Melina Vanni-González, LSW

Welcome! As a first-generation Venezuelan-American “third culture kid” therapist, I am passionate about working with folks at the intersection of queerness, migration, and complex trauma. Oftentimes moving with one or more marginalized identity also means experiencing oppression at both the interpersonal and societal level. I am dedicated to creating a space in which all parts of you are welcome.

I am an eclectic psychotherapist who specializes in complex trauma, depression, anxiety, immigrants, children of immigrants, LGBTQIA+ individuals, intergenerational trauma, ambiguous loss, gender and sexuality exploration, neurodivergence, abuse, individuals with mixed/multicultural identities and work stress.

My therapeutic practice is rooted in Liberation Psychology, meaning I believe that psychological distress is a normal response to a violent and unjust world, and that as a therapist I have the responsibility to engage in dismantling systems that cause harm to people who come to me as clients.

I invite you into a collaborative and process-based journey that examines the stories you have been told by your family, employment, political systems, religious belief systems, societal norms, and communities. Together we can reexamine those stories and rewrite narratives that are in line with our authentic selves. I am committed to providing culturally responsive, antiracist, gender-affirming, and accessible care to my clients.

I do not consider any thoughts, emotions, or behaviors as “irrational”. Rather, I see everything as a response to each person’s unique context. With clients, I am always supporting them in connecting to the ways in which they are affected by their environment and how they are interacting with the world around them.

I integrate EMDR, psychodynamic, Narrative Therapy, and somatic approaches.

In other words, my work centers around making the unconscious conscious, exploring the connection between the body, feelings, and thoughts, and guiding you to construct a story about your life and experiences to create a sense of meaning.

I may be a good fit for you if you’re looking for a therapist who has lived in many places at the intersections of many cultures, or who has experience with community organizing and the education sector. I was raised in the small, rural town of Oxford, Ohio and later spent my adolescence and early adulthood in Berlin, Germany. I have the experience of being a Latina child of immigrants in the rural Midwest, as well as being a “third culture kid” in a global metropolis. Like many individuals of the Venezuelan diaspora, my family life has been shaped by the violence of Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis, which led me to work in human rights advocacy and mental health.

I graduated with a BA in History and Human Rights from Bard College Berlin and an Advanced Masters in Clinical Social Work and Social Administration from the University of Chicago. Before becoming a therapist, I worked with grassroots migration rights movements, youth political education, and integrating social justice and cultural responsiveness into foreign language education all over the world including the US, Germany, Japan, Panama, the Dominican Republic, and Spain.

Lastly, I offer psychological evaluations for immigration cases for individuals represented by a lawyer.

My specialities include but are not limited to:

Depression and anxiety

Life transitions

Trauma, PTSD, and C-PTSD

Neurodivergence & executive functioning coaching

Perfectionism

Work stress, burnout and workaholism

Childhood abuse

Survivors of torture and political violence

Survivors of sexualized violence

Migration and first-generation experiences

Acculturative stress and migratory grief

Family separation

Ambiguous loss

LGBTQIA+

Religious trauma

Race-based violence

Gender and/or sexuality exploration

Education and healthcare related burnout

Activists, organizers, and movement workers

Venezuelan diaspora communities

I offer a low sliding scale exclusively to individuals who are undocumented, or who have received or in the process of asylum, TPS, humanitarian parole, VAWA, U-Visa, T-Visa, DACA or Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJ). I can only provide immigration evaluations to individuals who have a lawyer representing their case. If you are interested in an immigration evaluation, please have your lawyer contact me.

Additionally I facilitate the Complex PTSD Virtual Recovery Group for BIPOC, Latinx, and immigrant communities. Join a virtual support group for BIPOC, Latinx, and immigrant communities living with Complex PTSD (C-PTSD). This group is a culturally responsive, trauma-informed space created for survivors of abuse, relational harm, and intergenerational trauma. Whether your experiences are rooted in migration, family systems, racial trauma, or systemic oppression, you are not alone.

We’ll explore healing from C-PTSD, emotional neglect, attachment wounds, and complex relational dynamics, all within a supportive community that honors your lived experience.

Together, we’ll make space for the parts of you that were never allowed to speak, and begin the process of collective healing.

ESPAÑOL

Soy estadounidense de familia Venzolano-Americana, nacida y criada en la pequeña ciudad rural de Oxford, Ohio. Me gradué en Historia y Derechos Humanos (BA) en Bard College Berlín y una Maestría Avanzada en Trabajo Social Clínico y Administración Social de la Universidad de Chicago. Mi motivación para trabajar en derechos humanos y salud mental son las experiencias de desplazamiento que mi familia y amigos de Venezuela han sufrido. Antes de graduarme como terapeuta, trabajé con movimientos populares enfocados en derechos migratorios, justicia ambiental y narración oral comunitario en los Estados Unidos, Alemania, Panamá y Japón.También he trabajado en programas de educación para justicia social y  pedagogía culturalmente sensible en la República Dominicana y España. Hetrabajado  además como traductora inglés-español  en sesiones de psicoterapia para sobrevivientes de tortura, violencia política e individuos afectados por el sistema migratorio estadounidense.

Mi forma de realizar la terapia se basa en la Psicología de la Liberación. Este enfoque implica que  la angustia psicológica a menudo es una respuesta a un mundo hostil e injusto y que como terapeuta tengo la responsabilidad de participar en el desmantelamiento de los sistemas que causan daño a las personas que vienen a mí como clientes. En mi práctica empleo varias técnicas de terapia como EMDR, la terapia narrativa, sistemas familiares, arte terapia, exploración espiritual, psicología corporal, reducción de daños, Terapia de Aceptación y Compromiso (ACT), Terapia Focalizada en las Emociones (TEF), teoría relacional-cultural y facilitación de diálogo intercultural. Utilizo un enfoque holístico basado en fortalezas y busco crear un ambiente terapéutico colaborativo y empático. Me gusta incorporar las creencias religiosas y espirituales de los clientes, así como la capacidad de afrontamiento y resiliencia espiritual en las sesiones. Me comprometo a brindar atención culturalmente sensible, antirracista, de afirmación de género y accesible a mis clientes. Además ofrezco evaluaciones psicológicas para casos de migración.

Puedo ofrecer sesiones de terapia tanto en inglés como en español.

Mis especialidades incluyen, entre otros:

Depresión, ansiedad y transiciones de vida

Trauma, síndrome de estrés postraumático, y síndrome de estrés postraumático complejo

Abuso infantil 

Sobrevivientes de tortura y violencia política

Sobrevivientes de violencia sexualizada

Experiencias de migración e hijos de migrantes

Estrés de aculturación

Dolor migratorio agudo (síndrome de Ulises)

Separación familiar

Parejas y individuos LGBTQIA+

Parejas multiculturales o interraciales

Trauma religioso

Agotamiento y adicción al trabajo

Exploración de género y/o sexualidad

Navegando el poliamor

Activistas, organizadores, y gerentes de movimientos sociales

Personas de la comunidad y diaspora venezolana 

Ofrezco sesiones a costo reducido exclusivamente para individuos sin documentación, o individuos que hayan recibido o están en el proceso de recibir asilo, TPS, parole humanitario, VAWA, U-Visa, T-Visa, DACA o estatus especial juvenil (SIJ). Solo pueden realizar evaluaciones para casos de migración si se trata de individuos con representación legal para su caso migratorio. Si necesita una evaluación para su caso migratorio, contáctame a través de su abogado.