We recently had the chance to connect with Elizabeth Haberer and have shared our conversation below.
Elizabeth , a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
My mornings start with about 30 minutes playing with my German Shepherd, Apollo. It’s been our ritual since he was a puppy and it’s converted me into a morning person!
After that, I head out to my shala for my daily Ashtanga yoga practice. Practicing in community grounds me and reminds me I’m part of something bigger before I step into the rest of my day.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a bilingual licensed psychotherapist and certified yoga teacher with over twenty years of experience walking alongside people as they navigate trauma, PTSD, and life’s stuck places. My roots are in community mental health. I’ve worked in bilingual inpatient and outpatient settings in Houston and Pittsburgh, and now have a private practice in Houston and Austin.
My practice is built around the belief that healing doesn’t look the same for everyone. Some people come to me wanting the deep, life-changing work of psychoanalysis; others need practical tools right away, like EMDR, ERP, ACT, or trauma-informed yoga to help the body remember safety.
I’m also certified in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies through the California Institute of Integral Studies and offer ketamine-assisted psychotherapy as one more doorway into healing.
I believe healing is collaborative and embodied. We hold so much in our minds and our bodies, so I bring my yoga practice, somatic approaches, and mindfulness into the room alongside traditional talk therapy.
Together, my clients and I co-create a path that honors who they are now and who they’re becoming.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
So much of what breaks the bonds between people is unacknowledged pain, unspoken shame and old wounds, Over time, this pain hardens into patterns that keep us apart.
In my work as a therapist, I see how restoring connection is less about fixing people and more about creating enough safety for truth to emerge. This entails creating space for grief, anger, longing, and tenderness to have somewhere to land.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering taught me to stay with what hurts without shutting down. I’ve learned that pain asks us to soften, not harden. It taught me how to hold space for my own fear and sorrow, so I could be strong enough to hold space for someone else’s.
Success can grant credentials, knowledge, reputation and rooms to work in. However, suffering gave me the humility and humanity to sit in those rooms with real people and the real stories that live in their bodies and minds. It also gave me the opportunity to become a spiritual seeker, and to find yoga as a life path.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
My fiends know how much community and connection matter to me. They also know that my work as a therapist and yoga teacher is a calling, not just a job.
I think they’d also say I care about beauty in the everyday. Good food, travel, family, taking pride in my Mexican identity, yoga, my dog Apollo’s goofy joy, and learning.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: When do you feel most at peace?
I feel most at peace in the quiet moments when I can just be fully present in my body and breath. Early in the morning on my yoga mat, while the world is still waking up. walking with my dog, Apollo under the stars, and when I remember to come back to the present moment.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.elizabethhaberer.org/
- Instagram: Thrive_traumainformedyoga
Image Credits
Amanda Stronza, Silvina Rearte, Suzanne Covert
