Valerie resides in Buffalo, NY where she is a Massage Therapist, Holistic Birth & Postpartum Doula, Sound Healer, and Freelance Photographer. She is passionate about our intrinsic connection to the natural world, ancestral knowledge, intergenerational sharing, and using food as medicine. She believes that true healing comes from within, and that our body, mind, and spirit are so incredibly powerful.

She graduated at the top of her class from a 1,000+ hour therapeutic massage program at Escuela de Artes Místicas in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She has studied Thai Massage under Michael Sitzer in Asheville, NC and under Ajarn Pichet Boonthumme in Chiang Mai, Thailand. She is certified in Contemporary Cupping Methods by the International Cupping Therapy Association.

Valerie is an INNATE Postpartum Care - Certified Practitioner through the teachings of Rachelle Garcia Seliga of Innate Traditions. She completed the Holistic Doula Program under elder Whapio of The Matrona.

Initially a co-founder/leader for MAHA Retreats, Valerie now offers massage and support at the retreats. These experiences are immersions into holistic practices of ancient wisdom combined with exploration, adventure, and playfulness while reconnecting with nature, and guide us toward deeper levels of healing. 

Valerie sees photography as a way to further develop a thought, an idea or an emotion. Photographs are one of her favorite forms of art as well as documentation. They serve to capture a space, a memory, a feeling - along this time continuum. She uses the camera to explore cultural differences, social and environmental issues and to better understand the world we inhabit. She holds a BFA in photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology and photographs a wide variety of genres from portraits to adventure travel. She leads international trips for National Geographic Student Expeditions and Atlas Obscura, and has assisted National Geographic photographer Erika Larsen.