Hailing from her native Singapore, has over 15 years of experience healing trauma through yoga, mindfulness, art, and counseling. Atira holds a Master’s Degree in Art Therapy from La Trobe University, Melbourne, and has been featured on TEDx. She is also the founder of Art to Healing and the international Yogathon event, Yoga for Freedom. Her work is dedicated to trauma recovery, supporting individuals and communities through therapeutic and healing practices.

Atira has worked extensively throughout Asia and Australia, spearheading programs that empower women and girls who have survived sexual abuse and exploitation in the sex trafficking industry. Since 2004, she has designed and implemented trauma-informed art therapy, somatic healing, and mindfulness programs for vulnerable populations, partnering with international organizations to bring these modalities to refugee camps in Burma, war zones in Cambodia, the brothels of Kathmandu, post-earthquake recovery efforts in Nepal, and remote Aboriginal communities in Australia.

Mentorship at AYA Healing Retreats

Atira now serves as Mentor for Facilitators and Practitioners at AYA Healing Retreats, playing a pivotal role in the development and training of trauma-informed facilitators and healers. Through structured mentorship, supervision, and guidance, she ensures that the AYA Healing team maintains the highest ethical, professional, and trauma-sensitive standards in their work with plant medicine. Her mentorship program provides practitioners with ongoing support, reflective practices, and skills refinement, fostering a safe and integrity-driven healing environment for all participants.

In addition, she has trained extensively in trauma recovery approaches, including Somatic Experiencing, EMDR, Neuroaffective Touch, and Polyvagal Theory, and is currently training as a Womb Surround Facilitator.

As the Founder and Clinical Director of Art to Healing, Atira has developed groundbreaking trauma recovery programs for sex-trafficked survivors in Asia, pioneering research on the efficacy of Somatic Experiencing, Creative Art Therapies, and Reproductive Health Education in empowering BIPOC survivors of gender-based violence and complex trauma. She also co-developed and delivered the first-ever Somatic Experiencing Trauma Resolution training for sex-trafficked survivors in collaboration with SETI and Lotus Circle International.

Atira is deeply committed to fostering transformative healing experiences, integrating cutting-edge trauma therapies with ancient wisdom traditions to support practitioners, facilitators, and participants on their healing paths.