Rev. Trella Dubetz, BFA, LMT, Holistic Practitioner
Trella (she/they) is imperfectly devoted to the spirit of creativity, healing, sustainability, intersectional justice, and aims to create trauma informed, safer space for healthy, harmonious connection in our world. She and her work are deeply influenced by generative somatics (gs) and Somatic Experiencing.
Their names mean Star of the Sea - Little Oak, and she comes from a family of Slavic immigrants who arrived in North America in 1911 as well as Welsh immigrants, and longer established German ancestors. Her paternal grandparents were Lemko, one of the indigenous communities of the Carpathian Mountains, and her American story is inextricably woven into the lives of her ancestors- genetically, culturally, systemically, and spiritually.
As an ARTIST:
Trella actualizes images using inks and mixed media, focusing many times on how the etheric, sacred, ancestral, energetic and creative worlds are communicating hollographically. They also likes to make fun collages that honor the many faces of the human family, and to slap spray paint on old, rusted farm equipment at Phoenix Farm.
As a HEALER:
Trella has been dedicated to supporting others on their healing journey for twenty four years and counting, and her individual holistic practice known as Sage Massage & Wellness, although closed by Covid-19, had been a healing nook in Lancaster County from 2012-2020. She is an ordained holistic minister practitioner, has specialized in Upledger CranioSacral Therapy's umbrella of therapeutic methods since 2001, and also works with her own style of polydimensional energywork that includes Reiki and Access Bars. She is certified in many modalities including the Aroma Freedom Technique and Bemer Physical Vascular Therapy, is a licensed massage therapist, traditional Usui Reiki Master and has studied with generative somatics(TM) and with the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute. She is now focusing full time on the healing work of land restoration, land and food equity, and the prioritization and implementation of Indigenous Values for planet and people. As a queer, gender-fluid, ethnically Jewish, neurodivergent, larger female bodied human from an immigrant family that has been raced as white, Trella aims to resource her privilege, skill set, and ever deepening understanding of our collective experience to tend to her portion of Tikkun Olam, the Hebrew phrase for "actions that repair our world".
As a Mama:
Her highest honor in this life is to hold space and create a bridge from those that came before that arcs towards her daughter, and those that will be our future. She does this with a healthy dose of reverence and a heaping wallop of humor, laughter, and dance breaks in the kitchen.
Tending Land and Re-Wilding:
They are ever mindful of the fact that the land they are the current guardians of, Phoenix Farm, is unceded land from the Algonquin, Susquehannock, Haudenosuanee, Shawnee, and most likely other indigenous North American people who followed the migration of the woodland buffalo, and traveled through the land now known as Huntingdon County for eons. To honor all those that have come before, she works to restore the land, and bring it closer to its original form, re-establishing native species of edible and medicinal plants (elderberry, black berry, walnut, hickory, maple, pawpaw, quince, persimmon, red osier dogwood, and more), while offering food sources to the likes of many animal species- many of whom are endangered (i.e. Northern Harrier Hawk, Barn Owl, Bald Eagle). Trella is also establishing bio-dynamic, heirloom fruit, veggie, flower, and herb plots on a small scale, and aims to grow as much nutritious food, that is accessible for all people via a farm stand, cooperative CSA, food banks, and other food equity initiatives.
She hopes and works so that that Phoenix Farm will be a safer space where all people can gather in compassion and curiosity to learn about the natural world, and the many incredible and valuable human stories that weave themselves into the patchwork of our history, society, and our connection to the planet herself.
Some more of the story:
Although born and raised in Lancaster County, PA, Trella has made a home for herself in many beautiful places. Boston, Martha's Vineyard, Grass Valley, California, Sardinia and Milan, Italy are all areas she has lived, studied, or practiced- and they hold a piece of her heart.
Trella began her study of the mind-body connection by necessity, through Tai Chi Chau'n Kung Fu, Kundalini and Hatha yogas, and chiropractic care in her teens due to health issues that were not being aided by the medical world. As she made her way through college, where she studied fine arts, Trella deepened her practices of yoga, meditation, a diet of whole foods, holistic therapies such as Reiki, contact improvisational dance, and because she went to college in Boston, she made a spiritual practice of going to the beach whenever possible. (Everyone should start there, yes?)
After graduating with honors from Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Trella made her way to the island of Martha's Vineyard where she helped manage a health food store, taught ESL, and studied and lived on an organic farm. In 2001 she ventured in her mini-van cross country and ended up in Grass Valley, CA and attended massage school. After completing her level one massage training, she returned to Martha's Vineyard to work for the summer, saving money with intentions to return to CA for more massage and bodywork training the following fall.
When 9/11 occurred, plans changed, and Trella headed to NYC and worked throughout the 5 boroughs in fire houses supporting the rescue crews for 8weeks- an experience that forever changed her. After her time in NYC, she headed back to Lancaster to care for her ailing father, as well as continue her bodywork training through the Upledger Institute in Jupiter, Florida. The following spring, after her dad regained his health through natural and alternative care, she headed back to Martha's Vineyard, because she secured a position with an incredible chiropractic physician. For the next two years, she deepened her knowledge about the mind-body-spirit connection, homeopathy, nutrition, harmonic healing, and witnessed gentle and profoundly effective holistic care, to balance and support others, as well as herself. While on the Vineyard, Trella continued her study with the Upledger Institute, and realized that CranioSacral Therapy would be a lifelong focus for their work.
In 2003, Trella left Martha's Vineyard to fulfill their dream of traveling through Europe. For months she wandered through the U.K., Netherlands, Germany, and Italy, and eventually secured work as a personal assistant, yoga teacher, and holistic care giver in Sardinia and Milan. It was a fairytale dream come true (all except the Italian heartbreak, but it makes for a good story!).
After living and practicing in Italy, Trella returned home, became a mom, and joined the practice that her then husband had. For seven years she practiced massage, Upledger CranioSacral Therapy, and Usui Reiki in their home office, as well as for two physicians who are also acupuncturists. Her understanding of herbalism and botanical knowledge grew, as she herself faced a number of incredible health challenges including Lyme disease, severe back injury, mental health challenges, including postpartum depression, PTSD, and more.
Finally, after securing an independent space for Sage Massage & Wellness in Millersville in 2012, she was able to define her practice as her own. In the years since, she has continued her education with the Upledger Institute, is now a qualified teaching assistant with Upledger, and has studied somatics and Somatic Experiencing with the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute out of Boulder, CO.
Trella is proud and appreciative of their life story, with its challenges and victories, and pre-Covid19, was deeply grateful to offer therapeutic bodywork that created space for bodies to regulate and renegotiate their natural, more resilient ways of being, contextualized within their individual and cultural/systemic/sociopolitical spaces. They now focus their healing work full-time on the land and community at Phoenix Farm.
Trella wishes you health, abundance, resilience, and a life that creates HARMONY for you and your loved ones. She looks forward to partnering with you on your wellness journey soon!
May our stories be told with integrity and love, and may our lives be aligned with Equitable, LovingJustice, and All That Is...