Violeta LMSW-c, EMDR Therapy & Community Education

12/01/2025

SAVE THE DATE and please share!

The People’s Potluck will take place on December 13th from 1–4 PM at the Detroit Food Commons (8324 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48202) on the second floor.

People all over Detroit are struggling right now, and the need for us to come together, to gather, organize, and share a hot meal has never been greater. The Riverwise Collective has partnered with Y-VAC (Young Voices Action Collective), BYP100, the Grand River Community Block Club, and local Detroit urban farmers to bring you The People’s Potluck!

Join us for an afternoon of community care and creativity! We’ll break bread together as we hear from local poets, make zines, enjoy music, and learn about food sovereignty as community safety.

Bring a dish (with all ingredients noted) if you can, and please bring anyone who could use shelf-stable food, a warm coat, personal hygiene items, or new socks and gloves. Donations accepted at the event or ahead of time at locations provided.

We’ll have Riverwise Magazines, social justice publications, and zines for you to take home as well.

Starting December 1st, drop-off boxes will be set up throughout the city for donations of shelf-stable food, gently used or new coats, new socks, and gloves. Each box will be clearly labeled for canned goods, coats, gloves, socks, and dry goods.

Donation Drop-Off Locations & Times (Donations should be left in bins on the porches that are marked at these locations)

Valerie Jean – 327 Woodland, Detroit, MI

Megan Douglass – 1731 Atkinson St., Detroit, MI

Dain Evans – 826 Leroy St., Ferndale, MI

Boggs Center – 3061 Field Street, Detroit, MI — Fridays (11–3 PM)

YVAC Headquarters – 16326 Harper Ave., Detroit, MI 48206 — Wednesdays & Saturdays (12–3 PM)

Grand River Community Block Club – 11076 Cloverlawn, Detroit, MI 48202

Tiffany Harris – 4212 Edgewood St., Dearborn Heights, MI 48125

Ilene Street Block Club – 17134 Ilene St., Detroit, MI 48221

If you have any questions, would like to share your talents (music, poetry, etc.), or would like to contribute in any way, please contact Valerie Jean at 313-704-5150.

We look forward to being in community with you! Please invite your family, your neighbors, and your people. Let’s care for each other and build a culture of mutual aid.

WE GOT US!

11/30/2025

In today's video, I introduce 'tarot' as a potential self care tool, and place it within the bio-psycho-social-spiritual lens that clinical social workers are trained to use. Many people think of the domain of spiritual wellness as solely related to one's faith or religious background. That can surely be a part of it, but I think it's safe to say that that's not the only way people look to make meaning of the ups and downs in life.

In fact, across social media a lot of people are looking to various online platforms where they might discover spiritual information. Teachers who I have had over the years, often emphasize learning from elders and in community. Community isn't always accessible and it can be hard to know who the elders are if you're already not feeling connected.

I offer a few tips: (1) how to explore tarot safely; (2) how to look at it practically; & (3) how to think of tarot when it comes with so much stigma.

Take a look. I hope it's helpful to you.

https://youtu.be/4QndpHwsWsw?si=28b0a4DnV4bqdOAs

You'll need to turn your volume up because I recorded with my volume low.

The purpose of this community education video:

(1) be a safe person to discuss a tool that many people secretly have interest in
(2) discuss how to use tarot in a responsible way
(3) aid in the destigmatization of this tool
(4) discuss pros and cons of using the tool

Watch this video to learn about the spiritual domain of wellness that clinical social workers are trained to support. Explore tarot, oracle cards, and other ...

11/19/2025

So glad this resource exists for fathers in Michigan!

Met some great men today!

We talked about the joys and challenges of fatherhood. 1st dad's group was a success!

If you couldn't make it today, meet us at the next one Wednesday December 17th.

Thank you New West Willow Neighborhood Association (NWWNA)for providing us with the space!

11/15/2025

"This is a letter exchange between myself, a Palestinian-Danish-American psychologist and writer, and my friend Heba Al-Turk, a young mother living in Gaza. Our friendship and correspondence began in the fall of 2024 and has since evolved into a lifeline of witnessing and maternal testimony. We are writing as friends across impossible distances: I from safety, she from a war zone. The exchange captures the collapse of clinical frameworks, the disorientation of helpless privilege, and the intimacy of shared motherhood stretched across geopolitical cruelty.

We write to one another not just as individuals but as representatives of broader truths: about occupation, resilience, fragmentation, and the refusal to be erased. About a deep love we are building in a loveless world. ROOM has championed writing that is personal, political, and formally rich. This piece is about a feminist praxis of literary solidarity. Heba, despite every danger, insists on naming herself and her son, Ziad. She does not want her story anonymized. She wants the world to know they exist."

https://analytic-room.com/correspondence/mothering-through-genocide-by-helena-vissing-and-heba-al-turk/?fbclid=IwY2xjawOFi9hleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyCGNhbGxzaXRlAjMwAAEevywkJ5zHrAJm9s0HUqNYQOdMFbkytBbcsqt29kBb2iuLs_5mEL3i0uO-5lM_aem_yDX8XcrlJsT7IQc2c4oLIw

A psychologist and a mother in Gaza write across war and distance — witnessing love, trauma, and the collapse of Western clinical frameworks.

11/06/2025

SAVE THE DATE! Mark your calendars! Set your alarms! BEAM’s **PARENT SUPPORT FUND** returns on November 10, 2025.

Get ready for another round of direct community-centered support for parents and caregivers. With the recent challenges and changes with social welfare and benefits, our team is doing our part to make sure we put funds in the hands of those who need it.

As always, funding will be distributed until we reach capacity.

Please note that this grant is limited to a first come, first served basis.

https://lnkd.in/d2J2_223

via BEAM

10/19/2025

Next month, we'll be attending the Kaleidoscope Conference on Mixed and Multiracial Heritage in Therapy. This is a global conference based in the U.K. that's looking at the unique experiences of bi/ multi racial, cultural, ethnic, and national identities of clients and what we should be considering as systems of support.

Dr. Yvon Guest - of the Black, African, and Asian Therapy Network/ British Association for Counseling and Therapy - is the conference host. For the past 20 years, her work has focused on the psychological impact of colorism and racism particularly for those with ancestry in the former British Empire.

Welcome to Issuu’s blog: home to product news, tips, resources, interviews (and more) related to content marketing and publishing.

10/09/2025

Preparing for the change of season

https://www.thesisterscouch.com/events

10/07/2025

How do you honor grief and celebrate life when the veil is thin? American Indian Health and Family Services will be holding its annual Ghost Supper in community. See photo for more information on how to hold the sacred with others.

10/07/2025

Community Care with Healing By Choice this Sunday in Southwest Detroit

Healing By Choice! Detroit – Autumn Gathering

The seasons are shifting, and so are we. Join us as we gather in community to honor autumn — a time for rest, release, and renewal.
Circle space for reflection Gentle grounding + somatic movement practices
Nourishment, music, and care

4444 West Vernor Hwy. Detroit, MI 48209
October 12, 2025
Time: 5-7 pm

This gathering is for movement workers, healers, and organizers in Detroit. Come as you are, leave rested and renewed

RSVP here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd-noqhZdBmI0FdFSHnN8r5v565tLuZOLDNsQa71iwXpGXH_g/viewform?usp=dialog