About Freedom (Linda Mitchell)

Founder. Visionary. Healer. Advocate.

Freedom’s journey into healing began with seismic loss—the death of her sister Mary Lou at age six from leukemia, when Freedom was just four. Her family buried the pain in silence, but Freedom’s eyes told the truth. “Where’s Mary Lou?” she asked and was met with shunning. The trauma shaped her early years: a father crumbling under grief, behaviors born from suppressed anguish, and a young girl learning that silence speaks, too.

But it was more than her sister’s death. Her father’s grief was tangled in image—believe it or not. WWII had already fractured him, and coming home to a “Dear John” letter pushed him over the edge. He was surrounded by bad boys, and the weight of it all seeped into the family’s silence.

That light became her compass.

Freedom became a Licensed Practical Nurse, dedicating over twenty years to western medicine. Her advocacy was potent - she helped unionize her facility, served as Vice President of Health Professionals & Allied Employees Local 5107, and sat on its Safety Committee. She also completed the New Jersey Shore Leukemia and Lymphoma Marathon in 2004, a testament to her endurance and will, even while battling ulcerative colitis.

And then, the pivot.

Having witnessed symptom suppression over wholeness, Freedom transitioned toward eastern medicine nearly three decades ago. Her path led through CranioSacral Therapy, SomatoEmotional Release, therapeutic massage, Reiki, and Integrative Energy Therapy. She now walks the somatic path as a student of Somatic Experiencing, integrating trauma-informed care rooted not in fixing, but feeling.

She founded The Tree of Health Center to be a sanctuary - not a treatment facility, but a space of truth, reverence, and whole-body listening. Her work, advocacy, and teachings stem from lived wisdom. She co-led the Holistic Mentorship Network, influencing legislation affecting bodyworkers, and has consistently chosen integrity over hierarchy when missions lose their soul.

She no longer identifies solely as a practitioner. She is a reclamation. A voice for healthcare that sees the person behind the diagnosis. A reminder that healing isn’t just about recovery - it’s about rediscovery.

Freedom’s story is a testament to healing as she is no longer gripping in her gut; nor has pain. Her gut is still healing, but she is certain through continual healing whatever regiments are left.

This journey is not just hers - it is a beacon for others navigating their own paths to wholeness. Freedom’s work reminds us that healing is not a destination, but a continuous unfolding of truth, resilience, and rediscovery.

Her story is a hymn to the sacred rhythm of healing - a movement that transcends the personal and touches the universal. It is a call to honor the body’s wisdom, to listen deeply, and to walk the path of wholeness with reverence. Freedom’s work is not just a practice; it is a prayer, a living testament to the power of truth and the grace of rediscovery.

Invocation of Wholeness

Let these words carry the rhythm of the soul’s remembering.

May this story awaken the healer in all who read it.

Let it be a lantern for those walking through shadow,

a mirror for those seeking their truth,

and a balm for the body that yearns to speak.

May this be received as a prayer - not just for healing,

but for coming home.

With Open Wings,

Freedom

July 29, 2025