Episode 7: Art and Trauma Therapy for Immigrants, Refugees and Asylum Seekers, with Isabel Ribe

Join us for a powerful conversation with bilingual art therapist Isabel Ribe on her work inside and outside of US detention centers, her poetry and painting, and frontline community organizing to build a more just world.

Content warning: There’s a beautiful and powerful poem at the end of this podcast that has descriptions of gender based violence.

In this episode we discuss:

  • Trauma therapy for immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers
  • The critical importance of bilingual counselors and therapists
  • The trials of navigating grad school and legitimacy in the system
  • The importance of recognizing art and creative healing in communities of color
  • Santa Fe Dreamers Project
  • Working as a counselor for trans folks held in detention centers
  • Relationship with the land and painting and poetry as practices of resistance

About Isabel:

Isabel Ribe is a Bilingual Counselor and Art Therapist providing trauma therapy and case management for immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers throughout New Mexico as well as remotely in detention centers around the country. Isabel did her clinical training at Solace Crisis Treatment Center, Esperanza Shelter and with Gerard’s House’s Nuestra Jornada Program. She also served for many years as a case manager and family advocate with the Santa Fe Public School’s Adelante Program. She is passionate about providing culturally competent, Spanish language mental health services to the immigrant community. Isabel is also a poet and artist and member of Santa Fe’s Alas de Agua Art Collective, and enjoys life on her farmstead in Pojoaque with her husband and four legged family. 

Find Isabel online:

  • On Instagram @ceryndipitous

Links to relevant resources:

Links to So Many Wings’ social media and website

On the web: https://somanywings.org

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/somanywingspodcast

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/somanywingspodcast

On Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/join/somanywingspodcast