Dr. Tonya Elliott PhD, LMFT, is an associate professor of counseling at the University of Louisiana Monroe. She is of Cherokee descent and her academic contributions sit at the intersection of historical trauma theory, somatic healing, and Indigenous knowledge systems. With over two decades of clinical experience and fifteen years as a counselor educator, her scholarship is grounded in both academic rigor and lived ceremonial practice. Dr. Elliott’s research and public scholarship focus on Native women’s mental health, cultural restoration, and the embodied legacy of intergenerational trauma and healing. Her work draws from her own lineage and over thirty years of immersion in Cherokee and intertribal healing traditions. She leads cultural immersion retreats for therapists and facilitates land-based women’s circles designed to restore personal and collective vitality.