An East Coast transplant to the Northwest, Irene Hauzinger is a seasoned yoga instructor and avid geocacher. She has been working in social and human services since 2002 in a variety of settings and capacities including mental health, family preservation, crisis stabilization, transitional housing and chemical dependency. Irene has written and instructed curriculum for the Pierce County juvenile justice diversion program for three years. As a Chemical Dependency Professional, Irene has worked with adolescents in both outpatient and inpatient facilities, creating curriculum based on mindfulness and harm reduction. As a chemical dependency Family Counselor, she is versed in helping families understand addiction, compulsive behavior, and self-care for family and individual healing, with an emphasis on adolescents and young adults.
Irene holds a B.S. in Human Development and an M.A. in Social Sciences from the State University of New York at Binghamton, as well as a CDP from the University of Massachusetts. She is currently in the dissertation portion of her PhD in Transformative Studies from the California Institute of Integral Studies, examining the effect of yoga on female inmates. She has been published in the areas of yoga service and yoga service for chemically dependent individuals. Irene holds several yoga certifications in Hatha and Interdisciplinary traditions and has been instructing courses in a variety of venues including gyms, studios, halfway houses, domestic violence shelters and prison since 2002. Irene firmly believes in the importance of movement and kinesthetic learning for healing and self-empowerment. She is an adjunct instructor at Seattle Central Community College. For fun Irene sings in metal bands, paints, and knits.