From Olympian to Somatic Therapist: An Interview with Jamie (Silverstein) Van Auken

I first met Jamie back in 2010 in Ithaca, NY. I was fresh out of graduate school and took the first art therapy job I could find which happened to be at an eating disorder treatment program. Jamie was the program manager. We quickly got to know each other and became close friends, bonding over shared interests in mental health, yoga, and creativity. In 2012 we both left Ithaca and went our separate ways—Jamie moved to Seattle where she opened her yoga studio, The Grinning Yogi, and I moved to Gainesville, FL where I took a job as an art therapist at an inpatient eating disorder treatment program…