Author Spotlight with Joanne Spence - Trauma-Informed Yoga: A Toolbox for Therapists

Dr. Joanne Spence, D.Min., E-RYT 500, C-IAYT, is an author, yoga therapist, spiritual director, and recovering social worker. She has spent more than 20 years bringing trauma-informed yoga into hospitals, mental health settings, schools, prisons, churches, and community spaces, and training therapists and yoga professionals to make embodied practices more accessible, ethical, and responsive.

Joanne is the author of Trauma-Informed Yoga: A Toolbox for Therapists, Trauma-Informed Yoga Card Deck, and, with Catherine Cook-Cottone, Trauma-Informed and Trauma-Responsive Yoga Teaching. Her forthcoming book, How to Die Well: A Guide for the Living, will be released in 2027.

She loves exploring complex subjects—from the nervous system, trauma, and embodied practice to Christian mysticism and the spiritual life—and translating them into clear, practical ideas for curious and skeptical learners alike.