"In my father's words, I was born 'dancing, fighting, and have never stopped.' This dual spirit—the fierce fight for human rights and the fluid dance of the body—defines my career.
For over 25 years, I have traversed the globe, working in low-resource and high-conflict contexts (from Haiti to Australia) to support survivors of torture and trauma. I learned quickly that talk is not enough. To heal the deepest wounds of humanity, we must speak the language of the body."

Dr. Amber Elizabeth L. Gray is an internationally recognized psychotherapist, educator, humanitarian practitioner, and author whose work bridges embodiment, trauma recovery, human 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 Therapist, Somatic and Human Rights Psychotherapist, long-time yoga and Continuum teacher, and mystic, Amber's work is rooted in the belief that healing emerges through relationship—to our bodies, one another, the natural world, and the communities that sustain us. Her approach integrates Polyvagal Theory, movement, creative process, contemplative practice, and deep respect for cultural wisdom to restore dignity, resilience, and connection.

Her humanitarian work has taken her to refugee camps, disaster zones, and post-conflict communities across Rwanda, Haiti, Lebanon, Sudan, Chad, 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: healing is both deeply personal and profoundly collective. Her work invites people to rediscover belonging, cultivate compassionate presence, and restore relationship—with themselves, one another, and the living world.

Her forthcoming book, Polyvagal-Informed Restorative Movement Psychotherapy: Roots, Rhythm, and Reciprocity (W. W. Norton, 2026), brings together the ideas, practices, and lived experience that have shaped her life's work.