About micheal hooker, ph.d.
Hi, I'm micheal hooker, ph.d. (they/them), founder of Embodied Purpose, body-based educator, academic advisor, and embodiment coach. I help professionals, academics, and creatives build the capacity to sustain their work without burning out or abandoning themselves.
The Heart of This Work
I hold a doctorate in Transformative Studies and have spent over 20 years as a somatic educator and practitioner. I know what it takes for real transformation to occur. The work I do grows from a deep belief in personal and collective change, and the approach I take with every client comes down to this:
You are not a problem.
Through Embodied Purpose, I offer relational body-based education that recognizes your body as something to listen to and care for, not fix. Together, we'll build strategies to recognize your capacity, avoid burnout, and more fully embody the work you're here to do.
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Growing up in a small southern town, I often felt as if my existence, needs, and body were a problem to solve. I moved through life emotionally guarded, with a disorganized attachment style, hyper-vigilant, and touch-avoidant. Navigating institutions, whether in art, academia, or public life, only deepened this sense of needing to be fixed.
After attending massage school, and when I finally felt safe enough, I began tuning into my sensorimotor cues and listening to what my body had to say about the world. I then began to recognize my attachment and defense patterns, make more intentional relational choices, and nourish myself with more clarity and ease.
What I once saw as dysfunction in my body, I came to understand as a wise response to oppressive systems acting on and through me.
My body was never the problem.
Neither is yours.
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Licensed massage therapist since 2002
Somatic educator since 2010
Over 24 years in the somatic therapies industry
Certifications & training highlights:
Massage therapy
Polarity therapy
Somatic experiencing
Jungian dream work
Somatic cinema therapies
Embodied recovery from eating disorders
Academic credentials:
BA in Psychology with training in anthroposophic counseling
MA in Art and Public Policy
PhD in Transformative Studies
Research focus: Personal and collective change as lived through the body, reflected in care-work, art, and public life. Dissertation work explores coping with insidious trauma and embodiments of mutual care in queer screen cultures.
My Ethos
As a white service provider living in the Global North, I am committed to dismantling the myth of meritocracy entangled in the wellness and mental healthcare industries. This is reflected in my additive approach to body-based education, my lifelong commitment to cultural humility, and sliding-scale fees when possible.
Values: Resilience-informed. Identity and body-affirming. Culturally humble. No fixing, just transformative resourcing.
And, this is Atticus, virtual therapy dog at large.
“The mind is like the wind and the body like the sand: if you want to know how the wind is blowing , you can look at the sand.”
Ready to work together?
Through 1:1 body-based education, we'll build the capacity to sustain your work, your relationships, and your whole self.