Our Team
Barra Kahn, Founder and Director
Barra Kahn, M.A., ACCEP, has a life-long affinity for somatics work. She has been teaching yoga for over 40 years, and was a professional dancer for more than a decade. Committed to being a conduit for change, her training and advanced certification in Core Energetics has brought together her graduate degree in Psychology and her love of exploring the language of the body. Barra is senior faculty at the Institute of Core Energetics and was also a professor of Communication at George Mason University with a focus on Nonverbal Communication skills both for groups and individuals for over 20 years. For nine years, Barra was on the faculty and Artistic Director of The National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts. This broad experience makes her uniquely adept to assist the healing of deep wounds and inner conflicts by melding the powerful work of Core Energetics with her other creative modalities. Barra is a member of the United States Association of Body Psychotherapists (USABP), Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals (ABMP), and Yoga Alliance.
Lisa Loustaunau, Academic Coordinator and Faculty
Lisa Loustaunau, MFA, ACCEP, has been practicing Core Energetics body psychotherapy for more than 24 years. She is the former Director of Education at the Institute of Core Energetics in New York and is highly regarded as an international workshop leader, process facilitator, teacher, and supervisor of Core Energetics practitioners worldwide (USA, Canada, Mexico, Holland, Israel, Brazil and Australia). Her passion is to support others to transform unconscious defense patterns held in the body to bring forth authentic presence, openhearted courage, deep and loving connection, and embodied leadership. Her private practice is in Stamford, CT.
Kate Holt, Faculty
Kate Holt RN, ACCEP, CTP has facilitated personal transformation with individuals and groups in her private practice since 1995. Since 2003, her primary modality has been Core Energetics. She is a certified trauma professional, who is also certified in Exceptional Marriage Mentoring and Radical Aliveness. Since 2016, she has served as the Executive Director of the Institute of Core Energetics, a nonprofit training organization in New York, where she also teaches in the Institute’s four-year practitioner and postgraduate programs. Kate teaches Core Energetics, supervises practitioners, and provides leadership and business consulting, internationally. Kate has a deep love for the work of Core Energetics, its evolutionary nature and its ripple effect in the world.
Elizabeth Carl, Faculty
Liz Carl, LCSW, CCEP, EMM, has worked as a Core Energetics body psychotherapist, teacher and supervisor for the last 3 decades. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, a retired Addictions Counselor and a Trauma Specialist. She works with individuals, groups and couples.
She is also the Co-Director of the first Core Energetics training Institute in Eastern Europe, Core Energetics Polska.
She is a long time teacher at the New York Core institute where she originally trained with John Pierrakos, the founder of Core Energetics. She teaches Core Energetics internationally and is a founding member of the International Association of Core Energetics. She has recently become a member and Supervisor of the Polish Federation of Psychotherapists.
Aimee Falchuk, Faculty
Aimee Falchuk, MPH, M. ED, CCEP holds a B.A. in Women's Studies from Barnard College, a Master's in Public Health from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Master's in Education in Counseling and Psychology from Cambridge College Graduate School of Counseling and Psychology and Practitioner Certification in Core Energetics from the Institute of Core Energetics, NYC. Aimee has a private practice and is a faculty member at the Institute of Core Energetics. Aimee is the founder of The Falchuk Group, a personal and corporate consulting platform with an emphasis on personal development. Aimee is a contributing writer for the wellness magazine Goop and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Hadassah Foundation and Mental Health America.
Jim Johnston, Faculty
Jim Johnston, ACCEP, Academic Director at the Institute of Core Energetics, has been in practice for 10 years. Jim began as a Core Energetics client and found tremendous personal transformation leading him to a practice in NYC, positions at ICE, NYC Living Core, Nyack Living Core, international teaching, and co-founding Corevolution NYC. He believes in the power of this work to change lives.
Stacy Maddox, Intern
Stacy Maddox is a certified Core Energetics practitioner (CCEP) and a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC). She has a passion for helping clients work toward trauma resolution and in supporting them find their internal resilience and healing. She has a strong belief that emotional trauma, old beliefs and messaging reside in the body, and she works with clients by using modalities such as Core Energetics, experientials and other somatic interventions to facilitate healing and change. Stacy has an individual and creative approach toward her work as she maintains that cookie-cutter therapy does not serve the individual.
Caroline Goddard, Intern
Caroline (Meuschke) Goddard has had a lifelong interest in the mind-body connection. Her diverse background combines her degree in psychology, certification from The Institute of Core Energetics, education in behavior analysis, and extensive training in workplace conduct, ethics, and conflict resolution. She also has over 20 years of training in body movement and dance. Caroline has a private practice based in Richmond, Virginia where she sees clients both virtually and in person. She offers heart-centered sessions that guide individuals in cultivating a pathway for healing trauma and pain in a safe, supportive environment.
Ingrid Sanden, Communications
Ingrid Sanden is a digital communications consultant at Next Generation Core. Previously, she co-founded an educational tech company in Arlington, Virginia. Most recently, she specialized in social media strategy and website development for small businesses and political campaigns as an independent contractor. She develops strategic partnerships, coordinates message development, and manages events. Ingrid graduated with a BA in journalism from the University of Minnesota’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Our team is composed of a group of expert Core Energetics teachers with
advanced certifications and extensive teaching experience.