Our Mission
Sea Change Holistic Wellness Center, offers the essentials for every age and stage of life, providing comprehensive holistic healthcare enabling the opportunity for transformation. Our mission is to provide open, honest and sex-positive health education and support that addresses the unique needs of the whole person, family, and community. These services instill a sense of empowerment that is needed to make healthy life decisions about their relationships with themselves and others and to embrace sexuality as something that is valued, respected and celebrated. Our age-appropriate educational workshops, professional trainings, yoga programs from prenatal yoga through adulthood, and individual, couples and family counseling, provide a truly integrative approach that builds on individuality and personal strengths.
Did you know
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Sea Change is also the only Pre/Postnatal Yoga and Childbirth Education Center on all of Long Island focusing our yoga and workshop offerings on the creation and support of life. Sea Change has curated a wide range of specialized practitioners to bring a wealth of services to the community including sex therapy, counseling, massage, reiki, acupuncture, physical therapy, pelvic floor therapy, childbirth education, doula services, and yoga from the womb to the wonder years.
A Sea of Services
Sea Change means a profound transformation as vast as the sea. The array of services we offer are to facilitate just that. Being that we are energetic healers, we base much of our work around the human energy system, or chakras. With our work at Sea Change being so focused on creating this change from within the womb and having such a strong focus on our sexuality with sexual health, reproduction, fertility, pregnancy, birthing, and pre/postnatal yoga being at the forefront of our mission.
Swadhisthana Chakra
Inspiration
We wanted our name and our “vibe” to be reflective of the 2nd or sacral, swadhisthana chakra. The sacral chakra is the center of our creative energy with its element being water. In the yoga world and the psychological health world our oceans are one of the most healing “tools” that nature has gifted us. Our ability to go with the flow, to wash away the pain and hurt, to get us grounded to the ultimate mother, mother earth and the connection it brings to our very essence our breath are only some of the ways that our waters invite transformation.
Our hope is that Sea Change will create a community for those looking to connect with themselves and others that are like-minded and that we can be a space that all feel welcome and supported leading to creating the life we always dreamed of.
About The Founder
Heather Simonson
LCSW, CST, CSE, ERYT, RPYT, RCYT
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Heather Simonson is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and AASECT Certified Sexuality Educator and Sex Therapist and was voted as Long Island’s Best Sex Therapist. Heather’s education and experience in both counseling and health education, combined with her knowledge of integrative therapeutic techniques enable her to employ a truly holistic perspective of healing. She draws from both eastern and western practices in her powerful work with clients providing individual, couples and family counseling for people of all ages and abilities.
Heather helps her clients connect with their personal strengths and utilizes a holistic approach to bring the body, mind, and spirit into balance. Heather specializes in sexual and reproductive health, relationships and intimacy, parenting and pre/postnatal transition issues as well as mood disorders. She is also a Yoga Alliance Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (ERYT) receiving both her 200 and 500 level training as well as her 85-hour Children’s Yoga teacher certification from Always-At-Aum. Heather learned that she was pregnant with her son during her YTT which was the best gift she could have asked for. Due to her in-depth experience while pregnant and discovering the power yoga has on wellness during pregnancy, the quality of birthing and ability to parent she subsequently decided to further her work in reproductive health and earned an additional certification in prenatal yoga from the Integral Yoga Center. Birthing her children with the gift of yoga propelled her into making it part of her life’s work to share these tools with expecting parents. Heather then received certifications in fertility yoga and opened The Yoga Womb, a Yoga Alliance approved 85-hour Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training, to provide teachers with the confidence and skills to teach both pre/postnatal yoga. Heather’s journey continued as a healer by becoming a Reiki Master and truly making it her mission to empower others to live the life they deserve and to embrace and connect with their bodies and themselves with pride.
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Heather has a rich variety of professional experience that rounds out her clinical practice. She is a nationally known trainer and counselor in the areas of sexuality and youth development and the co-author of “EMPOWER NOW!” an innovative holistic workshop and journal article for empowerment in life skills and sexuality for youth. Heather facilitates sexual development and puberty education workshops throughout Long Island and as a parent herself, she is inspired to help other parents talk about these important topics. A nationally-known expert in the field of sexuality education and, Heather has created a comprehensive series of programs and trainings to give parents, as well as educators the skills to bolster their connection and enable them to talk openly and honestly about the tough stuff.
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Heather is ready to help anyone that is committed to “sea-ing” change within themselves and finally get the life they have always dreamed of.
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
AASECT Certified Sex Therapist
AASECT Certified Sexuality Educator
Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher, 500
Registered Prenatal Yoga Teacher
Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher
Fertility Yoga Teacher
Mindfulness Educator
Reiki Master
Our Staff
Ariane Amsz
DPT, Physical Therapist
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Ariane Amsz, PT, DPT, was born and raised in New York City. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College in 1993 and her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from New York University in 2004.
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Ariane has extensive training and experience in orthopedics, geriatrics, neurology, and women’s health. Since May 2007, Ariane has taken several courses in myofascial release (the John F. Barnes approach), which has since become her passion. Ariane is an expert myofascial release therapist. She is fluent in French, and German, and is proficient in Spanish and Italian.
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Ariane is a National Strength and Conditioning Specialist (NSCA certified), a certified Arvigo Maya Abdominal Therapist, and holds certifications in: Yoga / ISHTA (500 Hour/Integrated Science of Hatha, Tantra, and Ayurveda), Mat Pilates, Reiki (Level II practitioner), and BodyTalk​.
Gina Califano
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Gina Califano is a spiritual life coach and yoga teacher committed to helping to raise the frequency of our planet and help you discover what makes your heart sing. By facilitating the clearing of what no longer serves us, subconscious beliefs and self-imposed limitations she will guide you to hear your soul’s purpose. She is a certified John Maxwell Coach and Personal Development Speaker, Aroma Freedom Practitioner, Level 2 Theta Healer, Meditation and Mindfulness Teacher, Raindrop Technique Trainer, and Advanced Reiki Practitioner. With decades of practice and 8 years of teaching, her yoga classes are a mix of Vinyasa, Yin, Forest, Ashtanga and Restorative styles.
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Michelle Graff
Clinical Social Work/Therapist, LCSW
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Michelle is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who specializes in Trauma, Grief, and Bereavement as well as mood disorders like depression and anxiety. She works with individuals, both adults and children, as well as couples and families. Michelle uses a variety of bio-psycho-social-spiritual interventions to help clients unlock the best version of themselves.
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Michelle is trained in various therapeutic modalities including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Psychodynamic therapies, (EMDR), (EFT) and Level 2 Reiki trained. She also is a Certified Resolve Through Sharing Trainer (a perinatal bereavement support program), NAMI Connect Suicide and Sudden Loss Postvention Trainer and trained in Applied Suicide Intervention Skills
Jacqueline Lee
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Jacqueline is a 200-hour ERYT and Reiki practitioner with an additional 85 hours in Prenatal yoga from The Yoga Womb and 20 hours in children’s yoga. Soon after returning home from a traumatic college experience, Jacqueline took her first yoga class and fell in love with the peaceful and healing state that yoga provided her. This feeling resonated so deeply and after practicing for a while, she felt the call to share this healing light with others and decided to deepen become a teacher. She completed her training with Lucia Tucci-Diplo at The Yoga Room School of Long Island in December 2015 and has been teaching steadily ever since. Jacqueline truly feels that through yoga, we are able to be in the present moment long enough to make that powerful mind-body connection with our true-self. It is here that we can turn our attention inward in order to heal, grow, learn, and ultimately love ourselves, and others, fully.
Carisa Montalvo
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Carisa began her yoga practice after a back injury in 2009 left her with excruciating pain and little range of motion. Through yoga, she not only was able to heal from her injury but in many other ways as well. At a young age, she was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and has struggled with hormone fluctuations. She took a special interest in fertility and has worked in the lab at Reproductive Specialists of New York. She is a Biology Major and received a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from Cornell. Carisa began teaching hot yoga in 2014, she continued her practice and training in the Bikram series, vinyasa, Hatha, Christopher Harrison’s Anti Gravity and also teaches Paddle Board Yoga. She is passionate about healing through yoga and a plant-based lifestyle. Carisa is also a mom to two amazing children Donovan and Leilani.
Melissa Murphy
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Melissa Murphy serves as the in-house doula at Sea Change. She trained with
Latham Thomas at Mama Glow and looks forward to serving the community through childbirth education, labor, delivery, and postpartum. She believes childbirth should
be an empowering experience and strives to assist mothers and partners to create
a birth plan that is perfect for them. After giving birth to her daughter guided by midwives she learned how truly magical childbirth can be and hopes to enable more families to have positive birth experiences. Melissa offers free consultations to discuss birth and postpartum doula offerings and can be reached at: melissa@seachangehwc.com.
Jessica Saraswati
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Jessica Saraswati is a meditation guide, ERYT-200 yoga instructor, writer, reiki master, spiritual mentor, and healer. She is passionate about the power of spiritual practice and the peace that comes from living a compassionate lifestyle.
Jessica always had a nagging sense of emptiness, like a question that could never be answered, a persistent longing for something more. She searched endlessly for peace but only became more lost and ensnared in the reckless life she was living, but then something shifted...
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By a wonderful stroke of serendipity and a heaping dose of good karma, Jessica ended up under the loving care and guidance of Chandresh Bhardwaj, spiritual teacher and founder of the worldwide meditation initiative, Break The Norms Movement. Chandresh and his father His Holiness Shree Chamunda Swamiji taught Jessica the sacred practices of meditation and mantra. Through this powerful spiritual training, Jessica's life changed in unbelievable ways and before long she began teaching others, and by Swamiji's grace and blessings she became Saraswati.
Saraswati is now dedicated to serving as a guide to authentic peace and power. Through the teachings of yoga and the practice of meditation, she aims to ignite the Light of higher consciousness within others and initiate a wave of radical, positive change in this world and beyond.
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She is also an amazing mother to an incredible child, Leo. Becoming a mother in 2018 has changed her in ways that words can't describe as her heart just exploded.
Debi Tracy
Hypnobirthing® Childbirth Educator, HypnoBirthing® Fertility Consultant, Doula, Prenatal Yoga Teacher, Yoga Birth Method Instructor
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Affectionately known as Mama Hypno by her couples, Debi has had the honor to assist hundreds of couples in New York, New Jersey, and Long Island learn HypnoBirthing® to have the birthing experience they created in their sessions.
Her most important credential is, however, her personal experience as having learned the method first as an expectant mother with all the fears, feelings, doubts and concerns that one faces when traveling the journey of pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood.
James Vitale
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James Vitale has had a lifelong passion for health and fitness, which drew him to the healing arts. After living and studying in Japan and China for several years, he returned to his home on Long Island and has been serving the Long Island community for over 15 years. His extensive knowledge in Acupuncture, Chinese Herbs, NAET, Nutrition, and Qigong allows him to offer a more comprehensive approach to health and wellness. James travels back to Japan regularly to further his studies of Acupuncture, Healing, and martial arts.
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James was inspired to specialize in fertility by personal challenges of conceiving. Having experienced the pain and despair of a diagnosis and ultimately the joy of a successful conception and childbirth, he truly understands what couples are experiencing. It is his mission to help as many couples as possible overcome the obstacles to parenthood.
FAQ
What is Comprehensive Sexuality Education?
Comprehensive sexuality education programs promote abstinence as the most effective way to prevent teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STI) while also teaching accurate and age-appropriate information on healthy relationships, anatomy, sexual behaviors, gender identity, contraception, and STIs. Providing this information to adolescents allows them to make responsible and healthy decisions.
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What effect does Comprehensive Sexuality Education on
young people?
Comprehensive sexuality education has shown a positive
impact on the behaviors of adolescents, including:
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An increase in the use of contraception
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A decrease in the onset of sexual activity
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A decrease in the number of sexual partners
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A decrease in the frequency of sexual activity
McKeon, B. (2006). Effective sex education. Washington, DC: Advocates for Youth.
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What is a Sexuality Health Educator?
A sexuality health educator is a professional educator that teaches about all aspects of sexuality including relationships, sexual identity, self-esteem, sexual and reproductive health, abstinence, contraception, and even about pleasure. When working with a Sexuality Educator, youth traditionally receive age-appropriate, factual information that is sex-positive, about everything ranging from puberty to risk reduction. School and community workshops and trainings are provided for youth, parents, and professionals.
As for parents we teach about what to say and when to say it and encourage parents to clarify, communicate and model their values. Realistic strategies and helpful tools are taught and practiced that aim to help strengthen communication and deepen the connection between parents and their kids.
Many Sexuality Educators also work on curriculum development and program design, assisting organizations or schools to become more comprehensive and culturally sensitive. This also includes training professionals who work with parents and youth to enable them to be their experts.
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What is the difference between coaching, counseling, and therapy?
Coaching begins where therapy leaves off. The coach assumes that the client is well-functioning and is facing a roadblock or finding it difficult to get over the next mountain to greater fulfillment. People turn to coaches when their life is going well. Usually, they are high-functioning people who want to expand their lives, their businesses, and their general outlook. They tend to be successful people who have a vision that they could go beyond where they are, but feel that they would like someone to work with them to achieve their goals. These are the same people who would seek a coach to improve their golf or tennis game, seek consultation in their business, or utilize a financial planner to assist with their finances. Coaching focuses on the present and future and tends to be short-term.
Counseling addresses specific issues and focuses on how you are managing the people, places and things in your life and in the “here and now.” Counseling helps individuals gain skills in how they interact with others, overcome crisis and manage stress. Marital and family problems, parenting, crisis, loss, difficult people, career challenges, and stress are some of the issues that can be addressed in order to gain insight, strengthen relationships and enhance your ability to cope with everyday happenings. Everyone can use someone to talk to help maintain balance in their life, so counseling can be long or short-term, depending on what your intention is.
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Therapy, on the other hand, addresses the internal world and how you function and relate to those around you. It is usually something that is needed when the issues you are dealing with interfere with your functioning of daily life. Emotional difficulties such as depression, anxiety, phobias, destructive behaviors, fears, compulsions, and addictions are issues needing a more long term in-depth therapy approach. Personality problems that can be treated in therapy include anger issues, paranoia, excessive blaming, possessiveness, jealousy, emotional apathy, relationship abuse, and other destructive behaviors. In addition, traumatic experiences, growing up in unhealthy environments, and abusive experiences all have a profound impact on emotional well-being and are often the focus of therapy. Therapy is focused on the individual, delves into the past and tends to be of longer duration than counseling or coaching.