Gabes Tor­res offers her thought­ful wis­dom in this con­ver­sa­tion that weaves through heal­ing, inter­con­nec­tion, and embod­i­ment. Focus­ing on holis­tic heal­ing and men­tal health sup­port, Gabes lucid­ly describes the ways our indi­vid­ual health and well-being are depen­dent upon our con­nec­tions and the struc­tures of the soci­eties in which we reside. Togeth­er Ayana and Gabes dream of what we may be free towards (not just free from) as we divest from extrac­tive mind­sets. Rever­ber­at­ing on a call to expand love in deeply root­ed direc­tions, this con­ver­sa­tion offers nour­ish­ment for body and soul.

Gabes Tor­res was born and raised in the coun­try­side of the Philip­pines. She is a psy­chother­a­pist, orga­niz­er, and artist with her work focus­ing on the inter­play of men­tal health, the arts, spir­i­tu­al­i­ty, and jus­tice-ori­ent­ed prac­tice. She has an MA in The­ol­o­gy & Cul­ture, and Coun­sel­ing Psy­chol­o­gy; both grad­u­ate degrees were accom­plished in Seat­tle, the city where she orga­nized with abo­li­tion­ist and anti-impe­ri­al­ist groups at a local, grass­roots lev­el. In her clin­i­cal prac­tice, Gabes pays atten­tion to heal­ing from racial and migra­tion trau­ma, while decol­o­niz­ing the ther­a­peu­tic space from White West­ern modal­i­ties. Gabes writes for Yes! Mag­a­zine, an inde­pen­dent pub­lish­er of solu­tions jour­nal­ism with sto­ries that uncov­er envi­ron­men­tal, eco­nom­ic, and social jus­tice inter­sec­tions. She is also a poet and singer-songwriter.