Brooke Randolph and Roby Abeles led the first Brainspotting Oceania humanitarian Brainspotting training in Sāmoa in 2022 in partnership with Brown Girl Woke. With the blessing of David Grand and Brainspotting International, we will continue to provide humanitarian Brainspotting and MATES trainings throughout the Pacific Islands of Oceania and invest in local leaders who can continue the work. Jocelynette Leilua worked closely with us for the next training in Sāmoa in June 2024 and Kelly Whitewood worked closely with us for the first humanitarian training in Aotearoa in July 2024.
We are currently raising funds to support 2025 trainings. All donations will be used for training expenses, including training venue, food for the training, handouts, and etc. training supplies. Every donation helps!
Thank you for your support as we continue to spread the healing powers of Brainspotting throughout Oceania.
Brooke Randolph has been building relationships in Sāmoa -and with Samoan people in the US- for over a decade, and looks forward to every opportunity to be in the same country as her godchildren. Throughout her travels to Oceania, Brooke has enjoyed spending time in the beautiful countries of Sāmoa, Fiji, and New Zealand.
Roby Abeles lives and works in Australia, and has traveled extensively throughout Oceania for both work and pleasure. She has built relationship with people in Fiji, and is exploring opportunities to bring a training to Fiji soon.
Jocelynette Leilua was a student in the first Brainspotting Phase 1 training in Sāmoa in 2022, and she greatly impressed both Brooke and Roby with her understanding and desire to study. She is a powerful change agent through her work with Brown Girl Woke, and we believe that she will make a major impact through her career.
Kelly Whitewood is a Brainspotting consultant in Aotearoa. She has worked clinically for over 20 year in th UK and NZ building her repertoire of therapeutic modalities to become an Integrative Somatic Trauma therapist.
In travel, and especially in trainings, it is important to us to always be culturally humble and to learn as much or more than we teach. We have been extremely blessed by the many wonderful people that we have had the pleasure of meeting and training during our time in Oceania.
Fa’afatai, tēnā koe, and thank you for your contribution that enables us to give to these beautiful people! We have updated the platform we use to accept donations, so we apologize that not all donor names are shown. We hope you enjoy flipping through a few photos from our trainings below.
Brainspotting and Sāmoan Healing: A Natural Intersection
Maiava Jocelynette Vaioleti. Tafisi Leilua
In Samoa, healing is relational, it flows from the vā, the sacred space between people. It’s woven through song, prayer, communal care, and respectful silence. Healing is not only about the individual, but about restoring balance to the collective.
Brainspotting resonates deeply with these values. It creates a space of attunement where a practitioner and client journey together, quietly, respectfully, toward what the body knows but cannot always speak. This mirrors the Sāmoan embrace of embodied wisdom and subtle presence.
Just as our ancestors sat in a circle, listened, and let healing emerge from stillness, Brainspotting honors the internal landscape without forcing answers. It offers a structure that uplifts indigenous practices: it listens more than it speaks, trusts the body’s signals, and moves at the pace of grace.
In our Samoan worldview, healing is not a protocol, it’s a responsibility. And Brainspotting feels like a respectful guest in that space: one that adapts, honors, and listens deeply.