Elizabeth Morris, Santuario del Corazón, Bilingual Behavioral Health Therapist
When Elizabeth left her hometown in Houston to attend college, she became interested in the Latin-American Women’s Movement. At that time, her research took her to Chile, where she found something to connect smoothly during her fieldwork: “I appreciated the families that I worked with and their openness. I am grateful that people were so welcoming even though I was not from there or another South American country. They welcomed my questions, shared food, and we laughed. It was that kind of connection. There was a lot of warm connection with women. Much trust!”.
Later in life, Elizabeth became a Doula. She worked at CHRISTUS St. Vincent Hospital, supporting pregnant teenagers. “I worked with Spanish-speaking mothers that did not have anyone in the birth, and they wanted someone there, so I came over whatever hour it was and just helped the mom. Because I am a massage therapist, I helped with relaxation and meditation on focus. I feel honored that women can trust me to be with them in that space.” Elizabeth also mentions recognizing delivery as a uniquely transformative experience as she experienced three years ago when she gave birth and became a mother.
“I have worked with mothers, aunts, grandmothers, and the entire matrilineal connection! ”
Elizabeth’s interest grew in the area of clinical experience, she went back to college in Boston, MA and obtained a degree in Social Work. Her mental health work consists of supporting postpartum depression, anxiety, and domestic abuse survivors. End-of-life transition has become another meaningful pathway for Elizabeth after working as a Hospital Chaplain in Hawaii. To prevent confusion or increased stress during the most vulnerable times in human existence is perhaps the most essential role for Elizabeth supporting and facilitating communication to avoid medical trauma: “Working with both mothers and people dying, as a chaplain, in both situations, often my role has been bridging the spirit and the culture, the family religion beliefs, the medical system, the desires…”.
Elizabeth moved to Taos in 2019 to work in behavioral health services with immigrant families, mainly from Mexico, with whom, she mentions, she had the opportunity to share the “whole matrilineal connection.” In her new role as a therapist for Santuario del Corazón Program, she recognizes that New Mexico is such a unique state for the social work field: “… what it is often I am trying to do is help families to connect back using whatever they can to connect back: their families, their culture, the feeling that they can experience the same community here, but sometimes it is difficult. There is isolation here in Santa Fe, transportation is hard, so it is harder to have that sense of community and feel the same connection. I guess what I experience in New Mexico is isolation and a sense of loneliness trying to get that cultural connection back”.
This experience of isolation has not been a limitation for Elizabeth, encouraging connections working with Santuario clients: “A lot of times I am working on a client-centered approach. I wonder what would be the most important support system for the mother in this case, and how we can connect in them to help her to take care of this baby” This sense of connection that guides Elizabeth manifests both in her therapeutic work and the approaches that she is interested to learn enriching her professional practice. She just finished her training in EMDR. She is translating this material into Spanish to benefit the Hispano community.
Welcome, Elizabeth!