About Me
Mara Levy at Rainbow Spring Wellness
Thanks for visiting!
Here’s where you can find out more about me and my practice.
First off, I’m Mara Levy - Mara rhymes with Sarah, Levy is pronounced lee-vee, and my pronouns are they/them.
My credentials are MSOT, OTR/L, CLT-LANA, SEP. That pile of letters means I’m a licensed occupational therapist, certified lymphatic therapist, and somatic experiencing practitioner.
(If you care, the acronyms are masters of science in occupational therapy from 2005, occupational therapist registered/licensed since 2005, certified lymphatic therapist by the Lymphatic Association of North America since 2017, and somatic experiencing practitioner from 2024 - but for all that I like collecting letters after my name, they're not the most important things about me.)
More importantly, these are some aspects of my identity you might find relevant.
Queer and genderqueer
Mid fat, white, Xennial
Neurospicy and ADHD-powered
Cancer survivor, mostly nondisabled
Values and mission
You also might be interested in what’s important to me. I prioritize justice, sustainability, and caring for each other’s well-being. I want to see a world that supports joy and safety for us all.
Rainbow Spring Wellness is a large part of how I work to make the world better. As each of us heals, we have more capacity to do good in the world. As we become more whole, we can spread ripples of well-being throughout the world.
We’re living in difficult and dangerous times, but taking care of each other and each doing our part is how we get through.
Some more specific values I bring to my work include:
Anti-racism, anti-oppression, and always anti-fascism
Queer positive and trans affirming
Fat positive and Health At Every Size (HAES) aligned
Sex positive, kink and polyamory friendly
Pagan welcoming
Neuroaffirming and disability aware
Respect for science and also the ways of knowing that can’t be measured scientifically
I’m actively working in immigrant safety and transgender rights. Groups I’m involved with include Doctors for Camp Closure and the Queer Mental Health Initiative.
I take your oppression seriously, even when I don’t share it myself. I don’t always get it right, but I do welcome corrections and the chance to do better.
About Rainbow Spring Wellness
Rainbow Spring Wellness is my solo private practice, where I offer integrative occupational therapy in person and online.
I first opened my virtual doors to clients in spring 2023, opened a physical office space in spring 2024, and left my medical-industrial job to work here full time in summer 2024.
I’m honored to be trusted to provide care by hundreds of people with a wide variety of goals and conditions.
I started Rainbow Spring Wellness to offer healing that’s in alignment with the best of myself.
I have time to do in-depth work with each client, and can limit my availability to give each client my best.
I work to maximize people’s well-being instead of just fixing problems.
I do work that aligns with what my clients care about most, instead of being limited to what we can convince insurance to pay for.
I can incorporate more than just the physical - spiritual and energetic approaches can be used when welcomed.
Plus, I can set my hours to fit my body’s rhythms - sorry, morning people!
I wish I could afford to accept insurance, but I can’t manage it with our broken healthcare system. Instead, I offer sliding scale appointments based on financial need and historic injustices.
Journey to Private Practice
I became an OT because I love how holistic it is - we work with all the parts that make us human, including how we interact with the community and what we do with our lives.
I got my masters in OT from Boston University in 2005, then spent most of the next two decades working in outpatient rehabilitation settings at Medstar and Kaiser Permanente. I have worked with folks as they returned to their lives after strokes or brain injuries, and as they learned to live with progressive disabilities like multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s. I worked in a spinal cord injury day program, a seating and mobility clinic, a nationally known post-polio clinic, and a driving rehabilitation program. Most recently before opening my own practice, I was working as a full time lymphedema specialist and with a multidisciplinary breast cancer clinic.
As I grew more frustrated with the limitations of the medical model, I began to study more integrative approaches. Studying Somatic Experiencing was life-changing, transforming both how I work with clients and how I work with my own nervous system.
The more I learn about how our body affects our mind and vice versa, the more excited I am to work with both together for our overall wellness. I’m leaning on current neuroscience research as well as wisdom of skilled healers before me to build a practice that’s evidence-based while also incorporating subtle listening and energy work.
In addition to my piles of informal study, formal training relevant to my current practice includes:
Certified lymphedema therapist 135-hour professional training from Norton School of Lymphatic Therapy
Lymphedema management in Leduc method
Head & Neck Lymphedema Management from Klose Training
Breast Cancer Rehabilitation from Klose Training
Myofascial Release I from the John Barnes school
Kinesio Taping Assessments, Fundamental Concepts and Techniques from Rehab Education
Mindfulness for Pain from Medbridge
Motivational Interviewing from Medbridge
Modern MLD from International Lymphedema & Wound Training Institute
Certificate in Life Coaching from Oxford Home Study Centre
Plastic Surgery Recovery and Fibrosis Massage from Kathleen Lisson
Neuro-Lymphatic Drainage from Monarch Continuing Education
Somatic Experiencing professional training from Somatic Experiencing International
Focusing from Annette Dubreuil
3 Steps to Improving Interoception: An Evidence-Based Approach from Kelly Mahler
Craniosacral Therapy I and II with the Upledger Institute
Foundations of Development: Sensory Processing, Regulation, and Relationship from STAR Institute
Interoception Supports for Chronic Pain, Health Management & Emotional Well-Being in Adults with Kelly Mahler
Autistic Burnout - Understand it, Support it, Prevent it with Kelly Mahler
Touch Skills for Trauma Therapists (module 1) with Kathy Kain
Visceral Manipulation I with the Barral Institute
Teaching and Speaking
I’m an educator, speaker, and podcast guest in various healthcare, professional, spirituality, and adult settings. My speaking experience includes professional training programs, conference workshops, medical grand rounds speeches, support groups, and adult education classes.
I’m currently adjunct faculty at Potomac Massage Training Institute where I teach manual lymphatic drainage and special populations in massage therapy.
Currently offered speaking topics include:
Doing better: How to manage first reactions to getting called in
Be a safer provider with size-neutral care
The magic of embodiment
Trusting your body after cancer
Neuro-lymphatics: Supporting wellness in cancer and beyond
Activism & mental health: Supporting resiliency
Trusting your queer body
Becoming a hero: How to do something when the world needs us
This is your brain on kink: Exploring the threat response cycle in kinky play
I welcome opportunities to speak! If you’re interested in having me present one of the above classes or create something new for your group, please reach out via my contact form.
