About Me
I am the first but not the last African American EMDRIA-Approved Independent Trainer. Meaning I use my own EMDRIA-approved materials. And even though I am the “trainer”, my style of sharing knowledge and wisdom is also circular, not just top-down. I explain EMDR in a way that is 100% relevant to you as a person with lived experiences and as a professional, seeking to immediately integrate EMDR into your existing practice. It is important to know that I believe firmly that EMDR should be taught as the creator of EMD and later EMDR, Francine Shapiro intended so as to maintain integrity and fidelity of the evidence-based therapeutic modality.
Why?
Because EMDR Basic Training is just the foundation of what is possible by using EMDR. It is my goal, mission, and commitment to make sure all who take my training have a strong EMDR foundation to build their new way of providing arguably one of the best psychotherapy modalities to treat trauma and many more disorders. An example of what I aim for my trainees to take away from the training can be viewed in the video below created by one of my trainees less than six months after completing my EMDR Basic Training.
My Story
I currently have a full-time private practice but I began my life in the Mental Health field nearly twenty years ago in San Francisco where I served the community by working for a Community-Based Mental Health Organization in 2004. I have worked with diverse populations that span the globe. The demographics include diversity in Sexual Identity, Early Childhood – twilight years of life, Socio-Economic Status, Race, Gender Identity, Ethnicity, and Culture in multiple systems. I’ve worked in the Child Welfare System, Juvenile Justice System, Educational System providing School-Based Mental Health, and Local Government System, and Hospital settings with acuities from Mild to Moderate to Severely and Persistently Mentally Ill.
I was orignially trained in EMDR in 2014 with Laura Pernell (Trained by Francine Shapiro), and I became EMDRIA Certified in 2016. I’ve co-facilitated multiple (re-trained) EMDR Basic Training with Dr. Dalene Forester of Advance Education Institute (AEI) who was also trained by Francine Shapiro. I also co-facilitated several EMDR Basic Training with Diane DesPlantes of SURGE out of New Jersey. In 2021 I became the one of very few African American-approved Approved Trainers and Consultants and in 2023, the first EMDRIA-approved independent trainer.
I pride myself on being an Anti-Oppression Psychotherapist centered on healing. Healing from historical, present, and future related trauma. My focus is to increase the number of BIPOC clinicians trained in EMDR to continue to legacy of healing.
I look forward to meeting you and thank you for your interest in receiving training from Mosaic Training Institute.
Dean
Why Mosaic?
I see us as pieces of a whole. We all come in different shapes, sizes, and colors, some with rough edges while others are smooth, and some of us are large while others are small. As we all come together, with all of our differences, we make a beautiful Mosaic
