Tree of Life Counseling Center

02/16/2026

When the world feels heavy, it shows up in the therapy room too.

As part of our Day in the Life series, Dr. Monica shares how shared and collective trauma can impact both clinicians and clients, and why naming it matters for real healing.

If you or your child are feeling weighed down by everything happening right now, you don’t have to hold it all on your own. We’re here to walk alongside you, reach out to book with Monica when you’re ready here: https://treeoflifecounselingcenter.sessionshealth.com/

02/13/2026

🌿 Decolonizing Play Therapy: Co‑Regulation as Collective Care

Western psychology often talks about “self‑regulation” as if children should be able to calm themselves in isolation — even when their bodies have lived through racism, migration, poverty, family separation, community violence, or state surveillance. That framework ignores culture, community, and the truth that regulation is learned in relationship, not in a vacuum.

From a decolonial lens, co‑regulation is not a clinical technique.

It is ancestral.
It is communal.
It is something our families and cultures have always known.

Children learn safety through people — through rhythm, voice, movement, song, humor, ritual, and the presence of adults who feel safe enough to lean on. We don’t need a long intake, a perfect room, or a Western model to begin. We can meet children and caregivers right where they are, honoring the wisdom they already carry.

🌿 What co‑regulation means in a decolonial practice

Co‑regulation is the shared experience of settling together. It honors that a child’s nervous system is shaped by culture, community, and systems — not just “behavior.” It recognizes that many families already practice co‑regulation in ways Western frameworks overlook or pathologize.

🌿 What this looks like in daily practice
🌿 In community and foster care settings

Stay close in ways that honor the child’s cultural rhythms. Some children regulate through quiet presence; others through movement, song, or playful back‑and‑forth. Your role is to witness, not manage. Let their body wisdom lead. Offer grounding through connection, not correction or control.

🌿 In social work and family meetings
Slow the space down so everyone’s nervous system can breathe. Make room for storytelling, pauses, and emotion expressed in culturally meaningful ways — not just the “calm” that Western systems reward. Name the power dynamics with humility. Center dignity, not compliance. Let families define what safety feels like for them.

🌿 In therapeutic spaces
Let the child’s culture guide the session as much as their play. Follow their rhythm — whether that’s silence, laughter, bilingual expression, movement, or ritual. Let music, language, humor, and ancestral practices be part of regulation. Model groundedness without demanding it. Therapy becomes a shared remembering, not a hierarchy.

🌿 In schools
Be a steady, culturally responsive adult who sees the whole child. Use tone, proximity, rhythm, and predictability to reduce threat. Honor that some children regulate through community, not isolation. Replace exclusion with belonging. Remember that regulation is relational, not earned through performance.

🌿 A decolonial truth
Co‑regulation is not “spoiling” or “giving in.”
It is how our communities have always raised children.
It is how safety is learned.
It is how healing becomes possible.

When we decolonize play therapy, we stop asking children to regulate alone.
We return to what our ancestors already knew:
healing happens together.

02/11/2026

🏳️‍⚧️💖 Transgender folks simply want to live their life.
Just like you do.

That’s it. That’s the whole message. No debates, no “hot takes,” no fear-mongering — just people trying to exist with dignity, safety, and joy. ✨

If you’re wondering what support looks like: believe trans people, respect names & pronouns, and speak up when it matters. 🫶🏽

More from : www.freemomhugs.org

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️✨🫶🏽

02/11/2026

02/11/2026

𝐀 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐲 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐋𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫⁣
𝘣𝘺 𝘗𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘰 𝘎𝘰𝘯𝘻á𝘭𝘦𝘻, 𝘔𝘋 ⁣
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I start my day remembering where I come from — a first-generation Mexican American family that sacrificed so much so I could step into medicine. I carry their labor, their hopes, and their unfinished dreams with me. That grounding shapes every decision I make, especially in systems that too often forget the humanity of the people they serve.⁣
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My mornings are spent serving a community with deep histories of trauma and resilience. I listen for the story beneath the symptoms — the grief that doesn’t fit neatly into diagnostic criteria, the survival strategies that once kept people alive and now need gentler care. I practice medicine in a way that honors culture, dignity, and the wisdom people already carry. Healing, to me, is not about fixing what is “broken,” but about restoring connection — to self, to community, to possibility.⁣
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A few days a week, I shift into my role as Medical Director at Tree of Life. Here, my work expands beyond the exam room. I support clinicians who are doing emotionally demanding, sacred work, and I help lead our ketamine-assisted healing program with care, humility, and rigor. In this region, access to culturally attuned, trauma-informed providers is limited. I take seriously the responsibility of offering care that is not only innovative, but ethical, relational, and grounded in liberation rather than extraction.⁣
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As a Mexican American physician, I am always navigating systems that were never built with us in mind. I move carefully, protecting my community and myself while still pushing for healing that is expansive, culturally rooted, and accessible. I advocate where I can and protect where I must. Liberation-minded care requires discernment: knowing when to push, when to pause, and when to build something entirely new outside of existing structures.⁣
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My work with The Root of It Foundation allows me to give back in a different way. There, I help shape programs that support future healers, especially those from marginalized communities who rarely see themselves reflected in medicine. This work is about more than mentorship — it’s about repairing pathways that were intentionally obstructed, and creating models of care that are sustainable, community-led, and rooted in ancestral knowledge.⁣
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By the end of the day, I reflect on what was exchanged — the trust offered by patients, the collective effort of colleagues, the small moments of connection that remind me why this work matters. I rest knowing that healing is not mine alone to carry.⁣
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Every day, I return to the same truth: healing is collective. Liberation is a practice, not a destination. And my role is to help make sure our people have access to care that honors who they are, where they come from, and where they are trying to go.⁣
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02/09/2026

𝐓𝐋𝐂𝐂 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩.⁣
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After surviving prolonged detention, deportation, and false accusations, Isis is now working to rebuild his life in Spain. He is an asylum seeker, artist, jewelry maker, and a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community who deserves safety, dignity, and access to medical care.⁣
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He urgently needs financial support to cover medical treatment, legal and travel costs, and basic living expenses as he begins again.⁣
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Every contribution matters.⁣
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Please donate if you’re able and share to help amplify his story.⁣
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Donate today and help Isis start fresh: https://chuffed.org/project/support-isis?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio