44. Listening to People’s Stories and Healing IN Community (ft Beth Cortez-Neavel, LPC, LMFT-Associate)

Warning: this episode contains discussions of sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and trauma.

This week Jazmin learned that shifting where she works so that she’s more comfortable makes a huge difference in the way she feels about working and the quality of counseling she provides. It’s like a revelation to Karen to consider that maybe it’s okay to meet virtually with a client from the privacy of one’s own back porch.

This week we are sharing our conversation with Beth Cortez-Naevel who is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Associate in Texas. They hold a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Simmons College, a Master of Arts in Journalism from University of Texas at Austin, and a Master of Arts in Professional Counseling from Texas State University - San Marcos. Beth is currently working in her private practice in the Austin area called Queer AF Therapy. They focus on working with queer and trans folks, survivors of sexual assault, sexual abuse, family and intimate partner violence.

With Beth we talk about their first career in Journalism and how their initial attraction to that work was a love of hearing other people’s stories. Beth shares the way they noticed some ethical ick in the journalism industry and then shifted professions into becoming a counselor. We totally vibe with Beth about the way acronyms do not actually help us remember anything and we all have at least half a dozen training recordings that we signed up for but haven’t gone back to finish listening to. With Beth we talk about the decision making and process to being dual licensed. We talk about what it’s like to try to work and live under oppressive, toxic, and deeply flawed systems; the challenges of being helping professionals in a capitalist system. Beth shares what it’s been like for them to come out as non-binary, how they think about the ethics of self-disclosure, and particularly how they show up as a therapist working within their own community.

Resources mentioned:

• Decolonizing Therapy: Oppression, Historical Trauma, and Politicizing Your Practice by Jennifer Mullan
• Why Does He Do That? by Lundy Bancroft (somewhat outdated now)
• SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) exam portral: Grey’s Anatomy (TV show) episode, Season 15, Episode 19, “Silent All These Years”
• Unladylike Podcast, Episode 33, "How to Get a Rape Kit."
• His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass)
• The Cool Therapists Collective
• Beth’s practice website: www.queeraftherapy.com
• Beth’s Instagram: @queeraftherapy

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Disclaimer: This podcast is not therapy and does not establish a professional, therapeutic counseling relationship. All statements made on this podcast by hosts and guests are their individual personal perspectives only and are not necessarily shared by anyone else. The hosts and guests on this podcast are not speaking on behalf of all mental health professionals or the profession as a whole.