Hi! I'm Schlese!

I love being a social worker who is a therapist because I think we are healthiest when we are in relationship (to self, other, family, culture, society, and for some, the Divine). I’m a social worker because I think society can either help or harm the types of relationships that help us to be who we fully are. I believe everyone—and not just a deserving few—is worthy of resources and access to resources that allow people and communities to develop and thrive.

 

Unfortunately, in societies where there is system-wide oppression and injustice, being who you are can be hard. That’s why I believe most mental health “problems” don’t begin and end with you or your symptoms. Instead, I think mental health “problems” are often related to our everyday environments because that’s where we experience the lived impact of system-wide oppression and injustice in our bodies and minds.

 

The story of you is also the story of us—of our society and your place in it. In that sense, I deeply believe the personal is political. I’m a social worker because I believe being who you truly are is an act of hope, resilience, and resistance that requires the help of community and a few good friends who understand how to challenge and channel power

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More About Me
When I was in my late 20’s, I developed a set of health problems that doctors weren’t able to explain. Plus, I didn’t have financial means or status, and I was an overweight Black woman. I quickly discovered the humiliation and frustration of not being listened to and taken seriously in the health care system. At the end of my rope, I decided to try non-Western therapy (Sufi Islam). That choice changed my life. It also restored my self-worth and dignity. As a way to express gratitude for the gift of that experience, I enjoy working with clients who, in some aspect of their lives, sense that there’s “another way,” but haven’t been able to find the road that might take them there.

 

My path to clinical social work is unconventional. For many years, I taught English at a community college before I earned a Master’s of Social Work at George Mason University. Because of my work and academic experiences, I’ve had the opportunity to work with immigrant and refugee populations from Africa, Asia, and the Americas who are dealing with different types of stress (including chronic and generational) that affect their bodies, minds, and souls.

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Special Interests

My special interests in the field of therapy include the ever-expanding intersections of: African and Indigenous forms of knowledge and expression, ancestors, communal ritual and memory, genealogy, culture, spirituality, decolonization, resistance, resilience, politics, and liberation.

 

Outside of therapy, I like reading, quilting, singing, contemplation, researching family genealogy, and learning about traditional healing and medicine.