ALL 10 SESSIONS

MARCELA POLANCO

Spanglish as a point of departure for language justice

AUGUST 30, 2023, WEDNESDAY

9:00am – 10:30am Pacific Time (Virtual)

This presentation will focus on an analysis of language as control and managed by various systems of oppression. This analysis will be undertaken from the decolonial framework from Latin America, primarily within the context of mental health and therapy practices. The role of English in the conceptualization and practice of therapy will be discussed. Decolonial projects that consider language as a central point will be addressed, including the role of Spanglish as a departing point for the development of liberatory practices.
-Participants will understand principles of the coloniality of language
-Participants will identify the systems of oppression from the perspective of language
-Participants will learn about spanglish as a linguistic coalition from where to open possibilities of coexistence
My ancestry es Muisca, African and South European de Colombia. Como inmigrante en los United States (U.S.), I completed a Ph.D. in Family Therapy at Nova Southeastern University (2011). Mi trabajo de supervisión, teaching, research, and therapy in my immigrant English are informed by the Australasian narrative therapy and U.S. Black feminism. En my Español Colombiano y Spanglish, I am particularly interested in Andean decoloniality, anti-racist feminismos and Chicanx borderland activismo as a response to Eurocentrism. I am a practicing licensed Marriage and Family Therapist en los Estados de California and Texas and AAMFT Supervisor.

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Gnandy Chaverra Asprilla

Consumer Society? A possible critical look at substance use

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023, WEDNESDAY

9:00am – 10:30am Pacific Time (Virtual)

Analyzing our consumerist society allows us to reflect on the effect of capitalism sustained by the racialization of our bodies. This presentation will discuss the importance of taking a critical look at substance use in a multidimensional way in which the systematic structure (Racist, Classist, Sexist, etc.) is responsible and continues to survive, which has an evident impact on our BIPOC communities. This presentation will center the experiences of Afrodescendant communties.
-Deepen and problematize society from the perspective of consumption and its impact on ethnicities
-Reflect on the depathologization of certain stereotyped ethnic and racial groups with respect to problematic substance use
-Discuss possible approaches in socio-community treatment associated with cultural/territorial identity elements as a form of resistance
My Name is Gnandy Chaveta Asprilla, I am an African Woman who was born in the Diaspora, (Chocó, Quibdó, Colombia). I am the daughter of Marlén Maria Asprilla and Amir Chaverra Durán. I claim myself and our blackness politically from the perspective of African Muhlerism and afrocentricity.

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Merfi Montaño Sinisterra

Mental health and racism: Accompanying Latine Afro-descendant clients

OCTOBER 25, 2023, WEDNESDAY

9:00am – 10:30am Pacific Time (Virtual)

The presentation will discuss the role of health professionals (psychologists, psychiatrists, community health promoters, healers, and therapists) in the processes of accompaniment with ethnoracial populations, exposing and recognizing from there: the practices of racism that permeates mental health care and intervention for racialized groups, mainly Afro-descendant clients. The need to have therapists who assume the commitment to be culturally competent will be exposed and guidelines will be provided to promote and accompany the work carried out by the workshop participants in their own environments and communities. The methodology of the presentation will be a conversation type, in which initially a didactic presentation will be made and later dialogue will be facilitated with the attendees based on the questions that arise.
-Analyze and conceptualize the impact of culture on human behavior
-Reflect on the importance of health professionals’ roles in making decisions that impact the lives of clients, recognizing the value of cultural diversity
-Use the knowledge acquired to approach making clinical diagnoses according to the existing DSM-V-TR, ICD 11 classifications, without ignoring the particularities of multiculturalism.
Merfi is a Psychologist who speacializes in psychological crisis intervention. She has a Master's in Clinical Psychology from the University of San Buenaventura Bogotá and is a candidate for a Master's in Afro-Colombian Studies from Javeriana University. She is certified in Afro-Latin American Studies from the Afro-Latin American Research Institute at the Hutchins Center (ALARI).

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xochicoatl bello

Re(membering) our Healing Ways: Decolonial & Re-indigenizing Worldviews & Practices for Good Health

NOVEMBER 29, 2023, WEDNESDAY

9:00am – 10:30am Pacific Time (Virtual)

We come from people who have always worked with the wisdom of the earth, those that came before us, and Indigenous technologies to keep us safe & healthy. Where the imbalance of one ecosystem or illness of an individual in our community impacted us all, so we all showed up to tending to them. What does it look, feel, sound & taste like to understand our individual & collective health in this way again? In this presentation we will be calling back the aunties, curanderas & healers in our lineage to come forward as we (re)member how to reclaim our wellness from a Western healthcare system that aims in keeping us dis-eased & colonial understandings of health that keep us all unwell. This presentation invites you to re(member) the healing lineages you come from by arming you with indigenous understandings & everyday practices for good health. This presentation gives extra love & centers 2SLBGTQAI health & healing.
-Deepen our understanding of how colonial worldviews impact our health & our collective liberation
-Reflect on the wisdom, medicine & sacred knowing we have inherited & is already within us
-Learn practical indigenous worldviews & technologies we can bring to our everyday practices of good health & healing
xochicoatl bello (ya/elle) is a deindigenized, two spirit, healer, cultural worker, educator & creator from Tongva lands (Los Angeles, CA) & Guerrero, Mexico. they focus on creating cultures of healing that restore our connection to the sacred of self, each other, the earth & our ancestors through ceremony, circle work, indigenous technologies, ancestral medicines and traditional agriculture. xochicoatl maintains an herbal & healing practice through la mala yerba that seeks to connect us to plants & ancestors in a socially conscious way as means to reclaim our sovereignty & health. they beloved that when we heal the earth, the lands that sustain us, care for the seeds, heal our souls, we remember we have always been free.

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DRa. vilma reyes

Semillas de apego: An early childhood group for displaced communities in Colombia

JANUARY 31, 2024, WEDNESDAY

9:00am – 10:30am Pacific Time (Virtual)

Semillas de Apego is a psychosocial accompaniment group program to promote secure attachment of children who grow up in environments of extreme adversity in Colombia such as armed conflict, displacement and forced migration. The program was born out of a collaboration between UCSF, the Child Trauma Research Program, and the Universidad de los Andes in Colombia to design, facilitate and investigate a group intervention of primary caregivers. Since 2015, we have conducted randomized controlled trials with more than 3,000 Afro-Colombian, indigenous, and Venezuelan families seeking asylum in Colombia. We work hand-in-hand with communities to make the necessary adaptations that align with the cultural context of each region, and we elevate the voices and power of community facilitators with the goal of local sustainability. This workshop will cover group intervention design, implementation, research results, and lessons learned.
-Participants will learn about the Semillas de Apego group intervention design and implementation
-Participants will learn the research results of the Semillas de Apego program
-Participants will reflect and discuss the lessons learned and recommendations when implementing similar programs
Dr. Vilma Reyes is an Associate Clinical Professor at the University of California, San Francisco in the Child Trauma Research Program. Since 2009, she has been providing Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) services, training, clinical supervision, consultation and coordinating community-based mental health outreach services and evaluation. She is a national trainer in CPP and has co-authored articles and chapters on CPP theory and application.

Dr. Reyes developed a CPP-based group intervention, Building Bridges, which has been applied and researched in several community settings including 7 family shelters across 3 counties in the Bay Area, CA. This intervention was adapted to the displaced community in Bogota, Colombia and the Afro-Colombian community in Tumaco, Colombia. This adaptation, Semillas de Apego, is being researched in two randomized controlled studies with a sample size of over 1,200 families. Dr. Reyes has presented this research at national and international conferences, including the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

In addition to her Doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology, Dr. Reyes has also earned a Master of Arts in Education and has experience offering consultation, supervision and training in trauma informed systems in school-based settings. Dr. Reyes is an immigrant from Peru and is devoted to increasing access to trauma informed services for Latinx immigrant families. She has done several lectures in national conferences on the intersection of immigration and trauma; with a focus on asylum seekers and refugees exposed to armed conflict, systemic oppression and racism.

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dra. DULCE LOPEZ

Metamorfosis: Co-Creating Dra. Dulce's love journal

FEBRUARY 28, 2024, WEDNESDAY

9:00am – 10:30am Pacific Time (Virtual)

The Metamorfosis of the butterfly is utilized as a metaphor to describe the transformation that people experience as they navigate various aspects of their lives; i.e. school, work, family and friends. The presentation’s main focus is on providing positive coping skills through Dra. Dulce's Love Journal that might assist people on their life journey toward self-empowerment, healing and well-being. Dra. Lopez creates a sacred space to share hopes, dreams, aspirations, challenges, successes and guides participants in envisioning their future through a Love Journal. The participants will walk away increasing the 3 M’s; Manifestation, Miracles, & Magick.
Learning Objective 1
-Participants will be able to apply the Love Journal in their clinical work and personal life
-Participants will be able to list three ways the Love Journal will impact their clients mental health/wellbeing
-Participants will be able to identify how brain plasticity, creativity and healing can be integrated into the Love Journal practice
Dulce Lopez, Psy.D., a first generation Mexican-American, is a Licensed Psychologist whose life’s purpose has been to empower individuals to transform through Love.
Often referred to as Doctora Corazon (Doctor of the Heart), Dr. Lopez has been a practicing clinician for over 18 years in California. She is a motivational speaker and facilitator, speaking regularly on the subjects of Love and Transformation. Thru Love: Metamorfosis Gatherings and Dra. Dulce’s Love Journal are her two core programs designed for individuals as tools of self-discovery toward harnessing their inner Love and personal Power.
Dr. Lopez studied and worked in London, Mexico City, and Chennai, India. The enriching experiences abroad shaped her life’s journey and helped her to uncover her life’s mission. As such, she went on to receive her doctorate in psychology from Alliant International University.
Dr. Lopez resides with her husband, a Social Worker, and her children in the Bay Area of Northern California.
Follow her on Instagram: @dracrzn

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Lina Marcela Agrono Velasco

Under my skin: Psychic traces of racism and some reflections on mental health

MARCH 27, 2024, WEDNESDAY

9:00am – 10:30am Pacific Time (Virtual)

This theoretical-practical workshop aims to offer an enriching space to explore the implications of racism on mental health and how it influences the construction and constitution of the subjectivity of those of us who experience it. Additionally, we will address the intergenerational impact that racism can have on people's lives.
-Understand the implications of racism on mental health and the construction of subjectivity
-Provide a safe space for self-reflection and sharing experiences related to racism
-Reflect on some effective strategies to address racism in professional and personal environments
Lina is Colombian, from the village of El Hato Santa Marta and the Suárez Cauca Municipality. She is a Psychologist who graduated from San Buenaventura Cali University and is pursuing a Master’s degree in childhood and youth clinical studies at the same university. She has a special interest in inclusive and diverse education, clinical neuropsychology, gender and sexual violence, and the care of Afro-Colombian women. Lina has extensive experience in the educational field, in the planning and execution of psychosocial interventions in support of mental health, emotional management and crisis prevention with students, parents and the educational community. She is particularly interested in understanding "the psychic traces of racism in mental health” and is a faithful believer in multiple possibilities.

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Samantha Perez & maria de lourdes Perez Centurion

Mental and emotional recharge with traditional medicine

April 24, 2024, WEDNESDAY

9:00am – 10:30am Pacific Time (Virtual)

"Mental and emotional recharge" is a workshop that compiles mindfulness and herbal techniques that allow us to increase our awareness of the mental and emotional load that we accumulate day to day and in our life. This workshop will explain the importance of emptying the weight of this load and how to recharge ourselves to continue on our path with greater lightness, self-knowledge and affection for Mother Earth.
-Explain the mental sand emotional load that we can accumulate day to day and in our life.
-Explain mindfulness and herbal techniques to help empty the weight of the mental and emotional load we may carry.
-Discuss ways to recharge ourselves to continue on our path with greater lightness, self-knowledge and affection for Mother Earth.
Sam: “I am Samantha Perez, a biologist by training, mother of two little ones, wife, daughter, friend, student, human.”
Maria de Lourdes: “My name is María de Lourdes Pérez Centurión, I started working in Traditional Medicine precisely as María Tradicional. Purhepecha and Veracruzano jarocho run through my blood, I am a Carrier of Fire and a carrier of some medicinal plants. I have more than 30 years serving my community. I am a Woman, Mother, Wife and with all my Love, Grandmother. In pursuit of my life mission I studied several things, which has allowed me to always try to give the best of myself as much as possible, seeking to with humility honor my Ancestors.”

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DRA. monica noriega

Ghosts in the frontera: Integrating trauma healing and migrant justice during the perinatal period

May 29, 2024, WEDNESDAY

9:00am – 10:30am Pacific Time (Virtual)

Latina women, especially low-income, afrolatina, indigenous, and undocumented women, exhibit some of the highest rates of preterm birth, infant mortality, maternal mortality, and postpartum depression in the United States. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, undocumented and newly arrived Latina women have faced alarming rates of perinatal losses, traumatic births, and subsequent psychological distress. The prenatal and postpartum periods can be particularly difficult for women with histories of immigration trauma, domestic violence, or perinatal losses. This training will illuminate the parallels between immigration trauma and the development of maternal identity during the prenatal and postnatal period. Tools for collective healing and healing within the parent-child relationship will be explored.
-Participants will be able to identify the core developmental fears associated with the perinatal period and first five years of life.
-Participants will be able to identify at least 2 parallels between the stages of immigration trauma and the stages of intrapsychic development that occur during the prenatal period.
Monica Alejandra Noriega, Psy.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist, assistant professor at the University of California San Francisco Child Trauma Research Program, and consultant at On the Margins, LLC.
Dr. Noriega specializes in the assessment and treatment of complex trauma among children ages 0-5 and pregnant persons in community mental health and primary care settings. In her clinical role, Dr. Noriega offers Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP), Perinatal Child-Parent Psychotherapy (P-CPP), and infant mental health consultation at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. Dr. Noriega also offers consultation, capacity building, and training to early childhood, Latinx serving, and community-based social service agencies.
Dr. Noriega has presented a variety of topics including racial trauma wounds, immigration trauma during the perinatal period, and parent-child separations at national organizations and conferences. Dr. Noriega also has experience as a community organizer and forensic evaluator. She identifies as Chicana and is bilingual in English and Spanish.