MEET AMBER
Dr. Amber Elizabeth L. Gray is an internationally recognized psychotherapist, educator, humanitarian worker, and author whose work bridges embodiment, trauma, human and planetary rights, and restorative practice. For more than three decades, she has worked alongside survivors of war, torture, displacement, and collective trauma, while teaching clinicians, organizations, and communities around the world.
A Dance/Movement Psychotherapist, Somatic and Human Rights Psychotherapist, long-time yoga and Continuum teacher, author, activist, poet and mystic, Amber's work is rooted in the belief that healing emerges through relationship—to our bodies, one another, the natural world, our Ancestors and the communities that sustain us. Her approach integrates Polyvagal Theory, movement, creative process, contemplative practice, and deep respect for cultural and wild wisdom to restore dignity, resilience, connection and belonging.
Her humanitarian work has taken her to refugee camps; disaster, active conflict and post-conflict zones; Indigenous and First nations reservations and communities across Rwanda, Haiti, Lebanon, Australia, Darfur (Sudan and Chad), Guatemala, Syria, Indonesia, Honduras, Jordan, Turkey, Mexico, El Salvador, Palestine Occupied Territories, the United States, and beyond. These experiences gave rise to her Human Rights & Restorative Psychotherapy framework, a survivor-centered, culturally responsive approach developed through decades of collaborative practice with individuals, families, communities, and fellow practitioners. Rather than asking people to adapt to a model, Amber's work adapts to the lived realities, strengths, and wisdom of those she serves.
Amber is the creator of Polyvagal-Informed Restorative Movement Psychotherapy (RMP), an embodied clinical framework that has evolved through more than twenty-five years of practice, teaching, mentorship, and inquiry. She has been teaching internationally since 2003 and is a founding member of the National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs, an inaugural member of the Polyvagal Institute Editorial Board, and the recipient of the American Dance Therapy Association's Outstanding Achievement Award for her humanitarian work.
Whether leading international trainings, mentoring clinicians, facilitating immersive retreats, or working with individuals in psychotherapy, Amber remains guided by a simple conviction: the restorative process is both deeply personal and profoundly collective. Her work invites people to rediscover belonging, cultivate compassionate presence, and restore reciprocity and relationship—with themselves, one another, and the living world.