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Safia Albaiti is a Yemeni Muslim immigrant working class woman. Her professional interests include psychoanalysis, trauma therapy, narrative therapy, liberation psychology, policy work around non-carceral universal socialized access to mental health care as part of an expanded welfare state, and crossing borders in the clinical encounter.
Chynna is a first generation BIPOC graduate student from Brooklyn, NY. Prior to pursuing a graduate degree, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Neuroscience and Public Health with a concentration in Adverse Childhood Experiences from Hampshire College. Chynna's senior thesis was on the effectiveness of support groups for childhood survivors of sexual assault. She is passionate about youth work, primarily for girls of color within structural systems such as education, foster care, and juvenile detention centers. Chynna is affiliated with several non-profits such as Sadie Nash Leadership Project, Girls Inc., Heal2End, and Collective Power for Reproductive Justice. On Smith's SSW campus, Chynna has is apart of several committees fueled by social justice activism. She is a member of SVG, ARPG, and the eval group- alongside being a Faculty Liaison for the Students of Color Council, Student Liaison for the Field Department, and the head of the SSW P2P Reparations Project.
My name is Callie Angrisani and I am currently a first year MSW student. I am a New York City transplant who moved to the Pioneer Valley in the summer of 2019 and have been living here ever since. My partner and I live in Greenfield with our dog Lyla and our cat Xena. I am excited to be getting further along into the world of clinical work. I formerly studied early childhood/childhood education and am very interested in working with children and families. I love making deep and meaningful connections which is in part what has brought me to this work. I am a potter, a dog lover, and an outdoor enthusiast. I love exercising and seeing live music whenever I get the chance. I am thrilled to be an Admission Ambassador!
Daniela is a fat, queer, mixed-race, Mexican and Ashkenazi white Jew. They are originally from Los Angeles but call the Bay Area home. Daniela is invested in operating from an anti-oppressive framework and continually questioning power and systems in their social work practice. They love working with queer youth and adults. Of additional interest to them are the implementation of somatic practices in psychotherapy, learning more about psychedelic assisted therapy, and therapy for families, couples, and non-monogamously configured relationships.
I am a lifelong (and proud) North Carolinian, leftist, and lesbian and my work focuses on building a more inclusive South. Prior to Smith, I worked in journalism and education/college access. I chose Smith for its psychoanalytic focus and to deepen my antiracist commitments from a social work perspective. I work from a psychodynamic lens, although I am also exploring existential therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). My areas of clinical interest include LGBTQI+ issues, life transitions, and mourning (both tangible and intangible losses). I enjoy working with both adults and children.
I am a 44 year old queer cis man, culturally Jewish, originally from Los Angeles and Residing in New York since 2001. With an earlier background in acting, voice, and dance, I have more recently spent the last 12 years teaching yoga, meditation, and sound healing, leading teacher trainings, and owning a yoga studio in NY. I am interested in working with the LGBTQ+ community and those who have experienced trauma. My current field placement is at an elementary school in Brooklyn, NY. I am excited to have taken on the responsibility of a Master's Degree at this stage of my life, and the opportunity to reexamine the self-limiting concepts about my academic abilities from my previous educational experiences.
I am a black ciswoman, born and raised in the Capital Region of New York. I also identify as transracial adoptee. I have been a movement artist since the age of four, specializing in the styles of ballet, pointe, modern, tap and jazz. I am a Skidmore College graduate with a dual B.S. degree in Social Work and Dance (Performance and Choreography) in 2021. My background with movement sparked my interest in the connection between life experiences (i.e.trauma) and their manifestations within the human body. My areas of interest include CBT, Trauma-Sensitive Yoga and Mindfulness. So far, I have come to know that I enjoy working with Pre-K kiddos and adolescents. Being able to communicate with current students was definitely something that helped me to understand and prepare for the program. As someone with an anxiety disorder, I want to support and uplift anyone battling that negative self-talk and doubt. Happy to share my experiences with whomever is willing to listen.
I am a cis-gendered, queer, Guatemalan immigrant who is the first in my family to pursue higher education. I grew up in Los Angeles, CA and currently reside in the Bay Area for my SSW field placement. I have a background in working in healthcare non-profits and government agencies. Due to my previous background, I have an interest in exploring clinical social work within hospital settings. I hope to focus on grief work as it pertains to geriatric hospital patients and their families. Yet, my current placement at a school-based clinic for high school students has piqued my interest to clinical work with adolescents. Regardless of the evolvement of my clinical focus, I aim to work with communities of color.
I am a white, genderqueer person. I am interested in working with complex trauma in adolescents and young adults and I have a soft spot for queer kids. I am passionate about relational therapy and in constant awe of the elasticity, resiliency, and depth of the human mind, body, and spirit. My path to pursuing an MSW was blazed through my own experience with serious mental illness. As I navigated this tumultuous time in my life, I made money by working in the restaurant industry. I am happy to chat about non-linear paths to becoming a therapist and the challenges of attending to your own mental health while simultaneously helping others explore theirs!
I am a white ciswoman originally from PA. I spent the last decade as an actor and movement specialist in Chicago. I am a former actor and movement specialist interested in the innate healing capacity of the body. Emerging professional interests include Somatic Experiencing, Polyvagal Theory, and EMDR, as well as Narrative Therapy and Open Dialogue Therapy. I am also passionate about working with children. I am a cat dad, fantasy nerd, and movement enthusiast who loves biking, hiking, circus silks, pole-dancing, and yoga.
Natasha Labbé is a Black, Haitian American woman, former educator, and life-long learner, who believes that each of us is inherently worthy and deserves to exist as our fullest selves. After a career in education for over a decade, Natasha decided to pivot and join Smith SSW because she wanted to learn how to continue building the individual relationships she had developed with students within a new professional framework, in which nurturing, healing, and processing are at the crux of the relationship. Naming and untangling the ways in which oppressive societal, political, and institutional forces are embedded in and impact our day-to-day lives is a source of passion for Natasha.
I identify as a cisgender Korean-American woman and first generation college student. I'm interested in building strong therapeutic relationships and utilizing diverse modalities that consider complex biopsychosocial factors and promote equity. My path to pursuing an MSW has been very non-linear! I studied English and Spanish in undergrad and spent several years working in different fields before coming to Mental Health. Navigating academic systems can be challenging and I found talking to current students really helpful when I was exploring different programs, so I'd love to help create similar helpful spaces for others.
I am a queer identified international student. I am also a transfer student/advance standing student. My clinical interests focus on LGBTQ+ community, Young Adults & Adults, international students, etc. I am recently practicing psychodynamic/psychoanalytic in my practicum. I am also interested in topics of anti-racism, internalized racism, self-advocation in a placement setting, and body mind connection. I transferred from a dual-degree program (social work & family couple therapy), University of Louisville, Kentucky to Smith in 2022. And I am currently doing my field practicum in Hampshire College Counseling Center.
Hi Everyone! My name is Maz, I am currently a first-year SSW student completing my first placement in Holyoke, MA as a Clinician on an inpatient Substance Use Disorder Stabilization unit. I am a first-generation and financially independent student who understands some of the obstacles it takes to attend higher education at a private institution. My professional background has focused on the micro and macro effects of addiction on under-resourced communities. My interests as a student of Smith College revolve around financial reparations, harm-reduction approaches in clinical settings, and restorative justice.
I am a white, queer, neurodivergent, advanced-standing SSW student who holds dual citizenship. As the child of a parent who grew up surviving under, and who participated in the overthrow of, Soviet dictatorship, I am intrigued by how dynamics of power, past and present, can permeate the psyche and the body, shaping relationships and society. My clinical interests lie within the Relational Psychodynamic framework, which builds upon interpersonal theories, self-psychology, British object-relations theory, and contemporary postmodern discourses (think the examination of power, oppression, and facets of identity). Somatic-based interventions are exciting for me as well, as they offer an avenue for metabolizing emotions and gaining an embodied understanding of internal states. I was part of a BSW/MSW accelerated program at another College before coming to Smith.
I am a first-year student completing an employment-based field internship in a community mental health setting. My choice of internship and of Smith SSW have been greatly influenced by class oppression. My professional interests have been shaped by my experience in community mental health over the last year and a half. My heart is in clinical work, both individual and group psychotherapy, with an eye on the interactions between class and policy. Specific clinical interests are in working with chronic and severe mental illness. Smith SSW is an interesting and unique experience and navigating resources, social settings, and academics can be rough (or straight up overwhelming). We all have our own individualized Smith experience and I'm happy to share my perspective if it might be helpful.
Hi! My name is Kyleigh, I am a queer first generation college student from Maine who is obtaining their MSW at Smith. I am interested in working within our nations criminal justice system to effect change that aligns with abolitionist principals. As a first generation student, the idea of attending graduate school seemed impossible. With support from Smith, I am now in my first field term and am so happy to be given the chance to help others who are facing uncertainty surrounding their continued education.
I am proud to be a queer, first generation, Latinx therapist from New York City. I transitioned into clinical social work after working in housing policy and tenant rights organizing in Brooklyn for the past decade. I currently serve as social chair on SSW's Smith Student Council of Color. Since starting my journey at Smith, I have expanded my areas of professional interest. I am still focused and passionate about working with queer and trans BIPOC communities, survivors of trauma, and first generation and immigrant communities. However, after my first year placement experience, I am now exploring work with children and teens.
Libby is a queer cis-woman living with a chronic illness who is twice educated by historically women's colleges. A proud ('just-outside-of") Bostonian, she grew up in Arlington, MA but is an avid traveller always looking for the next train, flight or boat out of town. Through personal experience and her undergraduate education at Mount Holyoke College, Libby grew passionate about the intersection of policy and public health, with a particular focus on how change agents in these ecosystems influence the mental and sexual health outcomes for our society's vulnerable communities, for better or worse. She aspires to work with adolescents living with chronic illness or disabilities, as well as physicians and healthcare providers serving this population. When determining the best angle from which to confront issues in our healthcare system, social work made the most sense because of its emphasis on addressing inequalities and need for change at both individual and systems levels. Libby hopes to work as a therapist after finishing Smith SSW, as well as in research, ideally examining the impact power dynamics present in patient-physician relationships has on sexual health wellbeing and functioning of adolescents with chronic illness and disabilities.
My areas of professional interest include Narrative Therapy and DBT. I am a first year SSW graduate student living in Northampton, MA. I am currently interning at the Smith College Campus School. I graduated from Smith with a B.A. in Art History, Concentration in Museum Studies in 2014. After completing my undergraduate degree, I worked in editorial and lived in Brooklyn. It's been an adventure doing a major career pivot, but I am so glad I rejoined the Smith community and it's great being back in the Pioneer Valley.
I identify as a white, Jewish, disabled, queer, cisgender woman. I grew up in Connecticut and I have been in Western Massachusetts for both of my field placements, as well as for my undergraduate education. My background is in reproductive rights and healthcare. My areas of professional interest are sexual and reproductive health, sex and relationships, attachment theory, relational therapy, and Rogerian therapy. I plan to either become a sex therapist or a sexual health educator! Wherever I end up, I know I'll work primarily with queer populations. I graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in Gender Studies, as well as a Five College Certificate in Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice. When I'm not working, I'm most likely doting on my fluffy cat, swimming in the ocean, or admiring the moon.
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