I’m Judith (jee -deet) Faustima a licensed Marriage & Family Therapist with 10+ years experience working with adolescents and families. My passion for mental health began when I started to reflect on being a teenager struggling with depression and anxiety, not understanding the impact racial identity development, racism, micro-aggression, hyerviligence, and assimilation had on my mental health and body. My experience with generational trauma systemically and within my family system contributed to my depression and vacant esteem. The privileges I now hold in class, education and geography, came with many sacrifices that were complex to understand in my own jouney.  My healing required an unlearning and relearning process around gender, race, religion, sex, ethnicity, spirituality, class, and ability. This process created and is still creating opportunities for me to return back to self. To reconnect back to my ancestral knowing and to feel wholeness within that, which has empowered me to moved forward more authentically myself. The journey I have been on is what I desire for those I work with. The reconnection to self, presence and community.

I specialize in working with adolescents, parent/child dynamics, and families within adoption, primarily transracial adoption. I specialize in providing clinical supervision centered in systemic and cultural awareness. I also specialize in program development that focuses on the primary needs of BIPOC populations. I believe in taking a trauma-informed and systemic lens in therapy because it continues to be what liberates us in our wellness and healing. As a systems therapist, I take a perspective and worldview that acknowledges that we are a part of systems that center relational dynamics and nature. Understanding our attachments in relationships and our sense of self is beneficial to how we heal in relationships.

My approach to therapy is rooted in Intergenerational Family Therapy, but I draw from other techniques such as Compassionate Inquiry, Emotional Focused Therapy, Liberation Psychology, Polyvagal Theory, Internal Family Systems and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. I aim to create a warm and supportive environment where clients feel empowered to explore their challenges and develop new coping strategies. I’m dedicated to the decolonizing work needed in the field of mental health to support in developing healing services that meet the needs of communities that have been made to be marginalized and impacted societal events.

I hold a Masters in Marriage & Family Therapy from Lincoln Christian University and am currently a doctoral candidate in a Marriage and Family Doctorate program specializing in program development. I received additional training in providing care in foster care and adoption from Portland State University. I have additional experience working in Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Programs as a Nature-based therapist and Family Program Manager for parents with adolescents in residential treatment. As an Approved AAMFT Clinical Supervisor, I have five years providing clinical supervision for mental health students in an accredited masters level counseling program.

When I’m not in the office, I am pouring time into non-profit and community work that align with my values. I also enjoy the arts in the form of live music, theater, film festivals, and art shows. I love acting and singing which is why you can find me in a local community theater play! I love spending time with my beautiful kitty king, Okoye, and spending time with my village of people!