Alaine Ball, MA
I have experienced states of non-ordinary reality and sensitivity to the spirit world throughout my life, beginning in early childhood. Raised in a culture with no framework for supporting people with sensitivities, and lacking contact with a belief system acknowledging the existence of nonmaterial realms, by adolescence, I became destabilized to the point of struggling with severe depression and anxiety and suffering unexplained physical issues such as frequent fainting and chronic fatigue. I consulted many specialists and was prescribed all manner of psychiatric medications, including antipsychotics, and eventually dropped out of high school for a period, unable to function in day-to-day reality. This state of what I now understand as a spiritual emergency continued throughout my twenties, with recurring cycles of crisis that disrupted my life in profound ways.
Despite the hold this pain had over me, I always considered myself a “seeker,” with strong interest in Buddhism and animist practices. As a younger person, I sat many Vipassana retreats, participated in many plant medicine ceremonies, and was exposed to Vedanta. These traditions and worldviews have been foundational to my spiritual development and helped alleviate some of my emotional and physical suffering, however, a deeper process of healing and spiritual emergence began in my early thirties when I initiated as a trance medium into the Brazilian Umbanda tradition. Umbanda provided the structure and community container to safely build relationships with spirits and to explore archetypes, energy work, and the psyche. In this setting, I had the opportunity to support many people in acute states of spiritual emergency, including members of the public who came to our temple in São Paulo for free consultations, as well as fellow practitioners as they moved from emergency to emergence in the course of mediumship development. I gained practical experience in recognizing and removing entity attachments and understanding their influence on health, in holding ceremonial space, in deep listening, and in spiritual protection.
Umbanda is a practice deeply rooted in reverence for nature, a value that continues to shape both my personal path and professional work. Outside of ceremonial spaces, I have trained in additional nature-based modalities to support myself and others, including horticultural therapy and herbalism. I also have a background in ecology and art and see science, creativity, and spirituality not as separate disciplines, but as complementary pathways to wonder and self-knowledge.
I am very grateful to have arrived at IMHU and now be in a position to offer the support I didn’t have in the U.S. Drawing on my history as a psychiatric patient and spiritual experiencer, seeker, and practitioner, I can provide empathic peer support grounded in lived experience. I hold safe, nonjudgmental space where each person’s story is welcomed and heard, and I am humbled by the courage of the people who’ve shared their stories with me. I feel especially called to work with those who are exploring a spiritual connection to nature, who may be dealing with entity attachments or issues of psychic safety, who are undergoing a psychic opening or communicating with guides or entities, who identify as having periods of “dark nights of the soul,” or who may be navigating a newfound relationship with religion or spirituality as part of their emergency or emergence experience.
Please contact me via my email if you'd like to connect for a complimentary 15-20-minute phone consultation, to see if we're the right fit!
Language Spoken
English and Portuguese
Academic Qualifications
Master of Forest Science and Social Ecology, Yale University
Bachelor of Arts, Sarah Lawrence College
Other Relevant Training
- Certificate in Horticultural Therapy, University of Florida
- Member, American Horticultural Therapy Association and working towards AHTA
- Therapeutic Horticulture Practitioner designation
- Reiki Level 1 and Shamanic Reiki
- Certificates in Umbanda Theology and Afro-Brazilian Theology, Cosmology and Culture
- Family Herbalist Certificate, Florida School of Holistic Living
- Brazilian Herbalism Certificate, Escola Humaniversidade
- Various trainings in shamanism, herbal magic, and ancestral work, primarily under Léo
- Artese and Adriano Camargo in São Paulo, Brazil and with Ancestral Medicine, USA
Offering 1-1 support
Not at this time, but I am pursuing spiritual coaching certification so that I may offer 1-1 support in the future.
Offering support groups
I plan to offer support groups in-person in Miami and am assessing the option of offering online groups.
Fee
Support groups by donation
Support group plan...
TBD