Erin Phipps(they/ them)

I approach my work in the healing space with expansiveness and adaptability, drawing on a wealth of resources and perspectives to meet each person where they are. Community is where social change is best leveraged.  As we untangle traumas endured, we explore the impact on your relationship to the body, the emotional burden of money and survival, and make space for grief in all its forms, we hold the through line of self-trust and the collective understanding that individual healing and systemic change are inseparable.  This work is never one-size-fits-all. It is careful, curious, and deeply respectful of each person's unique path. At the heart of my practice is a focus on self-trust and collective healing. As the late poet Andrea Gibson wrote, "You are the best thing that has ever happened to you." After immense loss, life-changing trauma, or a period of recovery, it takes time for a group to rediscover the shared wisdom that guides them forward. Change is a profound teacher. My work centers on helping people slow down together, listen inward, and begin to honor both their own unique wisdom and the power of communal healing. My approach is mindful, thoughtful, expansive, and grounded in the conviction that we carry within us, and between us, everything we need to heal. I have been working in human services since 1999, and my engagement with disability justice work dates to 2002. I hold a graduate degree in social work from NYU (2009), have been in clinical practice since 2011, and have served as a clinical supervisor since 2012. Since then I have been growing my expertise counselor education focused on training and consulting in in supervision and hold certification by the NBCC as an Approved Clinical Supervisor. I enjoy contributing to advancing the field by teaching graduate social work students at the University of Southern California and the University of Denver in courses like Program Planning and Evaluation, Assessment, and Clinical Therapy. My introduction to social justice began long before my career in social work. Diagnosed with learning disabilities at age six and placed in special education throughout grades one through twelve, I developed a deep, lived awareness of disability justice and of how oppressive systems can misinterpret and marginalize those who move through the world differently. These early experiences shaped my worldview and continue to inform every dimension of my work today. I place a significant amount of importance on balance in my life. When I’m not focused on my work in the community you can find me in the garden, at the pool, writing, telling stories or hovered over my sewing machine… dreaming up something new no matter where I am.