Rox is a transracial adoptee of Peruvian heritage who grew up in Santa Barbara, California, and moved to Western Massachusetts in 2018. They earned a BA in Studio Art from Mills College in Oakland, CA, graduating in 2018, and later completed an MS in Art Therapy and Mental Health Counseling at Springfield College in 2023. Rox’s master’s thesis and research focused on making art therapy and mental health services more accessible to cross-cultural families, transracial adoptees (both domestic and international), their adoptive and birth families, and the LGBTQIA2S+ community, with particular attention to individuals exploring their gender identity.
Clinically, Rox has worked in residential substance use recovery programs for LGBTQ+ individuals and mothers in recovery, providing individual and group therapy. Most recently, they have worked in community mental health, providing outpatient services for over two and a half years. Through this work, Rox has developed strengths not only in supporting adoptees and the LGBTQIA2S+ community but also in working with disenfranchised grief, anticipatory and traumatic grief, systemic and generational trauma, immigrants, asylum seekers, alternative family structures, abandonment trauma, domestic violence, and relational issues. They also have experience in couples and family therapy.
Rox utilizes person-centered, culturally responsive approaches, prioritizing clients’ worldviews and lived experiences. They deeply understand the experiences of those who have felt underserved or underrepresented in Western, individualistic mental health systems. As a licensing-track clinician, Rox integrates Internal Family Systems (IFS), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), relational therapy, dreamwork, narrative therapy, and art therapy interventions.
Fun Fact: Rox has driven across the country at least 12 times, visiting 43 states. They also enjoy playing tennis, having competed at the collegiate level for three years. Outside of the office, you might catch Rox walking or swimming with their Husky/Lab mix, Bailey.
