I'm Dr. Jennifer Mullan.  

Lovingly called " The Rage Doctor.”

Colonial Consciousness Crusher. 

Ancestral Wound Worker.

Scholar Activist.

International Speaker. Author. 

Trained as a Clinical Psychologist. 

Intergenerational & Historical Trauma Alchemist.

Paradigm Smasher.   

My Story 

Inner city, working class Black Panamanian multi racial (Irish, Italian, Panamanian, Kuna Indigenous) kid, I partly owe my survival to therapy. As a youth living with multiple ways of Knowing and Seeing, being highly sensitive, in a violent environment, with invisible disabilities, and fluid orienting—of course back then I knew the mental health system was incomplete and harmful, even when practitioners had the best intentions—I just didn’t have the words for this, nor the energy to do something about it.

Years later, I trained as a western traditional psychologist and worked in community mental health and logged two decades of clinical practice. I understand the theories from an academic perspective. 

I also know these theories and systems have failed us. 

At times I had to bend the rules. Because it was clear that these ethics, and policies weren’t serving the people I was there to help. Because they weren’t created with QBIPOC in mind. I got into “trouble'' a lot, but my clients received better care. And I slept better at night.

Over time, I became more active–politically and in my communities. Those spaces fortified, educated, unraveled and invited me–not as a psychologist–but as a person who needed her own healing, and a person who would give community care as systems collapsed. 

I found identity and solidarity in people outside of my field more than I did within. LGBTQ center coordinators, undoing racism activists, abolitionist teachers, ferocious librarians. I saw myself in them. People doing the real work. 

I found myself breaking out of the mold with like-minded peers. Co-creating new ways of doing therapy. Ways that were about true healing and liberation.

From this collective reimagining, Decolonizing Therapy was born.

Professional Highlights

Dr. Jennifer Mullan is the author of the national bestselling book “Decolonizing Therapy: Oppression, Historical Trauma & Politicizing Your Practice.” She is a dynamic and highly sought after international speaker as well as an organizational consultant, teacher, course creator, community builder, and decolonized mental health movement starter.

She has been featured in Allure, GQ, The Today Show, Cosmopolitan, and The Calgary Journal; and received ESSENCE magazine’s 2020 Essential Hero Award in the category of Mental Health. 

In December 2017, Dr. Mullan created the Decolonizing Therapy Instagram, which has grown a large, enthusiastic following and profoundly shifted the world’s understanding of therapy and mental health. 

She continues to lead the charge–challenging how therapists are educated and how they practice. Dr. Mullan has educated thousands of therapists, psychologists, social workers, and helpers as they UNLEARN & UNDO colonial & Eurocentric methods of helping. 

Dr. Mullan received her doctorate in clinical psychology from California Institute of Integral Studies, and Master’s in Counseling & Community Agencies from New York University. Through her research, teaching, therapy, personal and professional experiences, she developed expertise in anti-oppressive practices in clinical practice child & adolescent wellness & trauma; community mental health; the politicization of mental health; intergenerational & historical trauma transmission; ancestral healing; energy medicine; family dynamics and personal development; sacred rage as medicine; and peer support & supervision. 

The reach of the Decolonizing Therapy Instagram account combined with Dr. Mullan's deep and powerful work with practitioners, institutions, and organizations has since catalyzed a decolonial, politicized and abolitionist mental health movement internationally. 

Full CV available upon request. 

ANEESA HOLLIDAY

(she/her)

Wellness consultant & workshop facilitator

Aneesa Holliday-Dingle is a licensed social worker (LSW) for the state of New Jersey, where she provides clinical social work services to individuals with chronic and persistent emotional and physical care needs. Her work with Decolonizing Therapy aims to provide an inclusive & healing space for Black, Brown, Asian, Indigenous and Queer identities, ensuring their lived experiences are affirmed and their emotions are validated. Her purpose is to reimagine the impact healing and wellness can have on marginalized communities when the gaze is shifted to focus on the systems and structures that perpetuate victimization, pathologies and violence against these communities.

It is her belief that when centering healing, we must discuss how systems are designed to keep you unwell — from the correlation between PTSD and heavy policing in communities of color, to exploring the connections between health care disparities and environmental racism, ableism and intergenerational trauma. These are all connected. When we as healing professionals refuse to address the impact systems have on creating individual and communal dis-ease, we have consciously and unconsciously created an incubator of harm.

Workshops I’ve facilitated with Decolonizing Therapy™: Intergenerational Trauma & Historical Grief; Honoring Black Grief & Rage in White Public Institutions; Structural Violence & Systems of Care; Black Joy > Black Exhaustion; Collective, Disenfranchised and Suffocated Grief in Marginalized Communities; Structural Oppression & Emotional Health; Self Care & the Colonized Body

Where I find ease: Humming; twerking and dancing in my living room; singing gospel music while cleaning my home; the sound of birds chirping; sitting by water; a tight and gentle hug from my favorite people; my cat's eyes; a child's laughter; slow and intentional movement; talking to my ancestors; looking at trees; planting my feet in sand or grass; long hot showers 

My "why" in this work: Throughout my career path as a social worker, I would often find myself at the intersection of my role and some form of structural violence (microaggressions, anti-LGBTQIA, anti-black, ableist, ageist, etc.). My “why” stems from years of working within systems of care that generate harm under the guise of help. And my path in this work is to assist in its Undoing. To speak truth to power, to see the reflection of my being in someone else's eyes, and to create spaces that amplify the incomparably beautiful mosaic of blackness in its rawest forms. 

My astrological signs: Rising/Ascending — Capricorn, Sun — Pisces, Moon — Taurus

BEATRIZ VILLATORO, MSW

(she, ella)

Wellness consultant & workshop facilitator

Beatriz Villatoro is a first-generation college graduate who earned her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Women & Gender Studies from New Jersey City University and her Master of Social Work degree from New York University’s Silver School of Social Work. Beatriz is currently the Crisis Response Coordinator at Hudson SPEAKS Against Sexual Violence in Jersey City, NJ. She conducts the 40-Hour Confidential Sexual Violence Advocate training, which prepares volunteers with education and resources to provide trauma-informed direct services to survivors of sexual assault. She has over 6 years of experience in the violence against women arena. She joined Decolonizing Therapy, LLC in 2020 as a consultant and is passionate about bringing education, awareness, and empowerment to communities.

Workshops I’ve facilitated with Decolonizing Therapy™:  “Who Heals The Healer", National Alliance for Mental Illness Caring for Ourselves Workshop Series, University of California San Diego Paths Wellness Workshops Series

Where I find ease: Being able to wake up feeling good and doing my morning meditations/prayers. Having a support system that I can talk to about anything! 

My "why" in this work: My lens/identity as a daughter of parents who migrated to the U.S. from El Salvador in the late 1980s heavily informs why I do this work. As an undergraduate I began to truly understand my racial identity and the circumstances that led to me being born/raised in the U.S.. After reading books, watching YouTube videos, and attending workshops, it became clear to me that the healing process begins with decolonizing what we have learned about ourselves. 

My astrological signs: Scorpio Sun, Cancer Rising, Leo Moon

Estefanía Mendivil 

(she/they)

Administration & Operations Director

Estefania is first-generation Latiné, originally from the Kumiai Nation in the northern border region of Mexico, also known as Tijuana. She now resides in the Tohono O’odham Nation, also called Phoenix, Arizona. 

Estefanía is passionate about bringing empowerment through proper reproductive/sex health education and to spread knowledge about the harmful effects of colonialism and colonization. They earned their Bachelor’s degree in Psychology & Latin American Studies with a minor in Human Sexuality. They dedicated their undergraduate studies to find the effects of colonization/religion have on developing sexualities/gender expression in Latin America. Decolonizing Therapy is not just a job for Estefanía– it is something that she believes in with every fiber of her being. 

Estefanía is a magical, fiery, dedicated and loving person. She is studying to be a labor doula and hopes to provide emotional and physical support to birthing parents. Estefanía strives to improve health equity, empower and advocate for women and all birthing bodies.

Where I find ease:

• Napping on grass & feeling the springtime sun. 
• Spending time by the ocean. 
• Listening to jazz and opera music. 
• Dancing!!

My astrological signs: Sagittarius (Sun), Aries (Moon), Aries (Rising)

Annick Ina 

(she/her)

Program Manager & Communications Director

Born and raised on the former colony island of Mauritius, Annick brings an invigorating blend of passion, purpose, and a dash of rebellion to the world. With an insatiable curiosity about society and a deep fascination with the intricacies of human nature, Annick is dedicated to delving deeper into the factors that shape our understanding of ourselves and the world.

For her, working with Decolonizing Therapy is more than a job; it's a profound opportunity to dig even deeper and engage with the intricate layers of our shared narratives. As a passionate writer and storyteller, she supports authors through the process of writing and publishing their books. She is also dedicated to sharing her own tales and inviting the world to reflect and broaden their perspectives through the power of stories and thought-provoking questions. Annick currently lives in the magical city of Vienna, Austria with her cat Pepino.

Where I find ease: Cuddling with my cat, sipping a cup of tea on the veranda, lying in the sun

My astrological signs: Gemini (Sun), Leo (Moon), Pisces (Rising)