Nexus Richardson, MSW, CSWA (she/her)
Bio
My name is Nexus Richardson, I use she/her pronouns. I identify as a Black heterosexual woman. I was born and raised in Portland Oregon. I lived outside of Oregon briefly to attend a Historically Black University. I later returned to Oregon where I obtained a Master's Degree in Clinical Social Work from Portland State University. I also hold a Clinical Social Work Associate license granted by the Oregon Board of License Social Workers.
My clinical experience includes hospital social work, supporting individuals with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease and individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. I’ve facilitated grief and loss support groups for the community at large. As an advocate for the BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities. I’ve worked in Human Services as a Social Worker at both the State and County level. I’ve also worked in the non-profit sector with at risk youth. As a mental health consultant, I collaborate with community partners to provide mental health support and resources for those in crisis. I also have a passion for Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and policy work. I served as a member of the Diversity, Equity, & Social Justice Committee for the Department of County Human Services.
Focus Areas
As Clinical Social Work Associate my training and supervision is ongoing as I work towards completing my licensure. My focus area includes working with Women and Femmes of color who are seeking support with the following:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Grief/ Loss
- PTSD
- Relationships
- Workplace trauma
Cultural trauma - Intergenerational trauma
- Concerns related to systemic oppression
- Internalized oppression
- Cultural dislocation
- Racism
- Identity issues
- Parenting support
- Health/Illness
Practice Approach
I am an attachment-based therapist who practices from an Interpersonal Neurobiology lens. I value long term work with clients.
My therapeutic approach is also influenced by:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy,
- Polyvagal Theory,
- Solution Focused Therapy,
- Attachment Theory
- Motivational Interviewing.
My goal is to lead with relationship building by way of advocacy, compassion, and empathy.
Your Journey
As a Black Woman, I’ve experienced trauma related to misogyny, racism, discrimination, gentrification, and poverty. It is important for me to create a safe space for my clients to address and heal from traumatic life experiences. I value offering other woman and femmes of color support on their mental health journey.
Kendahl Batiste-Ball, MSW, CSWA (she/her)
Bio
My name is Kendahl Batiste-Ball, I use she/her pronouns and am a biracial and Black identifying, neurodivergent, cisgender woman. I am a mother, a sister, a daughter and a partner. I am a 2nd generation Portlander who comes from a very large extended family, where I learned that community and connectedness are often some of our greatest protective factors. Outside of living in Northern California briefly while getting my bachelor’s degree, I have lived in Portland my whole life and have an understanding of the complex waters in which we swim. I have struggled to find and understand myself while attempting to find a sense of belonging at many iterations in my life. I began to realize that I had grown up without a working language around mental health, which culturally is not uncommon. As a result, I decided to focus my practice on how to braid the cultural and ancestral wisdoms with a perspective that with the opportunity and space to access healing can in itself be a form of liberation for many people of color. I am a Clinical Social Work Associate (CSWA) which means I’m working towards becoming independently licensed.
Focus Areas
- I’m interested in working with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color and clients who are looking to explore multiracial identity development
- LGBTQ+ affirming
- Health at Every Size affirming/Fat positive
- Neurodivergence
- Intergenerational trauma and healing
- Imposter syndrome and people of color
- People navigating systems
- Mothers of color and young mothers
- Postpartum depression
Practice Approach
I practice relational therapy with intention around utilizing collective care and am influenced by the following modalities:
- Systems theory
- Interpersonal Neurobiology
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
- Attachment Theory
- Anti-Oppressive Practice
- Afrocentric Paradigm
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Crisis intervention
Your Journey
I believe there is deep value in identifying how and where our lived experiences exist in our bodies. My clinical practice is grounded in knowing that deepening insight and understanding around how current and multigenerational identities influence how people experience the world. I strive to show up for people as they process how their lived experiences, environment and identities are embedded in how they human. I strive to help individuals with building authentic relationships to access healing and liberation from the unique types of stress, and marginalization we experience within the oppressive conditions we have been surviving for centuries. My goal is to honor those realities to help access healing and relief.
Christina Gonçalves, MSW, LCSW (she/her)
Bio
Hi! I’m Christina (she/her). I identify as biracial (Latina/white) and Brazilian-born. I moved to the U.S. when I was 12 years old with my mom and siblings. As an interracial family, our family experienced discrimination in both Brazil and the U.S. Our family never talked about cultural disconnection, racial inequity, nor was the racism my dad experienced ever explained, but we were each impacted by it. As a lighter skinned biracial woman, how I was impacted looked differently. I was provided light skinned privilege, while loved ones were not. I grew up often feeling angry, and at times ashamed, but never understood why. From my own therapy and healing, I better understand how my lived experiences inform who I am today, the traumatic impact systemic racism has had on my family, our mental health, and our communities as a whole. Themes that inform my practice and arise in my work with clients include feelings of being othered, isolation, invisibility, and inequity. I have a deep desire to hear your story, to support you in making meaning of your lived experiences, with the hope you feel seen, heard and less alone.
Focus Areas
I am a Clinical Social Work Associate, which means I am working towards licensure. My focus training has been traumatic life events, severe barriers, people experiencing mental illness, financial difficulties, and general overwhelm. Additionally, I practice in/with the following issues and populations:
- LGBTQ+ affirming
- Women/femme identifying experiencing life transitions
- Working with immigrant populations/crossing borders
- Biracial/racial/multiracial identity development
- Intergenerational trauma and healing
- Religious trauma
- People experiencing psychosis/alternative realities
- People experiencing symptoms of schizophrenia
- Family and friends of loved ones with mental health challenges
- Supporting parents support their children
- Self-acceptance
- Grief and loss
- Anxiety
- Depression
Practice Approach
I practice relational and person-centered therapy. My approach includes supporting you in healing trauma, developing safety within self to develop healthier relationships. We will explore your family of origin, your narratives, how they do and do not serve you, what you tell yourself and what behaviors are not useful anymore.
I provide an anti-oppressive, strength’s-based approach informed by the following modalities:
- Attachment Theory
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Psychosis
- Motivational Interviewing
- Person Centered
Your Journey
I truly believe that this life we are living is simultaneously beautiful, filled with opportunities for love and healing, as well as facing incredibly painful, traumatic, and at times debilitating life events. During our time together, I will provide a safe, compassionate, and supportive space for you to share your story, develop new coping strategies and explore meaning for your lived experiences.
Amanda Singh Bans, MA, MSW, LCSW (she/her)
Bio
*Not currently accepting new clients*
Hi! I'm Amanda (she/her), therapist and founder of Resonance LLC. I am a mixed race, cisgender, AuDHD, queer woman of color; my ancestors are from Zacatecas and Chihuahua, Mexico; Hoshiarpur, Punjab, India; Germany; and England. I was born in the central coast of California where diversity was commonplace, and split my time between there and in small, rural white towns in southern Oregon as one of very few families of color and even fewer mixed-race families. I moved around a lot both as a child and an adult and have lived in southern and central California, as well as in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Portland, Oregon.
Additionally, there was not a lot of language or visibility to talk about gender or sexuality in culturally-specific ways; many times, I had to split my time between different affirming groups (i.e. being with other people of color to talk about race; being with other queer/LGBTQ circles to talk about gender and sexuality, etc.) in order to get my needs met. In many ways, I have always battled feeling culturally and geographically insecure and unsettled, which taught me about living in between, embracing the gray, and normalizing discomfort when it came to my identities.
With healing came the challenging practice of belonging -- to my cultures, to my communities, to this body, to nature -- as my whole self. While not perfect, I have been able to find and grow peace in a way I've never experienced before, and it's a practice I wholeheartedly share and grow with my clients.
Focus Areas
I am a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) serving both Portland, Oregon and Albuquerque, New Mexico. I am a relational therapist and my background and training include intimate partner violence, sexual trauma, narcissistic abuse, adults who experienced abuse as children, ADHD, Autism, Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) and Post Traumatic Growth, neurodivergence, and racial trauma. I specialize in working with multiracial and monoracial people of color who are culturally dislocated. My approach also focuses on the intersection of race with other identities, such as gender, sexuality, socioeconomic status, and geographic location.
Practice Approach
My practice incorporates elements of Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB), Anti-Oppressive/Liberation Practice, Emotion Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) and Attachment Theory. One primary belief I operate from is that safety is the intervention (Bonnie Badenoch). I am also a Level 1 Certified Ecotherapist through the Earthbody Institute's BIPOC Ecotherapy Training and have completed EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) basic training.
Your Journey
For many individuals and communities that have experienced trauma, we have experienced a secondary trauma by not having a secure attachment figure or sense of safety. Part of my practice is providing an accompanied space where you can feel safe(r) to process trauma and begin the lifelong journey towards healing. In fact, that is where the name of this practice, Resonance, comes from: the felt sense of being accompanied by another. You can contact Amanda at amanda@resonancetherapy.org