Olivia Rose Velasquez Weber, ATR-BC, LCAT

My clients come from a diverse set of backgrounds but I primarily work with BIPOC clients, LBGTQIA+ or individuals seeking support in their non-traditonal/alternative relationships. My clients look for support around racism/micro aggressions, internalized oppression, intergenerational trauma, de-colonization, and LBGTQIA+ issues due to white privilege, supremacy and heteronormativity. My approach is taken from training in Transpersonal and contemplative buddhist psychology at Naropa University where I received my MA. with a double major in Transpersonal Psychology and Art Therapy. The root teaching is the notion of “Brilliant Sanity”. This means that we all have within us a natural dignity and wisdom. Our basic nature is covered over like a butterfly in a cocoon. Nonetheless, this knowing is within us and can be cultivated through mindfulness awareness, acceptance, and self love. As a practitioner I am trained to recognize this wisdom within myself and my clients, even in the most confusing or disorienting states and circumstances and am able to nurture this wisdom as my clients begin to shed their layers of the their cocoon and step into their own authenticity, power and intuition. I utilize mindfulness techniques, somatic awareness, meditation, and the creative arts, and encourage clients to stay with their feelings in the here and now. My personal beliefs are based on my training and study of Buddhist philosophy in the Mahayana tradition. All human beings are born with basic goodness. As we grow and develop, obstacles and difficulties will begin to layer and cover our sense of basic goodness, sometimes to the point where people may forget they even have this depth of beauty, intelligence, and integrity within them. In continually opening to these innate qualities trust and confidence is built within ourselves. In doing so, one becomes much more generous and compassionate towards the struggles and difficulties they face in their everyday lives leading to more space for change to happen organically and creatively. This is not to say that people are excused for their ignorance, privilege, or oppression. Instead, it’s an invitation to see more clearly and begin to do the work, confronting and changing those things that not only hurt the individual but also hurt others and the collective human race.