Eclectic Treatment Approach
The theoretical approach I have developed as a mental health clinician has been largely informed by my clients’ needs and the direction of their successes.  Early in my career I shifted to a trauma-informed perspective that made sense of the impact of the subconscious on people’s behaviors and the physiological nature of their distress that accompanied more traditional mental health symptoms.  

Riots, Social Justice and Racial Trauma
In terms of working with individuals experiencing racial trauma, I have hands-on experience working with community leaders and residents after the Rodney King riots in California.  Being the recipient of an award from the City of Compton for leadership and public service is one of the highlights of my professional career and personal accomplishments.  It is central to my mission to help empower others to live out their potential.

The Impact of Culture
My training as a social worker, allows me to understand the impact of culture and family dynamics on a person’s behavior.  Humans interact and evolve in the context of various relationships.  These relationships impact and are influenced by our mental and physical well-being.  

Inter-Generational Trauma and Social Justice
This ability to pan out and see a larger context is vital to understanding and treating racial trauma. It allows one to see the breadth and depth of the social and historical factors that influence an individual’s behavior in the “now.”   For example, what might otherwise be dismissed as an incident of bullying,  without this insight, could turn out to be a hate crime.  

Trauma-Informed
A trauma perspective also allows a therapist to understand how one’s behavior today might be impacted by an ancestor’s experience of yesteryear.     We know from trauma research that trauma is held in the body.  We know that we pass these experiences onto our children well beyond regardless of verbal communication.  Living in proximity to trauma begets more trauma.  

Ancestral Healing
Ancestral healing is a way of accessing the relational aspect of healing in an expanded way.  This approach, supported by science, taps into the psychological and physiological benefits that come from awareness of our emotional supports and longstanding resilience as well as the healing aspects of forgiveness and perspective.  The impact on identity and self-confidence is well-known by practitioners.  This is one of many areas where the spiritual, mental and physical align. 

Long underestimated or ignored by dominant psychology, inclusion of ancestor work in healing helps restore a sense of well-being, integrity and spiritual vitality to an individual.  Meditation, somatic work, mindfulness, movement, reclaiming lineal practice and rhythm are some of the ways used to access ancestral healing. 

The many  ways in which those from non-dominant, indigenous or immigrant cultures have been cut off from their past can itself be traumatizing and rob individuals of the well documented therapeutic benefits of having an internal sense of continuity and belonging.  Many are recognizing what was lost through violent colonial history and oppressive systems. 

Though sometimes emotionally painful, the very act of reclaiming and connecting to one’s ancestral past can have long term healing effects that can’t be accessed by conventional practice.

You can read more about relational health and ancestral work is incorporated into the healing process in our group therapy by clicking here.

Brainspotting
Brainspotting is a trauma modality that can help bypass conscious awareness to jumpstart the body’s innate ability to heal in the subconscious realm where trauma can wreck havoc with our memories and “felt sense.”  It can help soothe some of the physiological discomfort that accompanies trauma and aspects of the emotional pain that are difficult to put into words.  

Relational-Cultural Therapy
If we heal in relationships and they also affect us, a theoretical approach is needed that addresses the issues of privilege and dominance and social justice that are interwined in racial trauma.  Relational-Cultural Theory acknowledges the cultural arrangements and power practices that affect Western Culture including the ones that impact the therapist client dynamic.  

Many individuals who currently suffer, do so because they suffer cumulative racist practices in silence.  Deconstructing bias and privilege, understanding how societal oppression disconnects marginalized individuals and recognizing contextual, racial and cultural power issues is crucial to working with JOC, BI-POC, POC, LGBTIA and other marginalized persons.