5th Annual IFC Conference

Dr. Karen Appel is a licensed Naturopathic Doctor who loves to help people become the strongest versions of themselves.

A graduate of Bastyr University, Dr. Appel is also a 14-year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard and holds an MBA from the University of Washington Foster School of Business. As a naturopathic doctor, she addresses the whole person, with individualized care plans focused on treating the cause of illness, with an emphasis on patient education.

Dr. Appel offers wellness programs that integrate with and complement primary care to help each individual take charge of their health once and for all. She uses a wide range of natural and conventional therapies to support patients ability to achieve their individual goals.

Before becoming a naturopathic doctor, Dr. Appel spent several years as a Crossfit Level 1 trainer and nutrition counselor in addition to her full time military career. She has competed in local weightlifting events, practices yoga, and is a strong believer in the power of meditation. To recharge, Dr. Appel loves traveling to tropical destinations to soak up the sun and scuba dive. During shorter breaks, you can find her day hiking, cooking delicious meals, and playing with three rambunctious cats.

Lahab Al-Samarrai is the founder/managing director of the Institute for Conflict and JAMP™ Training Institute, and developer of Jungian Advanced Motor Processing™ (JAMP™). He is the host of several podcasts, including the IFC’s own Individuation Podcast and the JTI’s Magician’s Call podcast featuring Lance Allred.

I support individuals who desire to make a transformational change in their lives toward freedom. I believe that within us is the strength and grace to release ourselves from whatever roadblock has presented or presents before us.

My mission, as your transformational coach, is to provide a safe and powerful platform of self discovery, movement and release so you can embrace yourself, wholly, and live a life of possibility.

I am a motivational speaker, author, and business owner. I quit my Corporate America job around 23 years old to chase my dreams and passions wholeheartedly. My gym is called Y5Fitness and I’ve been building it since 2017 as a place for people to heal and grow through fitness. I’m passionate about leaving this world better than I found it. I want to share my heart with the world one day because I believe there is power in transparency and in my own unique way I will use my gifts and what was given to me for the greatest good, I hope to inspire others to do this as well.

I earned my doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine from Bastyr University specializing in nutritional therapies. In addition, I completed a Master’s in Public Health with a thesis project in molecular epidemiology from Simon Fraser University and an undergraduate degree in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of British Columbia. I also have training in whole foods nutrition, yoga, botanicals, gemmo therapy, homeopathy, IV therapy, craniosacral and visceral manipulation.

Prior to pursuing a career in holistic healthcare, I worked in biomedical and socio-behavioural research and spent a significant amount of time in South Africa. After graduating from Bastyr University, I worked at Advanced Medical Therapies in Seattle under the mentorship of Dr. Paul Anderson developing comprehensive nutritional programs to support in the treatment of complex chronic illness.

My clinical specialties are nutritional wellbeing, nutrient deficiencies, therapeutic nutrition, stress, anxiety, sleep support, women’s health (including menstrual cycle wellness, amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, PMS, fibroids, PCOS, infertility, & menopause), hormone support, endocrine dysfunction, acne, digestive disorders, cardiovascular disease, blood sugar imbalances, diabetes, and general wellbeing.

Nolan Wade is a Senior Learning Practitioner and Consultant with a focus on learning technology and instructional design. With over 25 years of experience, Mr. Wade currently serves as the Chief People Officer for Above PAR Advisors, a boutique consultancy based in New York city which offers services in healthcare and healthcare education. His clients have included Fortune 50 organizations and higher educational institutions whose medical, dental, and nursing academic rankings are among the best and highest. Mr. Wade holds a Bachelors in Psychology and M.Ed in Curriculum Development and Adult Learning from DePaul University. He also enjoys endurance sports and is an active tri-athlete, cyclist, and marathon runner.

From an early age she became very curious about the nature of the human condition and fascinated by the mind-body-spirit connection. Gigi’s formal education includes earning a Bachelor of Science degree in dietetics and nutrition from Florida International University, completing a dietetic internship, and a Master of Arts degree in counseling psychology at Bastyr University in 2021. During her master’s degree, Gigi trained in Jungian Advanced Motor Processing (JAMP™) under the guidance of Dr. Lahab Al-Samarrai. Gigi has also completed multiple yoga teacher trainings in mindfulness, meditation, and in hatha and vinyasa styles of yoga.

Gigi works in her private practice, Embody Nutrition & Integrative Therapies, based in Seattle, Washington which provides services in-person and through telehealth. Her practice offers nutrition counseling, medical nutrition therapy, mental health counseling, embodiment, and mindfulness practices, and JAMP™ therapy. Gigi specializes in disorder eating, eating disorders, food behavior, and body image and works with both adolescents and adults.

Gigi originally from Venezuela, is bilingual and offers therapies in Spanish and English.

Melinda Powell co-founded the Dream Research Institute at the Centre for Counselling and Psychotherapy Education, London, to promote research into dreams and wellbeing. She has served as past vice-president of the International Association for the Study of Dreams and as director of the DRI and HELP Counselling Centre. She has worked as a psychotherapist and now teaches on dream guidance and lucid dreaming. She is author of The Hidden Lives of Dreams (Bonnier Books UK, 2019) and Lucid Surrender: The Alchemy of the Soul in Lucid Dreaming (Archive Publishing, 2021). www.melindapowelldreams.com

Son of Swiss Psychiatrist and Jungian Analyst Adolf Guggenbühl Craig and Scottish Artist and Folk Singer Anne Craig. Childhood in Omaha, U.S.A and Zürich, Switzerland. After receiving a teacher diploma and a teaching spell in Zürich, studies in classical guitar with Manual Lopez Ramos in Mexico City. Music teacher in various music schools in Switzerland, before studying Psychology and Education at the University of Zürich (Ph.D.) School Psychologist in Frick, before becoming Director of the Department of Group Therapy at the Educational Counselling Centre of the State of Bern (1987–2017) and Professor at the University of Education of the State of Zürich (1997–2017). Since 1997 Director of the Institute for Conflict Management and Mythodrama in Zürich (www.ikm.ch) and Private Practice in Zürich (www.allanguggenbuehl.ch). Guggenbühl is author of several books and well known as specialist in conflict management and youth issues.

Sandra is a contributing lecturer at the Philosophical Research Society, where she offers the “Jung, Myth, and the Archetypal Imagination” course. She teaches adjunct at Pacifica Graduate Institute on Jung and Mesoamerica and works as a mentor, where she integrates dreams, myth, and ritual art. Sandra also offers limpia ceremonies, a Mexican indigenous purification ritual that she learned while studying with traditional healers throughout Mexico, including Michoacán, her ancestral heritage.

Katherine (“Kate”) Ladd is a recovered California employment law litigator and Australia trained naturopath currently pursuing her PhD in Jungian and Archetypal Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara. The dissertation she is currently working on explores how people hold conflict in their bodies, and particularly how women tend to internalize conflict to create self-destructive chronic illness. She has presented her work on discovering “soul in symptom” internationally at conferences in Australia, China, Europe, and the US. She earned her law degree at the University of California Berkeley School of Law in 2005 and plans to return to full mediation practice upon completion of her psychology PhD dissertation.