Francisca Amaral

Hello, my name is Francisca, I have experience working with community mental health, with undeserved communities and individuals from all walks of life. I've gained a lot of experience helping clients heal from traumatic experiences, process grief, and facilitated their empowerment to take on the reins of their healing journey.

I am a proud Mexican American woman who believes that we all possess inherit gifts and capacity to heal and when identified and fostered this can be our catalyst for change. I am interested in learning each person's story and offering ongoing evolving support through the alliance that we will cultivate.

I am well versed in a myriad of modalities that are trauma informed as well as psychodynamic, somatic treatment frameworks. Overall, I am an ongoing student. Aside from my professional trainings, I have learned via my individual healing journey, and from the individuals I have helped. I am passionate about helping each individual realize their path to healing.

I strive to deeply understand your experiences, feelings, and world from your unique perspective. I view you as a whole person considering your mind, body, and spirit rather than just focusing on a specific symptom. I pay attention not only to your words but also to the emotions behind them, my role is to help us both stay grounded and present even when processing challenging emotions. I allow our interactions to flow; I am attuned to you and will be inquisitive as the session unfolds. I will share my insights, check in with you, make sure you feel seen and heard. I will work with you to assess what is the best approach that enables you to feel supported and make the changes that will help you to cultivate and tap into your own inner resources for healing and change.

Our first session will entail getting to know you, what is the experience of being you, and what brings you to seek support. I'll invite you to share in your own words. It's okay if you don't know where to start; I can guide the conversation with open-ended questions. Ultimately, the goal of the first session is for you to leave feeling heard, respected, and hopeful about the possibilities for healing and growth. I am versed in many evidenced based practices, that you can review under therapy approaches, and we can explore as time progresses what is the best approach for you, it does not have to be methodical as it is curtailed to you as an individual. I want to get to know you, and understand your unique experience, let us see what unfolds.