Liz DeBetta
I’m Dr. Liz DeBetta (she/her), a scholar-artist-activist and founder of Migrating Toward Wholeness, a trauma-informed framework that uses expressive writing, storytelling, and embodiment to support healing. As an adoptee and solo performer, I help people reclaim voice, agency, and identity through the power of narrative.
I’m Dr. Liz DeBetta (she/her), a scholar-artist-activist, adoptee, and founder of Migrating Toward Wholeness (MTW)—a trauma-informed, arts-based healing framework that integrates expressive writing, somatic awareness, and storytelling to support nervous system regulation, identity integration, and creative resilience.
My work centers the belief that story is medicine. Through group programs, 1:1 coaching, workshops, and CE-accredited trainings, I guide individuals and communities in transforming silence into story and reclaiming voice, agency, and wholeness. MTW is rooted in my lived experience as an adoptee and shaped by decades of teaching, performing, and facilitating healing through narrative and embodiment.
One of my key projects is Un-M-Othered, an award-winning solo performance that explores the impact of adoption trauma, the erasure of maternal connection, and the journey to reclaim identity and truth. The piece is accompanied by accessibility tools and reflection resources that invite audiences into a deeper experience of presence, witnessing, and healing.
I’m deeply interested in how creative expression affects the brain and body—how narrative and performance can serve as tools for neural rewiring, emotional regulation, and collective repair. I joined the NeuroArts community to connect with researchers, practitioners, and organizations committed to healing at the intersection of art and science. I’m especially eager to build partnerships with groups serving youth, adoptees, trauma survivors, and helping professionals seeking healing-centered, arts-based approaches.
Learn more about my work at www.lizdebetta.com and explore Un-M-Othered at www.lizdebetta.com/un-m-othered.
Interests
I’m passionate about the intersection of creative writing, embodiment, and neuroscience as pathways to healing. My work explores how trauma lives in the body and how expressive practices—especially storytelling and performance—can support regulation, integration, and post-traumatic growth.
I’m particularly interested in:
- The neurobiological impact of narrative disruption and repair
- Arts-based interventions for adoptees and individuals with complex trauma
- Creative approaches to nervous system regulation and identity formation
- Decolonizing healing practices through story and embodied presence
- Building alternative healing economies rooted in reciprocity and community care
I’m also eager to explore cross-sector collaborations and contribute to the evidence base for arts and healing through research partnerships, program evaluation, and innovative community-based projects.
