Oriana Ides
Projects I Support:
Get to know me
I am a School Mental Health Training Specialist at CARS, who leads initiatives focused on youth and young adult mental health, reflective inquiry, provider wellness, grief-healing programs and decolonial approaches to substance use and recovery. My approaches to healing trauma and oppression are deeply rooted in the ecological model of health and healing justice principles.
I have extensive experience working with young people across various life stages, from elementary school through college, as well as care providers and families serving in various roles such as school and community-based therapist, educator, school leader and program director. Regardless of my role, my work is always rooted in cultivating and protecting both individual and collective safety, belonging, and dignity. I am committed to generating healing within individuals, family systems, school structures, and extended networks of support, while also working to challenge the harmful impact of systemic injustice, structures, and policies.
I am deeply committed to increasing the overall well-being of our community’s most vulnerable populations by advancing the quality of health services and access to historically underserved populations. My work has centered on providing historically targeted youth and their families with concrete tools to improve their lives and communities through health education, decolonized approaches to therapy, critical consciousness development, and guided personal exploration.
As a therapist, caregiver, and community member committed to healing justice, I aim to help youth, and their families develop sustainable healing options and equip them with tools to overcome systemic and personal challenges.
I attribute much of my learning to the critical educators, healers and culture keepers in my community. I’ve also earned a MA in Clinical Counseling from the University of San Francisco.
I am
School Mental Health Training Specialist, Center for Applied Research Solutions (CARS)
School Mental Health Training Specialist, Comprehensive Suicide Prevention (CSP)
Training and Technical Assistance Specialist, National Training and Technical Assistance Center for Child, Youth, and Family Mental Health (NTTAC)
School Mental Health Training Specialist, School Crisis Recovery & Renewal Project (SCRR)
Work Showcase
Memorialization and Commemoration: Navigating, Creating, and Holding Space for Loss in Our Schools
Check out this event I facilitated:
Self and Collective Attuning to our Emotional Activation
Check out this event I facilitated:
Grappling with Life After Loss as Educator Leaders: An Invitation to Transformational Educator Grief Healing Work
Check out this article I co-authored:
Testimonial
Oriana, you are an absolute light in what sometimes feels like a very dark world. Your tireless work toward liberation psychology and healing-centered care is admirable. I appreciate that you created a space in which we could begin radically re-imagining the oppressive systems in which we live. Your presentation really resonated with me and how I hope to practice as a future school counselor.