My career path
I began my work in the field of women’s health at Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts in Boston. I became interested in systems of healthcare, access to health-related information, and reducing barriers to services and completed a Master of Science at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. I worked in the sexual health and anti-violence fields and oversaw education, training, and advocacy initiatives at Casa Myrna Vazquez, Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, and MIT.
After my second child was born, I left my MIT job and began facilitating a new parents’ group in my community. I loved this work immediately--being with new parents and hearing their stories and experiences was powerful and transformative. After years of working in an abortion clinic and with sexual assault survivors, I was no stranger to speaking honestly about sensitive topics and empowering others to share their truths. I continued to build my skill set and became certified as a postpartum doula through CAPPA, and as a lactation counselor through the Healthy Children’s Center for Breastfeeding.
After working at the intersection of public health and postpartum support for several years and referring numerous new parents to mental health services, I returned to school to become a clinician so that I could provide these services myself, especially for folks of color-- who often struggle to find a therapist who shares their racial identity and can relate to their lived experience. After receiving a Masters in Social Work and a Certificate in Trauma Practice from the Simmons University School of Social Work, I now work as a psychotherapist at And Still We Rise in Boston. I also hold Postpartum Support International's Certificate in Perinatal Mental Health counseling.
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After my second child was born, I left my MIT job and began facilitating a new parents’ group in my community. I loved this work immediately--being with new parents and hearing their stories and experiences was powerful and transformative. After years of working in an abortion clinic and with sexual assault survivors, I was no stranger to speaking honestly about sensitive topics and empowering others to share their truths. I continued to build my skill set and became certified as a postpartum doula through CAPPA, and as a lactation counselor through the Healthy Children’s Center for Breastfeeding.
After working at the intersection of public health and postpartum support for several years and referring numerous new parents to mental health services, I returned to school to become a clinician so that I could provide these services myself, especially for folks of color-- who often struggle to find a therapist who shares their racial identity and can relate to their lived experience. After receiving a Masters in Social Work and a Certificate in Trauma Practice from the Simmons University School of Social Work, I now work as a psychotherapist at And Still We Rise in Boston. I also hold Postpartum Support International's Certificate in Perinatal Mental Health counseling.
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The integration of "micro" and "macro"
Throughout my career, I have provided direct services and care--such as advocacy for survivors of violence, sex education, lactation support, and psychotherapy--while also working to change the systems in which that type of care occurs. I think about how we can increase access to care and incorporate social justice frameworks into our direct services. When I started working at MIT, I noticed that services for violence survivors were disconnected and difficult to navigate. To reduce barriers and increase access to services, I created the Program for Violence Prevention and Response.
As I began working as a postpartum doula, it was clear to me that perinatal emotional wellness is a public health issue, and I began thinking about how to integrate perinatal support services into existing healthcare systems in order to make them more accessible to all families. I developed the Community Health Center Pilot Program as an initiative to promote perinatal emotional wellness and was able to secure state funding for the program. Similarly, I co-founded The Every Mother Project so that all women's health professionals would know how to screen for and respond to perinatal emotional complications and thus increase access to services for women and families. Most recently, I co-founded the Perinatal Mental Health Alliance for People of Color, which is now part of Postpartum Support International, to promote integration of anti-oppression work into perinatal mental health services and increase the number of mental health providers of color in the perinatal field.
To provide the best mental health support possible for a diverse group of individuals, families, and communities, we have to integrate the issues that are most important to folks' lives into our service provision. When we talk about and treat perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, we can't view race, racism, and trauma as "sidebar" topics; rather, we have to integrate an understanding of these issues into our work.
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As I began working as a postpartum doula, it was clear to me that perinatal emotional wellness is a public health issue, and I began thinking about how to integrate perinatal support services into existing healthcare systems in order to make them more accessible to all families. I developed the Community Health Center Pilot Program as an initiative to promote perinatal emotional wellness and was able to secure state funding for the program. Similarly, I co-founded The Every Mother Project so that all women's health professionals would know how to screen for and respond to perinatal emotional complications and thus increase access to services for women and families. Most recently, I co-founded the Perinatal Mental Health Alliance for People of Color, which is now part of Postpartum Support International, to promote integration of anti-oppression work into perinatal mental health services and increase the number of mental health providers of color in the perinatal field.
To provide the best mental health support possible for a diverse group of individuals, families, and communities, we have to integrate the issues that are most important to folks' lives into our service provision. When we talk about and treat perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, we can't view race, racism, and trauma as "sidebar" topics; rather, we have to integrate an understanding of these issues into our work.
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My clinical approach
I base my clinical work in the belief that clients are doing the best they can for themselves in the context of their own lives. My clinical experience includes screening new mothers for perinatal emotional complications, providing advocacy for survivors of sexual assault, facilitating sexual health initiatives for adolescents and college students, and providing psychotherapy at an in-patient psychiatric setting and at the Simmons University Counseling Center. When I did perinatal work, I was struck by how triggering birth and parenting could be, and how this major life transition would kick various mental health hornets' nests that we all carry with us.
As a psychotherapist, I value the opportunity to help clients process interpersonal, relational, and systemic trauma, especially in the context of the transition to parenthood, and I am especially passionate about supporting BIPOC clients and folks who are first- and second-generation immigrants during the perinatal period. I support clients through the process of exploring how race, racism, and culture impact identity development and the creation and telling of narratives, and I'm especially interested in exploring how cultural narratives inform our ideas about motherhood, parenting, and mental health. I primarily work from a relational approach and believe that the therapeutic relationship is a primary intervention in therapy. I also integrate psychodynamic, relational, social justice, and intersectional feminist frameworks into my therapeutic work, as well as CBT- and DBT-based skills work. I utilize EMDR therapy with clients.
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As a psychotherapist, I value the opportunity to help clients process interpersonal, relational, and systemic trauma, especially in the context of the transition to parenthood, and I am especially passionate about supporting BIPOC clients and folks who are first- and second-generation immigrants during the perinatal period. I support clients through the process of exploring how race, racism, and culture impact identity development and the creation and telling of narratives, and I'm especially interested in exploring how cultural narratives inform our ideas about motherhood, parenting, and mental health. I primarily work from a relational approach and believe that the therapeutic relationship is a primary intervention in therapy. I also integrate psychodynamic, relational, social justice, and intersectional feminist frameworks into my therapeutic work, as well as CBT- and DBT-based skills work. I utilize EMDR therapy with clients.
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