08: Trauma and Storytelling (Mel Bosna)

I remember when I started interacting with Mel online. She has a grounded spirit that draws you in. When I finally met her in November 2017, it was such a healing and affirming experience to be in her presence. Suffice it to say, the Divine knew what the Divine was doing when we were connected IRL. 

Mel Bosna is a clinical social worker, feminist therapist and artist. As a clinical social worker Mel cannot see individual pain outside of systemic contexts.

She's learning how to work on the structural pieces that pave the way for the types of painful reasons clients find their way into my office (looking at you sexism, racism and poverty) She is a licensed clinician in the state of Arizona and believes that our best chances at health involve both individual and societal changes. As a result, she aims to validate the broader context of what contributes to the stories we're living, while supporting clients to change what's within their control to change. 

She received a BS in Sociology in 2004 and a Masters in Social Work in 2007.  Mel's worked at an intensive inpatient eating disorder facility, was the Residential Director for a group home for adolescents who had been sex trafficked, taught in a graduate-level counseling program and has provided outpatient therapy services since 2012. It's been a profound honor to for her to support women--together they are learning how to walk away, claim new life, root into new ground, speak the unspeakable, own the narrative, change the script and to say ENOUGH to the shame and lies that have haunted them for too long.

In addition to clinical work, Mel is a speaker, writer and artist who documents the stories of women on a personal project which you can view on her blog. The women in her storytelling project are not to be confused with the women she counsels in her practice as she's a firm believer in the importance of upholding healthy boundaries and sticking to her ethics.

To connect with Mel:

Humans of NY story and subject unknown.

Resources:

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