Our Teaching Nest
Each member of this learning community landed at our nest with unique gifts --they are leaders, teachers, peacebuilders, writers, artists, therapists, and amazing healers. While we may have different backgrounds, we all share a common goal of serving humanity while we are here. Thank you for taking the time to meet this amazing array of humans, who call the Heart Nest their home.
Dr. Sabrina N'Diaye, Founder
Dena Rain Adler, B. ED, M.A., ATR
Dena Rain Adler, B. ED, M.A., ATR is a Registered Art Therapist, Faculty Member, and Certified Practitioner with the Center for Mind-Body Medicine. At the core of her work, Dena believes in cultivating awareness and compassion to unlock healing and potential. She founded Spiral River, a restorative counseling practice dedicated to supporting the evolving narratives of our life stories and experiences. Through an integrative approach grounded in evidence-based health and wellness practices, she draws on healing traditions such as breathwork and movement, mindfulness meditation, guided imagery, and creative expressive arts.
Dena began her professional journey as a teacher for youth receiving special education services. With over three decades of experience in teaching and therapy, she specializes in working with children, youth, and families navigating challenges related to anxiety, grief and loss, trauma, and foster care and adoption. Dena holds specialized training in family reunification due to divorce and sexually harmful behavior. Since 2005, she has volunteered to provide art therapy and wellness activities through Project Life: War Orphans Rehabilitation Program.
Dena is passionate about contributing to local, national, and global trauma relief initiatives that foster hope and resilience within schools and communities affected by tragic gun violence, natural disasters, and war. Her professional engagements include national and international presentations with the Center for Mind-Body Medicine as well as conferences focused on Art Therapy, Foster Care, and Adoption. Her work was recently featured in the book Integrative Rehabilitation Practice: The Foundations of Whole-Person Care for Health Professionals.
Dena’s connection with others is rooted in deep humility, respect, and love. She can be reached at [email protected].
Sharon E. Cooper
Sharon E. Cooper is a yoga teacher, workshop leader/healer, writing coach, and an award-winning internationally produced and published playwright, screenwriter and filmmaker. Her short plays have been produced in India, Hungary, Singapore, Australia, England, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands and across the U.S. She is published in The Best Ten-Minute Plays 2010, 2014, 2016, and 2019, as well as Laugh Lines: Short Comic Plays and several college textbooks. Sharon’s award-winning comedic films “The Seven Men of Hanukkah” and “Believin’” have screened across North America and South Asia. Sharon has a compassionate approach in all of her work—as a yoga teacher for over fifteen years, as a writing coach for individuals, groups, schools and companies, and as a workshop facilitator in creating and leading programs for white people in nonjudgmental spaces to work on eliminating racism. Her work changes people’s lives.
Jaree Cottman, LCSW-C
Bev Perez
In an earlier chapter of her life, Bev dedicated ten years to serving as a police officer and detective with the Prince George's County Police Department. During this time, she confronted and overcame personal battles with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety, and depression. Her journey of healing and resilience inspired her to share her story and support others facing their own mental and spiritual health challenges.
As a coach, Bev specializes in guiding individuals through the complex terrain of sex, love, and loss. She firmly believes that everyone deserves connection and intimacy, even in the face of fears of loneliness. Bev focuses on helping people build a foundation of self-love that serves as a protective shield against negativity and outside judgment, while fostering inner resilience.
Currently, Bev is pursuing a Master’s degree in Social Work at Barry University, driven by her passion for making a difference in the field of sexology. To her, love is the key to overcoming life’s challenges. By embracing vulnerability, expressing emotions, and sharing her story openly, she discovered her own path to healing—and now offers that same path to others with warmth and compassion.
Dr. Raj
he/him/they
Recovering Criminologist
Associate professor, Metropolitan State University
Raj is a recovering criminologist, alcoholic, and survivor of sexual abuse, with over 20 years of community-based activism as a researcher and educator. Inspired by the resilience of our youth and the men in our prison systems, he trains school staff, probation agents, community members, and justice personnel on restorative practices, trauma and healing, value-centered leadership, community building, and unpacking implicit biases. He believes in raising consciousness utilizing the restorative circle process. In his latest work, raj explores the depths of our justice system and creates a framework in which knowledge and heart become the root of our practices.
Desiree Robinson, PhD, LCSW-C, CST
Desiree Robinson, PhD, LCSW-C, CST, is an Integrative Psychotherapist specializing in repairing the emotional wounds attached to sex, intimacy, and trauma. As a certified sex therapist and an EMDRIA-certified therapist, Desirée is committed to supporting marginalized populations, utilizing an intersectional lens to understand how racism, sexism, and implicit bias impact intimacy, relational (including familial) dynamics, and identity. In addition to her clinical work, she is excited to share her first book: "My Body Is a Singing Bowl: Compassionate Meditations for Body Image and Intimacy", coming in 2025.
She can be reached at DesireeNRobinson.com & you can keep up to date with her via linktr.ee/sexologist_desiree.
Regina Schulman
Regina Schulman is a survivor of domestic abuse and religious trauma with over 25 years of experience in the education, treatment, and management of chronic pain, relapse prevention, cancer and palliative care, authentic living, and compassion satisfaction. She serves as a holistic health educator, recovery consultant, addiction counselor, faculty member, energy medicine practitioner, and licensed/board-certified therapeutic massage and bodywork therapist. Over the last decade, Regina has been deeply committed to facilitating mind-body healing circles for survivors of community trauma, mass shootings, gang violence, war veterans, senior citizens, and healthcare professionals facing moral injury. Her unwavering belief in the transformative power of mutual support, vicarious resilience, and post-traumatic growth inspires her mission to guide others in their self-empowered, restorative journeys.
As an adult learner, Regina returned to college after discovering a significant printed word disability. With the support of meditation practices, a computer reader program, and dedicated weekly tutoring, she earned her BA in Chronic Pain Management and a Master’s degree in Integrative Holistic Health from Lesley University. Regina’s extensive additional training includes certifications in Mind-Body Medicine, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counseling, SMART Recovery Facilitation, Tai Chi Easy™ Practice Leadership, Trauma-Sensitive HeartMath® Practice, and advanced practice as a Sacred Anatomy Energy Medicine Senior Practitioner.
Regina is a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, sister, friend, teacher, and life-long learner who embraces her calling to hold space for light and healing.