Healing Roots

I'm Erika, a bilingual (hablo español), mental health counselor practicing in Rochester, New York. I help people heal core wounds to align mind, body, and spirit. My holistic counseling approach integrates, emotion-focused, body-centered, and psychodynamic modalities. My work is heavily informed by Brainspotting, Experiential Dynamic Therapies based on attachment theories like ISTDP, and AEDP, Hakomi, Yoga, Parts and Ancestral work. Healing does not have to be done alone, it does not have a timeline or age, and often it is not linear. It can be uncomfortable and challenging, restorative and humanizing. It is an ongoing process of liberation done with others along the way. And most importantly, I believe that it is an act of love, a deep love for self, for family, for community, for ancestors, and for future generations that will inherit the Earth.

Mind

My love for literature and art led to my doctoral studies in Spanish literature which cultivated my philosophical and historical understanding of the human condition and its representation in the arts. My background in the humanities informs my holistic and integrative view of counseling in the sense that I consider the complexity of the individual influenced beyond biology; by family, environment, culture, language, society, worldviews and the stories passed on through generations.

Holistic Integration

Body

My life as an immigrant enhanced my ability to adapt and to be curious about various ways of viewing and being in the world. Having experienced multiple losses at a very young age, I understand challenges of identity, its intersects, and relationships. As a lesbian and woman of color, I am aware of the internal and external difficulties that marginalized identities may face within the dominant culture. My lived experience and embodiment speak to my resilience but also to somatic symptoms that caused suffering.

I lived with chronic lower back pain for over 20 years. I developed many helpful coping skills that have led me down the holistic path of mindfulness, yoga and energy healing. But it wasn't until I read Dr. John Sarno's book Healing Back Pain (2001) that I found lasting relief and healed my chronic pain through emotion and trauma work. This is what led me to study trauma-informed, emotion-focused, body-centered psychotherapies such as Brainspotting and ISTDP.

Spirit

Experiencing and learning about spiritual practices from different cultures in the Americas, Europe and Asia have influenced my patient, open, non-judgmental approach to counseling. My spiritual practices foster my ability to create a space of acceptance and compassion. I try to spend as much time as possible in nature. Walking, hiking, and witnessing the all forms of life are incredibly liberating and restorative for me. I feel at peace when experiencing the silence, beauty, and immensity of nature. It reminds me that I am connected to something beyond myself.

Qualifications

~Masters in Mental Health Counseling - University of Rochester

~Certified Brainspotting Practitioner

~Advanced Certificate in Mind Body Healing and Wellness - University of Rochester

~Reiki Practitioner Usui Tradition

~Student of GrMo La'ne Sa'an Moonwalker of the Yoemi and Apache lineage

~Yoga Teacher Hatha & Ashtanga tradition - Alak Yog, Rishikesh

~Doctorate in Spanish Literature and Culture - Arizona State University

Trainings

~The Ear, the Eye, and the Heart: How Psychodynamic Therapists Hear Hidden Meaning - Maury Joseph

~Core Training ISTDP (Year 1) - Lisa Bendza

~Brainspotting level 4 - David Grand

~Six Triangles Framework Conference – Michelle M. May

~Working with Transference Seminar – Maury Joseph

~ISTDP for Superego Resistance: Working with forms of Self-Harm - Conference with Jon Fredrickson

~ISTDP for Functional Neurological Disorders - Immersion with Allan Abbass

~Brainspotting level 2 - Mariya Javed-Payne

~Hakomi Workshop - Hiromi Willingham

~Brainspotting level 1 - Mariya Javed-Payne

~ISTDP for Detecting and Handling Primitive Defenses - Immersion with Allan Abbass

~ISTDP Supervision with Bill Watson

~ISTDP Halifax Conference - Immersion with Allan Abbass