breyer.
My former father-in-law (Charles Ray Kelley) was a Reichian protege and the founder of the Radix Institute. While he died before I married into the family, his wife and co-developer of the Kelley-Radix methodology (Erica Kelley) was profoundly important to my development. She was perhaps the most important mentor, model, and support in my life. Through my close relationship with Erica, particularly during the 8 months I was by her side daily in a hospice setting before she died, I came to understand what the integrated soma really is. While Chuck was known as the gifted theorist behind Radix, Erica was known as the gifted practitioner. My work is a tribute to her legacy.
In addition, I draw from psychology, neuroscience, and coaching methodologies including Gestalt Therapy, Jungian Psychology, Internal Family Systems (IFS), developmental and systems-based coaching, positive psychology, and the neuroscience of habit and resilience.
My meditation and spiritual roots are grounded in Theravāda Buddhist traditions, with over 30 years of practice in the Western Vipassanā, Burmese, and Thai Forest lineages. My guiding teachers have included Rodney Smith, Kamala Masters, Ajahn Nishabo, and Tuere Sala, along with many others whose teachings continue to nourish my practice.
I am actively in apprenticeship with master somatic bodyworker Madeline Wade, founder of Wisdom Bodywork, and currently training privately with Marion Wolfe Dixon in cranial sacral work.
For detailed information about my background & training find out more
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“I have been to see Dana several times now, and I have to say-something shifted. Not in a dramatic, fireworks kind of way. But, in a deep, quiet, undeniable way. I inhabit my body differently. A little more grounded, A little more spacious. A little more ME. Dana has a real gift for this work. If you are curious about somatic coaching and bodywork-or feel like something in you is ready to shift-I highly recommend her. Reach out to her-you can thank me later.”
~ Bea, Circles Facilitator & Coach
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“Dana has a rare ability to connect with people in a way that makes them feel fully seen. She tunes into what is often unsaid, what’s felt in the room but not named-and brings it forward with precision and care. I’ve had the privilege of working alongside her, and I can say with confidence that she is one of the most gifted and grounded coaches I’ve ever encountered”.
~ Sheeba, Chief Business Officer
