About Me
My Journey & the Lotus
Lotus Rising was named from an intuitive knowing before I fully understood how deeply the lotus mirrored my own journey. The lotus grows through darkness and dense mud, using those very conditions to rise toward the light—emerging resilient and whole.
As a first-generation American with Mexican and Indian roots, I grew up feeling different, overly sensitive, out of place and groundless. Much of my life has been shaped by navigating cultural complexity, healing ancestral and intergenerational wounds, while honoring my own lived experience as a trauma survivor with chronic pain in life-long recovery. Through my own journey, travels, and education, I came to understand that what once felt like my greatest vulnerability—my sensitivity, depth, and hyper-awareness— became one of my greatest strengths. Experience and wise teachers have taught me compassion, humility, and that we are all interconnected on the same path seeking unconditional love, belonging, and a safe place that feels like home.
Today, as a therapist in Austin, I have the honor privilege of walking alongside others as they reconnect with themselves and find home. Like the lotus, I believe we are all capable of rising— transforming what we’ve endured into resilience, service, compassion, clarity, and self-trust.
Passions & Hobbies
At home, you’ll often find me tending to my plants—indoors, in my garden, or sunroom—usually alongside my kitty, Sushi, who loves outdoor time. I decompress through nesting and interior decorating, arts and crafting, and settling in with a good binge-worthy show.
When I’m out and about, I’m connecting with my community—dancing at festivals and raves, enjoying good food with friends, attending meditation or spiritual support groups, finding rhythm in drumming or singing circles, or engaging in ancestral and/or advocacy work.
I also love to travel and experience different cultures and have had the great privilege of visiting nearly 30 countries (I’ve lost count). In sharing these interests with my clients, I’ve noticed that many of the folx I work with are creatives, musicians, artists, plant people, or ravers seeking support that honors their true selves and embraces their creativity. They continue to inspire me to thoughtfully integrate these passions into my work—such as offering walk-and-talk sessions in nature and incorporating music- or movement-oriented approaches.
Education & Licenses
Master’s of Science in Social Work
University of Texas at Austin (2015)
Bachelor of Arts in Clinical Psychology, University of California Berkeley (2012)
Licensed Clinical Social Worker-Supervisor (LCSW-S) TX License #61355
Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor (LCDC) TX License #15627
Social Justice & Acknowledgements
I’d like to acknowledge my own privileges which allow me to participate and advocate for social justice change with relative safety. I am eternally indebted to those who came before me, who suffered immensely, and gave their lives to ensure we have basic human rights. I honor them, my ancestors, as well as, other communities and lineages who have suffered intergenerational trauma at the hands of their oppressors through colonization, the patriarchy, capitalism, and White Supremacy. To them, I dedicate my life and work.
Land Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge that I am living and practicing on the Indigenous lands of Turtle Island, the ancestral name for what now is called North America. Moreover, I would like to honor and respectfully acknowledge the Alabama-Coushatta, Caddo, Carrizo/Comecrudo, Coahuiltecan, Comanche, Kickapoo, Lipan Apache, Tonkawa and Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo, and all the Indigenous communities who are the rightful owners and caretakers of Texas.
The Tonkawa, Comanche, and Lipan Apache peoples continue to be strong and vital self-sovereign tribes now located in northern Oklahoma, southwestern Oklahoma, and Texas, respectively. I encourage you to read more about them and their history on the tribes’ official websites.
Tonkawa Tribe: https://tonkawatribe.com/
Comanche Nation: https://comanchenation.com
Lipan Apache Tribe: https://lipanapache.org/
Mission
My mission is to provide empowering, anti-oppressive and culturally affirming support. I commit to stay open-minded, continuously seek opportunities to learn, receive consultation and mentorship, and approach the therapeutic alliance, advocacy work, and all of my relationships from a place of humility and curiosity.
Advocacy Experiences
I began my advocacy work in Jr. High for Immigrants and Refugees seeking asylum. Since then I have worked and volunteered for various non-profit organizations focused on protecting human rights and our climate. I have participated in legislative hearings at the Texas State Capital and have been actively involved in various movements in Texas and California such as Occupy, BLM, and Women's Marches. I continue to advocate for DREAMers, Undocumented Immigrants, Refugees, and survivors of DV/IPV.
I have had the privilege of facilitating LGBTQIA+ affirming groups for adults and youth and have advocated on behalf of folx on their transition journies by providing HRT letters and Gender Marker/Name Change Letters. I have provided individual, couples and family therapy for people living with HIV/AIDS and their loved ones. As an Intern at a public Middle School and the 11th and 12th grade Clinical Social Worker at a public charter school, I created and facilitated the first Genders & Sexualities Alliance groups. As a team of students, families, and faculty, we successfully advocated for the first non-gendered bathrooms on campus, organized Pride weeks, and facilitated cyber-bullying and IPV prevention events and support groups.
Though the advocacy work has been challenging, it continues to ignite my resolve to reduce suffering in the world through healing, building community, empowerment, and liberation.
