Entire Team
Every member of The Sanctuary Team is uniquely qualified by their practical skills, education and experience as well as their dedication, passion and heart. In addition to our core team listed below, The Sanctuary works directly with a variety of renowned healers, therapists and medical professionals based on the needs of each guest.
Dean Taraborelli: Dean graduated with a B.A. in Political Science from Skidmore College. He also has a Degree in Divinity. For 20 years he worked as the CEO of a manufacturing company serving the nuclear and petrochemical businesses. Dean has traveled to sacred sites in over 30 countries to study and experience the wisdom of ancient cultures.
His interaction with people from many nations and viewpoints has given him deep insight into the cultural aspects of world religion, belief, mythology, rites of passage, ritual and spiritual healing. A student of Shamanism and earth wisdom teachings, Dean was initiated into the native American Shamanic lineage of the Peruvian Q’ero. Dean is a graduate of and a teacher with The Four Winds, Healing the Light Body School.
Oliver Cooperman, M.D. Oliver is a graduate of Harvard Medical School, is a Fellow of the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture and is Board Certified in Medical Acupuncture and in Addiction Psychiatry. In his own words: “For me the excitement of being at The Sanctuary comes from putting all my skills together in one place, using all the different approaches to healing which I know—and enjoying the collaboration of The Sanctuary community. Throughout my life, I have looked for the healed state for my clients and have explored different ways to get there. I believe that healing involves ‘walking between the worlds,’ embracing multiple paradigms, each of which approaches a person in a different yet uniquely helpful way.
No one approach to healing has ‘the answer,’ because healing is at its core a spiritual process. My own spiritual journey has brought me to the earth-based shamanic practices. A member of the teaching staff of The Four Winds, I do spiritual consultation in the shamanic tradition. I also practice medical acupuncture.
Kelley Alexander: Ever since high school Kelley Alexander’s keen interest in esoteric, psychological and spiritual studies has evolved into becoming an integral part of her life today. In college she majored in world religions and studied psychology in graduate school. After extensive travel abroad, Kelley eventually went to law school, practicing intermittently for 10 years, in 3 states.
During this time Kelley became steeped in Jungian psychoanalysis and for over 8 years studied the paradigms of dreams, archetypes, and mythologies as a way to heal our psyches. While studying with a Peruvian Shaman on Lake Titicaca, Kelley set her intent to be open to the unknown and to the possibility that her life could be amazing, joyful and purposeful. She is a graduate of the Four Winds Healing the Light Body School and a practitioner of energy medicine.
Lucas Nardini: Lucas is a graduate of Trinity University and Duke Law School. His extensive background as a practicing family and trust and estate law attorney has given him insight into human behavior, dysfunctional family systems and financial management skills. Lucas is The Sanctuary’s business manager and also brings his considerable experience in helping The Sanctuary guests in finding solutions to real world business, legal and other life management complications and concerns.
Lucas’s spiritual journey includes participation in the Mankind Project, an organization committed to empowering men to missions of leadership, accountability, integrity and service. Directing his life to assisting others through The Sanctuary experience has been dramatically life changing.
Collette Colletta: With over 30 years experience in mind/body therapies brings a wealth of knowledge and wisdom to The Sanctuary. Her extensive background includes Cranial Sacral Therapy, bio-aquatic, somatic emotional release, past life regression under the tutelage Dr. Bryan Weiss of Omega Institute in New York, advanced and clinical hypnosis training with Dr. Barry Steadman, advanced soul retrieval, and advanced energy healing training with Dr. Alberto Villodo. Additionally Collette is a ReikI Master, a national certified massage therapist with additional expertise in La Stone therapy, Thai massage, and Shiatsu massage.
Colette’s thirst for knowledge and truth, fueled by her intuitive abilities, has lead her on a journey of study with medicine men and women of indigenous cultures for seven years. Her multi-disciplinary approach to healing has been recognized by clients around the world.
Cynthia Montrose: Cynthia, The Sanctuary’s biodynamic gardener and chef is a descendant of the Arawak Indians, who lived primarily in what is now Cuba. As farmers, they were known for their highly developed skills, of which Cynthia embodies. She has designed commercial gardens and micro farms throughout Northern Arizona. Located in the high desert climate, Cynthia has amazingly cultivated over 400 varieties of herbs, flowers and vegetables and seeds in The Sanctuary Garden.
Cynthia is also a locally renowned vegetarian chef and has created the menus as well as serving as head chef at various Sedona restaurants. Cynthia’s extensive knowledge and experience with the healing properties of plants and food offer the guests an opportunity to experience high vibrational, nourishing foods and medicinal herbs.
Amalia Camateros: Author of Spirit of the Stones is a naturopathic doctor who has managed her own natural holistic healing center with 14 practitioners for over 15 years, Amalia has worked in the field of health and consciousness for more than 30 years garnering a notable reputation as a ceremonial dancer and powerful facilitator of her shamanic based “EarthSpirit Dance™” workshops.
She draws upon a broad range of healing techniques including deep tissue work, reiki, and chakra balancing with a strong emphasis on the breath for releasing stored tension and clearing blocked energy. As a breath guide, she will adjust breathing patterns to facilitate the release of limiting beliefs that inhibit the free flow of pleasure, ease and grace in the body which re-establishes a healthy template for the integral state of wholeness.
Through the use of a blend of healing modalities of breath, quantum touch, movement, emotional regression, re-tracking and grounding, Amalia will get straight to the heart of the matter: a deep clearing of core issues and “glitches” in the psyche to support healing integration.
Jo Bowlby: The heart of Jo Bowlby’s work is helping people rediscover their natural pace so they can remain balanced and on course within the hectic demands of every day life. Her ability to combine ancient energy medicine with contemporary therapeutic techniques enables Jo to work with individuals at a very deep level allowing them to gracefully resolve even the most challenging inner conflicts and patterns.
Her gentle and pragmatic approach helps individuals to go beyond words to reconnect and source from their true spirit. Jo studied psychotherapy and counseling at Regents College in London. She is a graduate of The Four Winds Institute, and a certified practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming, Hypnotherapy and Time Line therapy. Over the last twenty years Jo has trained in various spiritual disciplines from Zen Buddhism and yoga to shamanism. Jo brings a quintessentially British touch to The Sanctuary and will be dividing her time between Arizona and her private practice in London.
Jon Rasmussen: Jon has studied many of the world’s healing, spiritual, and philosophical traditions over the last 25 years and has incorporated them into his successful shamanic practice. At an earlier age he survived seven near death experiences and later was initiated by several renowned healers. Most recently Jon’s teachers have been the Northern Native Americans and the Q’ero Indians of Peru, through whose techniques he engages the deepest energetic and mythic layers of the soul.
Additionally, he incorporates the leading-edge teachings and techniques of Abraham-Hicks and Thetahealing to help his clients work on and integrate the psychological and physical layers. Jon also has a degree in Electrical Engineering and twelve years working in the high-tech industries in Engineering, Marketing, and Training internationally, and has been involved in starting several businesses related to Finance and E-Commerce.
His ability to bridge the worlds of science and spirit has offered an extraordinary opportunity for the practical application of these deeply healing and empowering shamanic techniques with profound results. Jon also contributes to the mainstreaming of shamanic practice by bringing it into successful collaboration with leaders in Psychology and Psychiatry, the Spa Industry through the Post Ranch Inn, and Architectural Design and Land Use in partnership with Vladimir Frank Architects, and Multi-Media Publishing through Dreamshift Productions, LLC.
Crystal Dawn Morris: Crystal is a certified SkyDancing Tantra Teacher, and founder of Tantra for Awakening. She was first introduced to Tantra in the late 1980s. She draws on a diverse background of 20 years, which includes experience as an RN, a Certified Nurse-Midwife, Reiki Master, and a Shamanic Practitioner.
She offers The Sanctuary guests tantric practices that will allow them to be more present in their daily lives and to access more passion, abundance and joy.
Corey Cooperman: Corey has a passion for astrology and sees the astrological chart as both a blueprint and a roadmap for one’s life. She was drawn to astrology because of its ability to help a person understand their talents, grasp the root source of their challenges, and most importantly, take advantage of cycles of personal growth. She especially is drawn to deliver guidance that helps people with self ‐understanding and healing. Training with The Four Winds along with her time spent in Peru has taught her that one’s destiny is always available for revision.
Corrie has been fascinated with the use of intuition and has taken many trainings to develop her own. She uses that intuition in her readings along with her knowledge acquired from her lifetime involvement with the field of health and wellness. Corrie received a B.S. degree in Nursing from San Francisco State University. She has been an active astrologer since 1991. She has published in The Mountain Astrologer and is certified in Astro*Carto*Graphy. See www.corriecooperman.com for more.
Sarah McLean: Sarah McLean is passionate about teaching and sharing what she’s discovered about the modalities of mind/body health and self awareness. Her mission is to support those who seek fulfilling lives, better health, inner peace, and ways to manage their stress.
Along with her 19-year meditation practice, Sarah’s explored world spiritual and cultural traditions: she's been a 2-year resident in a Zen Buddhist monastery, lived in an ashram in India, taught English to Tibetan Buddhist nuns, bicycled along the silk route through Pakistan, meditated in temples in Thailand and Japan, and trekked the golden triangle in Asia.
Sarah's experience is vast - she was the founding education director of Deepak Chopra's mind-body health center and was personally mentored by him. She directed Byron Katie's international School for the Work, and assisted Seat of the Soul author, Gary Zukav. She was even a medic in the US Army trained to treat soldiers for post-traumatic stress disorder. She was also the founding director of Sustainable Arizona, a non profit organization that teaches people how to build with environmental awareness, and a trustee on the board of Keep Sedona Beautiful.
Phoenix Woman magazine calls Sarah, "an inspirational and dynamic teacher." She’s certified and recommended by Dr. Deepak Chopra, and was awarded the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) award as a trailblazer. Featured in the New York Times and recognized as the face of mainstream meditation, Sarah McLean, director of the Sedona Meditation Training Company, inspires people everywhere to "take time out for time in" through meditation, mind-body health, self-awareness and mindfulness practices.