Claudia Alabiso
In 2004, after completing her undergraduate degree at Franklin and Marshall College in Psychology and English Literature, Claudia Alabiso was back in Washington about to begin graduate school. One day Claudia noticed droves of people looking “completely drenched, half-dressed, and totally elated” filing out of a small door in a random strip mall, and curiosity got the better of her. She went inside to investigate and soon found herself enrolled in her first Bikram class. Yoga became a daily practice that changed Claudia’s athletic capability, got her into her flexibility, improved her ability to focus, and was personally healing. In 2005, Claudia found Gary Olson’s power yoga, and was hooked.
She continued her yoga practice while at Seattle Pacific University, earning her Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy. During grad school, Claudia worked as a mental health specialist at the inpatient unit of Overlake Medical Center Hospital and as a family counselor at Youth Eastside Services. Upon graduation, she was Research Coordinator for John Gottman’s Relationship Research Institute before starting her own practice.
In 2008, she moved to New York City to start her full-time MFT practice in Manhattan as a chemical dependency therapist and as a relationship therapist. At Greenwich House, Claudia worked with chemically dependent individuals from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds. In addition to her role at the chemical dependency clinic, Claudia worked in a private practice clinic on Madison Avenue, before opening her own practice specializing in treating troubled relationships as well as people who need to improve poor relationship patterns and habits. She also specializes in treating couples where one, or both individuals, were chemically dependent. While in New York, Claudia tried a wide variety of yoga studios, but could never find one that measured up. Instead, she dedicated herself to taking dance at S Factor, learning movement and expression in a new and transformational way that would eventually lead her back to her yoga practice.
When she returned to Kirkland, Claudia taught master’s level psychology at Antioch University for two and a half years, as well as pole fitness at Divine Movement for three years, and delved fully into yoga. As a psychotherapist, she had a clear vision of incorporating yoga into therapy, and knew she would train to teach yoga as part of the process. She trained extensively with Gary, completing his first ever teacher training. She has attended Raja and Advanced Raja courses, as well as Anatomy, Ayurveda, hands-on Adjustment courses, posture clinics and advanced workshops. She has taught five teacher trainings.
Claudia co-owns and operates GO Yoga, and runs all the teacher training workshops and sessions. This is in addition to her successful private MFT practice, which she continues to maintain, seeing her east coast clients over Skype and phone sessions, as well as meeting clients locally. Her goal of merging therapy and yoga has begun to crystallize—many of her clients now apply yoga principles to their lives, their relationships, and to their personal practices.
With what little free time there is outside of her private practice, Claudia loves to travel and has been an avid traveler since she was a toddler. London-born Claudia emigrated to the Seattle area with her British mother and Italian father and has spent a great deal of time in Europe over the years. Claudia also hosted a yoga retreat in Mexico, and looks forward to future travels with her yogi family.
Claudia has two dogs, a Cavadoodle called Juno and a German Shepherd named Angus. She enjoys reading, hanging out with friends and family, and staying active, always up for trying new workouts. And because of Claudia’s Italian heritage, cooking and appreciating good food is in her blood. She’s committed to a healthy lifestyle and enjoys researching nutrition and staying up to date on how to use food to support a thriving body and life.
Certifications/skills/ training:
Ashram certified instructor
Certified Pole Fitness instructor
Additional languages:
Italian