How can we collaborate?
The core of my practice is understanding that you're suffering is not always because of individual behaviors, it may be trickling down from the systems you exist within. Society and cultural expectations may be restricting us from finding our true or ideal selves. Living in-between spaces can look like being engaged in two cultures, navigating expectations of your home culture and that of the mainstream dominant culture. I work with people who may experience trauma or guilt about navigating those spaces. I like to engage in talk therapy with an artistic lens, creating journal entries, art pieces, and talking about songs that make you feel seen.
"It is no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society" -Krishnamurti
Psychotherapy
Click below to discuss psychotherapy services available with me! Having me as a clinician may be described as:
“For those of us who face racism, xenophobia, police brutality, poverty, being uprooted from your homeland, domestic and/or systemic violence. In a society driven by money and power, it is often put on the individual to thrive, and most of the time we end up surviving through resourceful creativity, doing the best with our loved ones. In therapy with me, we’ll be exploring themes in your world with therapeutic interventions and psychoeducation through; art, literature, insight (journaling or vlogging), music, and joy. “
-Ahiela
Pedagogy & Community Organizing
Educating on how I integrate mental wellness into my daily practices, liberation work, and community organizing through three teach-ins detailed below. Each teach-in centers the emotional vulnerability of identity-based work. The presentations are not meant to isolate groups, but to build affinity as collectives around themes of sociological pressures and releasing grip of human-made expectations that cause rigidity and emotional repression. If you are interested in a 1:1 review of any of the presentations or booking for a larger group, please click below.
Liberation Prints
Original teach-ins designed for collaborative groups to bond through art and creative prompts