Viridiana Ortiz

My career in mental health spans 12 years and has been driven by my lived experiences and a deep commitment to expanding mental health services in my community. After earning my bachelor's degree, I worked as a medical social worker at a hospital, then dove into research and community events where I noticed the critical need for mental services. I was hired as a therapist for a local Native American tribe that didn't have mental health services at the time, only social services. Through building community rapport with them, we opened a mental health unit for therapy for the tribal members, which was beautiful to see. I was there almost 10 years, and during that time, I decided to go back to school to get my PhD, specializing in mental health within the Hispanic community. For the past 5 years, I've been running my own private practice where I serve as owner, see patients throughout the day, oversee clinical operations, supervise other therapists, staff cases, and provide individual clinical services. My main area of expertise is trauma-focused work. I'm also a college professor, and I consider mentoring future therapists and students to be my most notable professional achievement - it's been a privilege and an honor in my career. I'm very actively engaged with the community because I want to decrease the stigma around mental health and normalize these conversations, while offering quality services in an area with very limited resources.