About Regina Rivers

Background Information
Educational Background and Skills
Life Experience

Background Information

Regina Rivers Regina knew from a very young age that when she grew up she would be helping people heal in some manner even though she knew she wouldn’t become a doctor or a nurse and had no idea what psychology was much less body energy work or shamanism! She simply had an inner “knowing” and opened to it step by step until, through so many synchronicities, she found her path and purpose. As each new turn on the path opened up to her, she felt as if she had come home!

Over the years, those synchronicities, and her passion for learning about different cultures, lead her to study Buddhism, Sikhism, Native (Original) American traditions, earth-based religions and Core Shamanism. Today, she combines skills that came to her both naturally and from teachers of diverse spiritual backgrounds when working with her clients.

Some of Regina’s teachers include: Tom Cowan, Ph.D, Cecile Carson, M.D., don Oscar Mira-Quesada, Lewis Mehl-Madrona M.D., Ph.D, Brooke Medicine Eagle, Grandmother Patricia "Mechi" Garza, Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, Bhante Yogavacara Rahula, Rev. Patrick McCollum, Betsy Bergstrom, Nora Cedarwind Young, and Kristin Madden. After time, she came to understand that the flavor of the modalities she was learning wasn’t as important as the intent behind the healing, that with the highest healing intention in mind, at their very core, all traditions are much the same.

Presently, at Rivers Healing Arts, LLC, Regina offers: Journeying sessions, Shamanic Extractions, Soul Retrievals, Soul Hiding, and card readings from The Shaman’s Oracle deck. She also offers Holistic Relationship Coaching, Ascension Energy bodywork, Past Life Regressions, her individualized form of Narrative Medicine, UpWriting Yourself™ classes, Death Midwifery services, Meditation and Relaxation Techniques.

Regina is an ongoing column writer for Soul Bridging, an online community that invites you to spiritually awaken. Her articles can be found at https://soulbridging.com/explore/conscious-living/shamanism/, under the title Shamanism: Bridging Worlds. Regina writes about all aspects of shamanism as presented to her through its history, both ancient and modern; her personal life story; her formal training and her continuing experiences as they magically unfold. Please join her there, read her articles, leave comments and continue the conversation!

From 2009-2018, Regina chaired SITE NITE (Spiritual, Intuitive and Telepathic Expansion), a non-profit organization since 2015, that she found. SITE NITE was a spiritual community in Pittsburgh PA that offered bi-monthly presentations on a multitude of consciousness-raising topics. For 9 1/2 years, SITE NITE welcomed both national and international presenters.

Educational Background and Skills

Tom Cowan Regina Rivers Regina graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Sociology and minor degrees in Psychology, Religious Studies, and Women’s Studies.

Her shamanic studies began with training from Celtic Shamanic Practitioner, Tom Cowan in 2003 and since then have taken her through 2-years of intensive study and apprenticeship work with Cecile Carson, M.D., as well as a 25-week advanced training course in the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition (PMT) with Peruvian Shaman, don Oscar Mira Quesada. Her Peruvian training continues with Judy Hoaglund, a senior teacher of the PMT. In 2012, Regina traveled to the Peruvian Amazon jungle to partake in 15-days of sacred plant medicine work with a shaman and medicine man through the guidance of the Children of the Sun founder, Tiara Kumara. Along the way, Regina has also learned Compassionate Depossession work from Betsy Bergstrom, Narrative Medicine approaches from Lewis Mehl-Medrona and Death Midwifery from Nora Cedarwind Young.

Regina also has comprehensive training in crisis advocacy through the Alice Paul House women's shelter in Indiana PA as well as in-depth Hospice training at Forbes Hospice in Pittsburgh, PA. Over the years, Regina learned relaxation techniques and has experienced several 10-day silent meditation retreats with Bhante Henepola Gunaratana and Bhante Yogavacara Rahula at the Bhavana Society in West Virginia and with Christine Feldman, among others, at the Insight Meditation Center in Barre Massachusetts.

Along with personal training in Primal Release, she is a certified Reiki Master and Kolaimni practitioner, and has facilitated her personal form of Ascension Energy since 1984.

Life Experience

Regina has been a Relationship Coach since 1995. Clients include individuals, couples, and parents. In the past she has worked with many other businesses including: Indiana University of Pennsylvania's Continuing Education Department, Unity Church of Harrisburg, Schindler Elevators of Gettysburg, Clarion University Small Business Development Center, High Industries in Lancaster, PA, and The Alice Paul House, Indiana, PA. She has lectured at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and at churches in the Indiana, Harrisburg, and Hershey areas.

Regina also enjoys writing about relationships and human nature. Her article, "The Alchemy of Healing: Transforming from Victim to Victor" appears in the book Sexual Lives, and she co-wrote the textbooks, Managing Authentically: Combining Ancient Wisdom and Modern Psychology in the Workplace and Relating From Your Heart.

Regina teaches several workshops that include Creating Sacred Altars; Intro to Ascension Energy; Intro to Core Shamanism; and a four-part workshop on Power Animals, Basic Journeying, Journeying to Discover Your Power Animal, and Dancing Your Power Animal. In 1991, Regina created UpWriting Yourself™, a workshop that uses writing and journaling as tools for inner healing. She has facilitated this workshop in numerous venues. See Workshops Page for a full description of all workshops. Please contact her if you are interested in inviting her to teach for your organization.