Melissa (Mellie) Artema

I came into this world empathic, energetically sensitive, and naturally aligned with a kind of language that goes deeper than words. I have always had a profound interest in holistic ways of seeing and exploring the human experience. 

I became fascinated by the human body and the world around me as a child and began diligently studying herbal medicine, learning to identify plants, practicing reflexology, and studying everything I could find related to holistic healing in the late 1980's. I found yoga in 1993 which sparked my love for embodiment practices. I have continued to develop and focus my skills through the present, extensively studying, practicing, and integrating numerous healing modalities into my own life for both personal and professional development. I have studied dozens of bodywork styles, energy medicine modalities, acupuncture techniques, and methods of working with plant medicine with many prominent herbalists, qigong masters, shamans, somatic psychotherapists, and other integrative healing professionals.

My professional background is heavily focused on wellness and healing arts, providing body-centered therapies, services, and education to promote holistic ways of thinking, building self-awareness, and creating conscious personal growth. My work uses multiple, eclectic modalities to offer opportunities to slow down, connect, reflect, learn, holistically process, and expand our human experience. 
I use a collaborative approach, encouraging a high level of personal responsibility and taking action in support of one's own well-being while also honoring mystery, paradox, less "doing," and the more intangible and subtle ways in which personal growth, transformation, and integration happens. I tend to attract gentle souls who are empathic, highly sensitive, or neurodivergent. My work is informed through my own lived experience with neurodivergence and complex chronic illnesses. Sessions are offered through the lenses of somatics, energetics, acupuncture theory, yoga philosophy, and other integrated perspectives. I offer supports focused on holistic trauma resolution, somatic practices, bodywork, Eastern methodologies, peer support values, and soul tending from a grounded, body-based framework. 

While I love learning, I also acknowledge that our education systems are broken and unhealthy in many ways. I have an even greater appreciation for lived experience, integration and reflection work, contemplative practices, and intentional personal growth work. It is this kind of consistent and ongoing work that allows us to truly gain wisdom through experiencing the wholeness of our humanity. Formal education can enrich these experiences but can never be a substitute for them. My formal academic studies include acupuncture, transpersonal counseling, and ecopsychology-focused integrative health.

My passion and current doctoral work is focused in the area of education and leadership around neurodivergence-affirming care and trauma-informed care, across disciplines. While my research is primarily focused on supporting healthcare providers in learning how to cultivate a sense of polyvagal safety in the treatment room, this work is relevant for anybody who interacts with neurodivergent individuals, those who have experienced trauma, or those who have sensitive systems.

Credentials Include

  • State of Wisconsin Certified Acupuncturist with a specialization in Eastern Medicine Psychology and No-Needle Energy Medicine Techniques
    • Supporting post-trauma growth
    • Renegotiating developmental trauma & relational wounding
    • Building nervous system regulation skills
    • Supporting the neurodivergent experience
    • Working with concerns around chronic pain and complex chronic illnesses
  • National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Diplomate of Acupuncture, NCCAOM® National Board-Certified Acupuncturist
  • Bodyworker
    • CranioSacral Therapy courses through Heartwood Institute of Integrative Medicine and Upledger Institute International for supporting organization in the nervous system, tissues, and substances of the body
    • NeuroAffective Touch®, courses with Dr. Aline LaPierre, for healing the relational matrix, working with developmental trauma, and supporting body-mind integration
    • Reflexology
    • Cupping Therapy
    • TuiNa Chinese Medical Massage
    • Thai Yoga Bodywork
  • Energy Medicine Practitioner
    • Pranic Healing®
    • ​The Four Winds Light Body School, the teachings of Dr. Alberto Villoldo in Shamanic Energy Medicine practices and Advanced Master Practitioner courses to support personal healing and transformation​
    • Lorie Eve Dechar, Alchemical Acupuncture courses including The Seven Po and the Wisdom of the Body Soul, Wu Shen - A Technology of Transformation, A Five Spirit Approach to Treating Shock and Trauma, and others  
    • ​Bruce Burger, Polarity Therapy for Somatic Emotional Clearing: A Unique Synthesis of Transpersonal and Somatic Psychology
    • Multiple Qigong Styles
    • ​​Reiki Master & Teacher
    • Working with the the Pancha Maya Kosha model, various Chakra Healing methods, and multiple energy medicine lineages / rites
  • Movement & Embodiment Practices
    • ​Somatic Experiencing®, courses through Somatic Experiencing International®, developed by Dr. Peter Levine, for post-trauma growth and nervous system regulation support
    • ​Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Exploring the Embodiment of Cellular Consciousness through Movement
    • ​Bessel van der Kolk, M.D., 2 Day Trauma Conference: The Body Keeps the Score​​​​
    • ​Viniyoga
    • Trauma-Informed Yoga
    • Yoga for Transformation
    • Restorative Yoga
    • Yoga Nidra
  • Institute for Integrative Nutrition® Certified Health Coach, offering support focused on The Wahls Protocol
  • Flower Essence Practitioner & Plant Medicine Educator (Plant Identification, Medicine Making & Clinical Skills)
  • Ordained Minister
    • Soul tending & sacred council
    • Spiritual counseling and healing practices
    • Support that honors InterSpiritual values
    • Ritual guide and retreat facilitator
    • Death doula / death rites 
  • State of Wisconsin Certified Peer Specialist, focusing on neurodivergence and trauma recovery
  • Group Facilitator for Alternatives to Suicide and Hearing Voices Network through Wildflower Alliance / Western Mass Recovery Learning Community
Artema Somatics LLC
800 Wilson Avenue, Suite 51
​Menomonie, WI 54751