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. This insight brings Gabes and Ayana into a beautiful conversation about interdependence and the abundance that our communities can foster when we move beyond a scarcity mindset based on individualism and profit. 

Gabes paints a picture of health in which mind and body are not severed, and where embodied actions like eating in community, and making art can be sources of deep healing. With this understanding of community, no one is disposable, and we all must hold each other in accountability. 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. She independently produced 3 albums of original music, and her first one was launched when she was 17. She has toured in Southeast Asia, Chicago, San Francisco, and Seattle. 

♫ The music featured in this episode is “My Ocean" by Amaara, "I'm Small" by Blue Doll, and  "Raven" by Annie Sumi. 

This episode of For The Wild is brought to you Anima Mundi Herbals. Anima Mundi was founded by Costa Rican herbalist Adriana Ayales with the intention of bringing some of the finest plant medicines, medicinal mushrooms, vegan collagen boosters, and high-potency elixirs. Anima Mundi is made in the United States with certified organic, wild-crafted, and sustainably harvested plants and herbs that are sourced from small-scale farms around the world. Their products contain zero fillers, binders, or flow agents. We’re proud to receive the support of this woman and BIPOC-owned business that creates magic from plant allies. Our personal pick for this time of year is Anima Mundi’s Relax Tonic for Nervous System Support. To learn more visit AnimaMundiHerbals.com.

Episode References

Gabes Torres - YES! Magazine

Recommendations

Uses of the Erotic by Audre Lorde

Black Skin, White Masks by Frantz Fanon

Conversation with Dr. Leny Strobel and advaya (Kinship Online Course): Decolonisation as Re-membering, Kapwa Psychology, and Wells of Liminality (Transcript in the video notes)

My Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa Menakem

Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

The 400 Blows (1959)

Gabes' learning guides

Abolition and Mental Health Learning Guide

Anti-Colonial Therapeutic Approaches to Racialized and Migration Trauma

Notes on Belonging

Take Action

The aforementioned learning guides provide action steps and reflective prompts. 
Join grassroots organizations and mutual aid networks at a local level.
Learn about pod-mapping and create a pod for accountability networking.

SUBSCRIBE & Listen

Subscribe to For The Wild RSS →
Listen on Apple, Spotify, or another platform →

For The Wild is a gathering place for ideas and solutions ensuring that the growing body of work that we steward remains accessible to the public. If you want to see us continue, or perhaps are especially moved by the episode you are listening to today, please become a monthly sustaining member through our Patreon or consider making a one-time donation directly to us through our website. To stay up-to-date on our work, sign up for our newsletter.