Vanessa Torres, AMFT (she/they)

Hello, I am an Associate MFT and Registered Art Therapist. I am of Zapotec heritage, raised on Tataviam lands, known today as the Northeast San Fernando Valley. Identities I hold are being queer, disabled, 1st gen, neurodiverse, and somewhere on the gender spectrum of being femme and beyond one gender. My commitment as an Anti-Imperialist/abolitionist therapist show up in the space in the ways I do not center tenants of white supremacy such as perfectionism, worship of written word, centrism/white comfort, and individualism. As a person of color, my lived experience has led me to center social justice in my work. 
 
I understand the importance of clients knowing that their therapist is aware of the way systemic issues play a role in our mental health. I attune to issues of systemic oppression such as racism/white supremacy, colonization, capitalism, ableism, patriarchy, fatphobia, and other forms of structural violence and its related traumas. I am LGBTQ2s+ affirmative, anti-imperialist, centered in disability justice, and I offer compassionate, client centered care.
Areas of focus include intergenerational trauma, historical trauma, and centering marginalized peoples including BIpoc/ QT-BIpoc, children, the disabled community (I offer safe masked in-person sessions), the undocumented community, and the LGBTQ2s+ community. 
 
Some of my therapeutic styles include Person-Centered Art Therapy (no art experience required) and Intergenerational Family Therapy while pulling from holistic approaches with the intention of tending to the body, mind, heart, and spiritual soul.