ABOUT YOLANDA
Yolanda (she/her), the founder of Healing from the Roots®, LLC, is a Licensed Independent Social Worker (LICSW) in Massachusetts.
She received a BA in Women’s Studies from Vassar College, where she experienced empowerment through lesbian, Chicana and Black feminists. Wanting to center BIPOC mental health experiences, she went on to obtain a MSW from Smith College.
Yolanda is an Adjunct Professor at Smith College School for Social Work, teaching a course on Group Theory and Practice. She currently provides individual and group therapy to college students.
Yolanda is also a 200-hour EmbodyogaⓇ teacher through Shraddha Yoga and has a certification in Qigong Infused Yoga®. She creates accessible, trauma-informed yoga classes that affirm all shades and bodies.
She derives joy from taking walks in nature, being with family and friends, hiking, traveling, practicing yoga and qigong®, dancing, meditation and prayer. She has two beautiful children and two grandchildren. Yolanda is fluent in English and can speak Spanglish.
CLINCIAL EXPERIENCE
In her clinical and community work, Yolanda is committed to supporting BIPOC communities and healing the impact of trauma and addiction. While directing the ALANA Student Cultural Center at Vassar College, she was able to provide social, cultural, advisement and leadership support to BIPOC students.
Offering both individual and group therapy, she has worked for twelve years, with the Puerto Rican community in Holyoke, MA, to support recovery. She has also provided clinical consultation and supervision to therapists.
YOLANDA'S APPROACH
Yolanda believes in a holistic mind, body, and spirit approach. She wants you to bring all parts of your identities into therapy and wellness spaces. She works in a collaborative, person-centered, trauma informed way.
She holds an intersectional perspective, recognizing that systems of oppression give some of us privilege while oppressing others.
These oppressive beliefs can limit our ability to access our full potential. Thus, in her clinical work and in the community, she is committed to uprooting all forms of oppression and be an ally. Her work is influenced by psychodynamic, relational, feminist, somatic, yogic philosophy, indigenous and trauma-informed frameworks.
