Susan's Blog

Susan Andrien , CEO and Founder of Hope Reimgagined, is a Phase 2 certified trainer of The Neurosequential Model, a neurodevelopmentally informed approach to clinical problem solving & Certified Forest Therapy Guide. With more than 25 years of experience working with children and families heavily impacted by trauma, Susan is on a mission to better support communities, schools and families to be relationally rich environments informed by neurophysiology. 

Nirupama “Niru” Lal, AMFT, brings over 25 years of experience in special education to her work as a mental health clinician supporting youth, families, and educators. As a South Asian queer immigrant, she offers an intersectional lens for supporting clients navigating complex identities. Her work integrates lived somatic awareness with a neuroscientific understanding of stress and trauma. Grounded in a deep connection to nature, Niru believes nature supports regulation, presence, and deep healing. She is committed to creating culturally responsive, trauma-informed spaces where clients can feel safe, reconnect with themselves and others, and engage in life more authentically.

Julia (Jules) Livesey, AMFT, has been with Hope Reimagined since August 2022 working as a school-based therapist. Jules holds a Master’s in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Drama Therapy from California Institute of Integral Studies. Born and raised in Oakland, Jules is an imaginative healer, director, actor, dancer, and cultivator of plants and their medicine. She is passionate about the intersections of creativity, play, imagination, nature, liberation, and healing.

Lilya Kamholtz-Roberts, AMFT, APCC, is a drama therapist passionate about bringing play to life’s transitions as a tool for resourcing and reflection. With a Master’s in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Drama Therapy from the California Institute of Integral Studies, Lilya blends feminist and existential lenses to approach clients from a grounded understanding of the ways that oppressive systems shape our lives, and the ways we can heal from them in relationship. She specializes in working with youth and elders, and brings her background as a trans educator and community-builder to build a therapy practice that aims to tend to collective care and liberation.

Vero is a graduate student at Santa Clara University pursuing a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology with emphasis in Latinx Mental Health. She previously earned her B.A. in Child and Adolescent Development, with a minor in Atypical Child Studies from San José State University. Her background includes work as a case manager, Early Learning program specialist, and emergency assistance hotline responder, supporting families in the non-profit sector. Vero is deeply passionate about providing trauma‑informed, culturally responsive care that supports children and their families as interconnected systems, honoring their strengths.

Cecilia Ines Tavarez is a third-year Expressive Arts Therapy student in the Clinical Psychology program at the California Institute of Integral Studies, pursuing Marriage and Family Therapy licensure. She is a multidisciplinary artist originally from Lenape land in Washington Heights, NYC. She completed a semester of training as an art therapist intern at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in San Francisco, where she provided therapeutic support to children and young adults living with chronic illness, cancer, and medical trauma. Cecilia’s client-centered, strength-based approach incorporates expressive arts and non-directive play therapy, grounded in humanistic, feminist,  liberation and depth psychologies, with a commitment to trauma awareness and the decolonization of mental health. Prior to graduate training, she worked in nonprofit community mental health agencies as a Case Worker and Program Coordinator, supporting elderly adults and families. Cecilia is passionate about supporting individuals with trauma histories, complex neurodivergent identities, and from marginalized communities, and looks forward to collaborating with students, families, and staff. Through expressive arts, she hopes to help young people nurture their imagination and curiosity in order to reclaim their wholeness.

Rosie Mertz, Intern Therapist is currently completing her training at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She works with children, adolescents, and families through a trauma-informed, somatic, and play-based approach, with a special interest in attachment, nervous system regulation, and the ways environment and access shape healing. Her work is rooted in a relational, depth-oriented approach that centers attunement and nervous system safety.

As a queer, sesquigenerational immigrant and former partnerships executive, Joyce is accustomed to bridging cultural and philosophical divides. She is passionate about helping clients navigate times of transition, bridging from what is present to what is becoming. Joyce has

found healing through circus arts, playing music and communing with

the more-than-human world—and she incorporates creative expression and Nature-based wisdom into her whole person approach to therapy.

Amalya, a Somatic Psychotherapist in training at the California Institute of Integral Studies, is

passionate about creating a safe, relational container for healing and reconnection to wholeness

through deep curiosity and authentic witnessing. They are certified in Integrative Somatic

Trauma Therapy, are a 200 hour certified Yoga Teacher, and are a student of Authentic

Movement and Dance/Movement Therapy. Amalya approaches therapy through an intuitive,

exploratory, and play-based lens, trusting the process and allowing space for healing to unfold organically.

As a white, nonbinary, queer therapist, Amalya’s lived experience and embodied perspective inform their understanding of health and healing. They are committed to offering a space where

all bodies and experiences are welcomed, seen, and held with care. With a Bachelor's Degree in Gender & Women’s Studies from Naropa University, they see the world through a feminist lens with a focus on liberatory psychology and decolonial perspectives. They also work with adults with intellectual disabilities as an advocate and Independent Living Skills instructor, and are

passionate to support those who have been systemically devalued in our society navigate systems of oppression.

In their free time, Amalya enjoys hiking in the mossy, mushroom-filled woods of Northern

California with their dog, cuddling at home with their new kitten, and expressing themselves through dance, movement, printmaking, weaving, and other creative practices.

Artanesha Clinician & Trainer  is a proud native of Oakland. Artanesha has over nineteen years of direct service experience and has worked as a Clinical Social Worker in Oakland for the last thirteen years. Artanesha worked as a School-Based Clinician and a Program Manager at Lincoln Families and Children’s Hospital Oakland, working with some of the most vulnerable populations. Her efforts helped to build relationships amongst students, their families, their teachers and communities in order to support the development and success of young people. Artanesha attended the University of California, Berkeley and graduated with her BA in African American Studies and Social Welfare. and The University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration with a MA in Clinical Social Work in 2017, Artanesha completed the Emerging Leaders of Color and  UCSF's Diversity and Inclusion Certificate Program in 2018 and was accepted to the Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity Fellowship (AFHE) in 2019 and is now an AFHE Senior Fellow.  Artanesha is currently building her own legacy, Love Light Network, a nonprofit that will serve the Oakland community.

Angela Harris, LCSW Trainer and Consultant, currently practices in Montana with over 15 years of experience. She has advanced training in mental health, social-emotional development, community collaboration, and program coordination/assessment. She is certified Phase 2 trainer in the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics, a neurobiologically informed approach, measuring effects of trauma on brain development and functioning.

Aija Simmons, Trainer and Consultant is a passionate educator mom.  She currently serves as Program Manager in the Department of Social and Emotional Learning in the Oakland Unified school district. Drawing from her experience as an educator, and instructional coach Aija supports leaders to create the optimal conditions for adult professional learning that can lead to transformational learning spaces for students. Central to Aija's work is an emphasis on equity, identity, critical literacy, and social-emotional awareness.