A Latina/e/x
Trauma-Informed &
Culturally-Affirmative Practice
A Latina/e/x Trauma-Informed and Culturally-Affirmative Practice. Prickly Pear Therapy & Training, led by Drs. Serrata and Hurtado, is a bilingual (Spanish/English) and bicultural mental health practice located in Austin, Texas. The practice provides interventions that are understanding of the experiences of trauma and multicultural identities. Their clinicians are experts in Latinx mental health and leading professionals in culturally grounded care. They work to facilitate healing from painful emotions through a collaborative approach centered in empowerment and hope.
MEET THE TEAM
Co-Founder Director of Operation & Financials Licensed Psychologist
Josephine Vasquez Serrata is a Licensed Psychologist and Co-Founder of Prickly Pear. She also acts as Director of Operations & Financials for the facility. She shares sincerely, “I want to be here for you. I know the difficulty in choosing someone to trust to collaboratively guide you through difficult times. In order to better help you make your decision, I am a clinical and community psychologist, which means I have dual roles as a psychologist that I integrate within my practice. As a clinical psychologist, I employ skills of understanding difficulties and ways to intervene. On the other hand, as a community psychologist, I am able to better merge my understanding of self-empowerment, cultural/contextual knowledge, and strength-based work into the healing process.” Serrata brings with her multiple identities of her own as a professional, mother, partner, Tia (aunt), sister, daughter, and community member. As a bi-cultural and bilingual Latina, she also provides assessments and evaluations and specializes in working with individuals from diverse backgrounds and identities. With over a decade of work in the area of trauma with survivors and as a scientific contributor, she values therapeutic relationships and strives to create a compassionate and warm holding space to actively work with her clients in finding solutions and building insight. Dr. Serrata is not currently taking new therapy clients.
Co-Founder
Director of Clinical Services & Networking
Licensed Psychologist
Licensed Psychologist, Co-Founder of Prickly Pear, and Director of Clinical Services and Networking, Gabriela Hurtado Alvarado specializes in the assessment and treatment of anxiety, depression, trauma, self-harm, and suicidality. She shares, “When we experience intense emotions that result from life stress, transitions, or past experiences, it can be difficult to find or feel hope. You don’t have to do this alone though. I work alongside my clients in order to re-connect them to their strengths and to build a strong positive relationship with themselves.” Dr. Hurtado believes that the journey to healing is a unique experience for each person who experiences it and that understanding the story of her clients and how they view the world around them is vital to her ability to treat them. “I work with my clients to create a safe space where they can better express and understand themselves in order to create a fulfilling life.” Dr. Hurtado is able to provide services in English and Spanish and is committed to providing treatments and assessments to individuals with diverse identities.
Dr. Hurtado is not currently taking any new clients. Clinical Therapist
Hanna Garza, LPC-Associate, is a clinical therapist that utilizes a Somatic approach and values connection, creativity, and collaboration in the therapy space. As a bilingual/bicultural Latina therapist, Hanna is dedicated to supporting members of the community that want to commit to healing in an affirming space. She emphasizes the mind-body-spirit connection and is committed to creating a safe space through a trauma-informed and culturally-competent approach. Her approach emphasizes you as the expert on your life story, and together, you will find ways to tap into your personal power. She values spirituality, gratitude, connection, learning, creativity, and humor in both her personal and professional life, and incorporates grounding exercises and practices such as meditation and breathwork into her sessions. With spirituality as a core value, she believes that incorporating a spiritual component in your practice can aid in breaking generational cycles and patterns. With her empathetic and collaborative approach, she strives to create an environment where you can feel comfortable exploring and processing your emotions.
Clinical Therapist
Sonia is a bilingual/bicultural Mexican immigrant and Austin-based psychotherapist. The best part of her workday is listening to peoples’ life stories! Sonia feels incredibly lucky to be in a profession where she gets to know peoples’ lives, fears, hardships, etc. As a therapist, it is Sonia's responsibility to provide a safe space free of judgement. Sonia works hard to continue her own growth as an individual and as a therapist in order to provide her patients with the best care. For the past eight years, before she joining Prickly Pear Therapy, Sonia worked in various mental health settings. This includes a residential treatment facility, child advocacy center, juvenile justice center and a school setting. She likes using an integrative approach to therapy to create the best care for her clients. Outside of her work life she makes it a point to engage in some “me time”. She is currently learning Arabic and enjoys dancing.Clinical Intake Coordinator
Rasley Easley is a Clinical Intake Coordinator and joined Prickly Pear Therapy in 2018. Easley works alongside Drs. Serrata and Hurtado to provide all client services, screenings, intakes, and other administrative tasks. Easley shares, “I value the human need for connection and fostering an environment that promotes safety for individuals with diverse identities. I have years of experience working with psychoeducation, trauma, the importance of cultural considerations and identities, as well as low SES children and families." Rasley is currently seeing clients at her own practice, Living in Color Counseling, but continues to value working with and supporting the intake process here at Prickly Pear Therapy.
Licensed Psychotherapist
Social Media Team Member
Community Partner
Danisha is a New York & Texas Licensed Psychotherapist and Consultant in racial equity and mental health. She has experience working with individuals, couples and families who are struggling with various mental health concerns in private practice and community mental health settings. Danisha is extremely passionate about helping others through their healing, especially those in the Black and Latinx community. Her goal is to foster spaces to make for collective healing of racism and white-supremacy. As a child of Dominican & Cuban immigrants and in her clinical work, Danisha comprehends the challenges of adapting to new environments and the importance of cultural values. 
Clinical Therapist
- Felicia is an Austin born Chicana who entered this field with the belief that providing a non-judgmental and culturally affirming safe space to explore feelings, thoughts and experiences is the start to the journey we call growth. Felicia is passionate about working with individuals, couples and families from diverse backgrounds and identities, especially the Latinx/Chicanx and Black communities. She has over a decade of experience working with those experiencing acute trauma and childhood adversity in the foster care system. Felicia feels honored to walk alongside her clients through challenging times and to celebrate triumphs as they navigate life.
Licensed Psychologist
Rebecca M. Pasillas, Ph.D., is a Licensed Psychologist in Texas and Maryland. She is a bicultural, bilingual Latina providing individual and group therapy to adults in English and Spanglish. Suppose you are experiencing uncertainty or anxiety about navigating difficult situations or adjusting to life transitions. In that case, Dr. Pasillas will collaboratively work with you to build a life that is meaningful to you and driven by your values. Your background, social/cultural identities, and strengths will inform the therapy process, including identifying your goals for therapy and using evidence-based strategies to make progress toward your goals. Dr. Pasillas’ areas of expertise include anxiety, complex trauma, PTSD, and depression. Using an approachthat integrates discussions about racial, ethnic, and cultural factors in treatment, Dr. Pasillas uses evidence-based psychological interventions such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Social Skills Training Group for Schizophrenia, Mindfulness-Based Stress-Reduction, and Problem-Solving Therapy to provide the best care to clients. Before joining Prickly Pear Therapy & Training, Dr. Pasillas worked at a Veterans Affairs medical center providing psychosocial recovery services to Veterans diagnosed with PTSD and other serious mental illnesses and at a breast care center at a medical school providing compassionate psychological services to Latina breast cancer survivors experiencing fear and anxiety related to adjusting to life post-cancer treatment.
Social Media Intern
Karen Limón is a social media intern for Prickly Pear Therapy. She is an alumnus of the University of Texas at Austin and holds her B.S. in Human Development and Family Sciences with a concentration in Family & Personal Relationships. She is also a research coordinator at UT Austin under the supervision of Dr. Aprile Benner and hopes to pursue a doctoral program to conduct research in minority mental health.SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION
Are you interested in learning more about therapy but you’re feeling too nervous or anxious to seek help? We are here for you at your own pace and convenience. By filling out our form to request a consultation below, there are absolutely no requirements or commitments- your healing journey is just a conversation away with Prickly Pear.
