I've spent the last 26 years working in mental health, most of it dedicated to serving the Latine and other diverse communities as well as training the providers who have done the same. I'm a bilingual, first-generation Salvadoran-American therapist, and my approach is grounded in a psychodynamic lens, shaped by a deep commitment to remaining aware of the impact of immigration trauma, intergenerational and historical trauma on communities, and a liberation- and justice-informed way of practicing that centers the people that have historically been left out of the room.

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For 8 years I've taught at a Bay Area MFT program, and I've been a graduate-level instructor at UC Berkeley's School of Social Welfare. I've trained clinicians and other mental health professionals throughout Northern and Southern California, including at various community mental health organizations, always committed to bring depth, cultural attunement, and integrity to a field that hasn't always made room for the communities I come from or have spent time with as a provider.

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Roots in Healing Training Institute was created because of that experience as I'm hoping to provide a place where clinicians can get the kind of training I wish had existed when I was coming up in this field.

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