Meet Dorimar

Professional Background

I as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, I have accumulated over 18 years of well-rounded clinical experience in various settings and with various populations including mental health clinics, schools, Spanish speaking and multilingual individuals, couples and interracial couples, all experiencing a wide range of difficulties.

I practice using an anti-oppressive lens and carefully observe how relationships are informed by the power dynamics embed in our social systems and social identities. I

After obtaining a Family Therapy Certificate at the prestigious Ackerman Institute for the Family in NYC, I became a faculty member and family therapy supervisor at their clinical program. My special interest in interracial couples led me to found the Multiracial Family Project (MRFP) in 2014. The MRFP is formed by a small group of clinicians focused on developing best practices for working with interracial couples.

In addition to my relational-systemic approach to talk therapy, I am trained as an EMDR provider and in the advanced process of becoming a Somatic Experiencing provider. With these trauma-focused modalities at hand, I aim to help you connect mind and body to heal past wounds by reducing the activation that these may cause in your body.

My previous formation in theatre and performance arts has merged with my extensive clinical experience and training to unleash a creative, playful, body oriented, and socially relevant practice.

Beyond My Professional Background

My education and professional training have influenced my work greatly, but I am more than just a professional being, I am also a person with a whole set of lived experiences, which have also enriched my life and work. Migrating to a new country, speaking three languages, my role as a professional mother, and experiences as a person-of-color, committed partner, and dedicated friend has made my work fuller.

I have been immersed in the ups and downs of family loss, migration, graduate school, breakups, dating, couple-hood, single-mothering, just to name a few.  At different points in my life, I have lived the joy of traveling on and

off the beaten path, practicing yoga, dancing, biking, photography, and other forms of art.  All of these experiences have NOT made me an expert in them. Instead, they have given me the sensibility to skillfully navigate through the nuances and complexity of relationship with oneself and others. I offer that complexity of thinking and doing to our work together.

About my style

At the start of our work together, I will take the time to understand what is troubling you.  This will include understanding how you -and each of you, in the case of couples and family work- are experiencing a particular situation in a unique way.  The purpose is not to figure out who is right or wrong or what is right or wrong but to understand your experiences and what matters to you, all of you. The purpose is also to create the space where each participant feels listened and seen.  I will take time to understand how dynamics got to be the way they are now, past attempted solutions, and your vision for a near future solution. We will also look at how broader societal dynamics might inform what is troubling you. Together, we will establish goals for therapy and will regularly assess our progress towards them.

 
During sessions, I make an effort to help you have a whole body-sensory experience and to have a different experience of yourself and each other (in the case of couple and family sessions). This means that -depending on your goals -I might incorporate bodily exercise, writing practices, and other creative activities.  I am committed to offering you a restorative and healing experience while in my therapy room!