Emily Liou, PHR, ELI-MP, CPC

Hogwarts Houses as Therapists: Gryffindor Therapist: The Courage Cultivator • Style: Direct, empowering, and action-oriented. • Favorite phrases: “Let’s do the hard thing anyway.” / “What’s the brave next step?” • Great for: Clients stuck in fear or self-doubt, needing a push to take bold steps. • May struggle with: Slowing down, sitting with discomfort, not always needing a ‘fix.’ Hufflepuff Therapist: The Safe Space Guardian • Style: Warm, validating, and deeply attuned to emotional needs. • Favorite phrases: “You don’t have to earn rest.” / “What would it feel like to be gentler with yourself?” • Great for: Burned-out perfectionists, trauma survivors, anyone needing a soft landing. • May struggle with: Challenging clients directly when needed. Ravenclaw Therapist: The Insight Alchemist • Style: Thoughtful, curious, and loves weaving theory into self-understanding. • Favorite phrases: “Let’s connect the dots.” / “Have you considered this pattern?” • Great for: Highly intellectual clients who want frameworks, or those who dissociate and need structured reflection. • May struggle with: Over-intellectualizing or avoiding emotional messiness. Slytherin Therapist: The Strategic Transformer • Style: Fierce, focused, and always looking at power, boundaries, and long-game healing. • Favorite phrases: “Whose story are you still living?” / “How can you reclaim your power?” • Great for: Clients with identity wounds, people-pleasers, or those needing help owning ambition and setting sharp boundaries. • May struggle with: Softening, or prioritizing vulnerability over results.

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Mental health: a work in progress. One of the most positive trends in disability inclusion I've observed over the last several years has been increased awareness of mental health and acceptance of certain conditions. The pandemic was a bummer and made everyone realize that mental health affects all of us. This May we recognize Mental Health Awareness month. Even if you don't experience a disorder such as depression or anxiety, these are very relatable feelings: we've all felt sad or anxious from time-to-time. We've come a long way on mental health awareness, but we still have much further to go. Many people believe that mental health disorders can be "conquered" with positive thought or mind over matter. If someone needs to use medication or see a therapist regularly, they are not making that decision lightly, and its on us as inclusive colleagues and leaders to support their path to wellness. Finally, let's talk more about areas of mental health that are still widely stigmatized: psychosis and substance abuse disorders. Growing up, I was taught to fear "crazy" people and to "never trust addicts." Many people I meet still feel this way. There's still so much prejudice and shame attached to these disorders that affect millions of Americans each day. Most people experiencing it just hide it. Often, these conditions will feed into or stem from other mental health disorders. Supporting mental health means supporting ALL mental health, not just the conditions we can relate to. So, this May join me in recognizing mental health awareness (the progress we've made) as well as the road ahead: distance that can only be traversed by empathy and awareness. #MentalHealthAwareness #MentalHealthMatters #EndTheStigma #PeakPerformers Peak Performers

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Yesterday, on AM Northwest 📺, I talked about why Bay Area companies are conducting "manners bootcamps" and hiring etiquette coaches for their Gen Z employees. Here's a clip 🎥 👇🏾 where I discuss co-creating a "social playbook" to help define the cultural norms you'd like to establish in the workplace around what respect, communication, and psychological safety really look like. Anything less still feels like parenting, not partnering. You can learn about other insights and solutions I offered here: https://lnkd.in/g2ZuYGjt

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Are Behavioral Questions Tripping You Up In Interviews? Behavioral interview questions often trip up unprepared candidates. Without preparation, it’s easy to fumble responses or fail to communicate your value effectively. Mock interviewing and practice can dramatically improve your confidence and performance. 💡Key Tips: 1️⃣ Master the STAR Method: Structure responses with Situation, Task, Action, and Results and practice! Prepare examples for questions like: - Tell me about a time you resolved a conflict within your team. - Describe a project where you had to influence stakeholders without formal authority. - Share how you’ve managed competing priorities under pressure. 2️⃣ Practice Like a Pro: Use tools like Yoodli.AI for mock interviews to simulate interview scenarios and refine your delivery. Recording yourself on Zoom is another great way to refine your tone, posture, and confidence. 3️⃣ Follow Up Strategically: Send personalized thank-you emails within 24 hours of your interview. Thank them for their time, reinforce key points/goals learned from the conversation, your qualifications, and express your gratitude and excitement about the opportunity. Interviews don’t have to feel daunting. Don’t let nerves hold you back. Leverage these tips to ace your next interview and land the role you deserve! For more resources or personalized support for mastering these crucial conversations, connect with me to elevate your interview performance: https://lnkd.in/gP7yHe6E #JobSearchTips #InterviewSuccess #InterviewStrategies #CareerCoaching #LeadershipDevelopment #CareerGrowth #LeadershipCoaching

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Wrestling with this question in your building? “How do I know if behavior is trauma or just manipulation?” ​ In the latest episode of The Language of Behavior with Charle Peck, LCSW, M.Ed. and me, we dig into this exact dilemma and why the “either/or” frame often keeps us stuck instead of helping students. ​ Here’s what we explored: 🧠 Key Shift #1: Skill vs. Survival Manipulation is a learned skill that involves planning, payoff, and patterns. Trauma responses are fast, reflexive survival strategies in the nervous system. ​ 🧠 Key Shift #2: Compassion ≠ Excuse Trauma can explain behavior, but it does not excuse it. Healthy practice = compassion + clear boundaries + accountability. ​ 🧠 Key Shift #3: Stop Trying to “Regulate” Everyone Else Adults cannot regulate someone else’s nervous system for them. Our job is to be boringly consistent, predictable, and to teach regulation skills rather than getting pulled into the drama. ​ We also talk about: - How shame (“I am bad”) vs. guilt (“I did something bad”) changes the repair process. - Why some trauma histories do produce patterns that look manipulative—and what to do about it in schools. - How our own unresolved experiences make certain student behaviors especially activating as adults. ​ https://lnkd.in/gYh3fbAJ #LanguageOfBehavior #TraumaInformed #BehaviorSupport #SchoolLeadership #SEL #MTSS #EduPodcast

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Resume Tips for Human Rights Watch Applications 1. Lead with your research and advocacy experience. HRW prioritizes strong investigative and analytical skills. Your resume should clearly show how you've documented abuses, conducted field research, monitored legal or political developments, or supported advocacy campaigns. 2. Highlight thematic expertise. Whether your focus is freedom of expression, gender rights, refugee protection, war crimes, or surveillance and tech ethics, make sure your specialization is clear. Tailor your resume to reflect alignment with the specific HRW division or role. 3. Showcase writing, reporting, and publication history. HRW roles require producing detailed reports, press releases, and policy memos. Include links or descriptions of reports you’ve authored or contributed to, especially if they led to media attention, policy change, or public awareness. 4. Quantify your human rights impact. Instead of general responsibilities, show results: “Interviewed 120+ displaced persons across 4 countries and contributed to a report used in UN briefings.” “Helped secure the release of 15 political prisoners through sustained legal advocacy and international pressure.” 5. Demonstrate experience working in high-risk or politically sensitive contexts. HRW investigates abuses in conflict zones and authoritarian states. Mention if you’ve conducted fieldwork under surveillance, dealt with security protocols, or collaborated with at-risk communities. 6. Emphasize cross-cultural sensitivity and ethical research. Human rights work requires trust-building and integrity. Show how you’ve respected confidentiality, ensured informed consent, or navigated power dynamics and trauma-informed interviews. 7. Include legal and policy knowledge. If applicable, reference your understanding of international humanitarian law, human rights treaties, regional frameworks (e.g., ECHR, ACHPR), or transitional justice mechanisms. 8. Languages matter. Proficiency in Arabic, French, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, or regional languages (e.g., Pashto, Swahili) can be a strong advantage, especially for field or research roles. 9. Show collaboration across sectors. Highlight partnerships with civil society groups, journalists, UN bodies, courts, or legal aid providers. HRW values the ability to build coalitions and mobilize influence. 10. Don’t forget digital and security skills. Digital security, ethical data handling, and tools like Relativity, KoboToolbox, OSINT, or open-source mapping can boost your profile—especially for tech, investigations, or legal roles.

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On IDPWD, let’s be honest: Without intersectionality Our understanding of disability is incomplete. Because disability isn’t one story. -It isn’t one identity. -It isn’t one experience. Disability lives at the intersection of everything that shapes us as humans: ➡️Gender ➡️ Race ➡️ Sexual orientation ➡️ Class ➡️ Culture ➡️ Healthcare access ➡️ Stigma ➡️ Identity ➡️ And geography. And too often, those intersections are ignored in the conversation. When we talk about disability inclusion, we must talk about: ➡️ Gender bias — women and girls still routinely underdiagnosed or dismissed. ➡️ Racial bias — where credibility, diagnosis rates, and access to care are unequal. ➡️ Economic barriers — where support is delayed or denied entirely. ➡️ Cultural stigma — where disability isn’t spoken about, making “sharing” unsafe or impossible. ➡️ Global disparities — where access to assessments, adjustments, and recognition varies dramatically depending on where you live. ➡️Sexual orientation — where LGBTQ+ disabled people face higher discrimination, barriers to safe disclosure, and compounding stigma in healthcare and employment. These intersections shape ✅ Who is believed ✅ Who is supported ✅ Who gets adjustments ✅ Who gets opportunities ❌ And who is quietly excluded. That is why disability inclusion cannot be -a single story -a stock image -or a one-size-fits-all policy. If we want to build truly inclusive workplaces We must value every disabled human experience -the visible -the invisible -the fluctuating -the complex -the layered. Today, I want us to do more than “raise awareness.” ✅ I want us to see people. ✅ To question our assumptions. ✅ To challenge outdated systems. ✅ To design with disabled people — not for them. ✅ To recognise that inclusion is impossible without intersectionality at its core. Nothing about us without us. Nothing about any of us without all of us. Happy IDPWD! Let’s make it mean something. #IDPWD #DisabilityInclusion Image ID:A slide titled “Intersectionality of Disability” displaying interconnected factors that shape disabled people’s lived experiences. Around the central heading are six labelled segments: Gender Bias, Racial Bias, Economic Barriers, Social Stigma, Global Disparities, and Building Empathy. Each segment includes short notes, such as women and girls being underdiagnosed, racial bias affecting diagnosis and credibility, economic barriers delaying access to care, cultural stigma preventing open discussion of disability, and global variations in healthcare and accommodations. The visual highlights that disability is not a single experience but shaped by multiple overlapping identities and external systems.

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Somatic Approaches to Healing Racial Trauma and Cultural Wounds In the evolving landscape of trauma therapy, somatic approaches have emerged as powerful tools for addressing wounds that transcend individual experience—specifically, the deep-seated impacts of racial trauma and cultural oppression. These body-centered healing modalities recognize what many communities of color have long understood: trauma lives not just in our memories and thoughts, but in our physical bodies, and sometimes across generations. Understanding Racial Trauma in the Body "The body keeps the score of our racialized experiences," explains Dr. Resmaa Menakem, somatic therapist and author of "My Grandmother's Hands." "Racial trauma doesn't just affect our thinking—it creates a particular signature in our nervous systems, one that can be passed down through generations." This understanding marks a significant shift in trauma treatment. While conventional therapy has often focused on cognitive processing, somatic approaches acknowledge that experiences of discrimination, microaggressions, and historical oppression create physiological responses that cognitive approaches alone cannot address. "When someone experiences racial discrimination, their body enters a stress response," notes Dr. Jennifer Kim, somatic practitioner specializing in cultural trauma. "Over time, these responses become embedded patterns—tension in specific body areas, altered breathing, chronic vigilance. These patterns don't simply disappear when we talk about them." Intergenerational Dimensions Perhaps most groundbreaking is the somatic understanding of how trauma passes through generations—a reality many Indigenous and Black communities have recognized for centuries. "Our ancestors' unresolved trauma doesn't just live in family stories," explains Rebeca Martinez, somatic experiencing practitioner. "Recent epigenetic research suggests trauma can actually influence gene expression. But even before science caught up, our communities knew that our grandparents' and parents' pain somehow became our own." Somatic approaches help identify and release these inherited trauma patterns through guided awareness of bodily sensations, movement practices, and nervous system regulation techniques. Culturally-Responsive Somatic Practices Traditional somatic therapy, while valuable, often emerges from Western and European frameworks. Today's practitioners of color are adapting and expanding these approaches to incorporate cultural wisdom and ancestral healing practices. "I integrate traditional Mexican curanderismo with somatic experiencing," says Elena Avila, a somatic practitioner in New Mexico. "When clients reconnect with cultural healing practices their ancestors used, we often see profound shifts. The body recognizes these ancestral patterns as resources rather than just focusing on trauma." This integration creates more accessible pathways to healing for communities Rest in comments⬇️⬇️⬇️

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 Many therapists want to support clients with Dissociative Identity Disorder, but don’t always realize how nuanced that support needs to be. Here are 3 things your DID clients wish you knew—not just as theory, but as lived reality. Because real safety isn’t just built with insight. It’s built with presence, patience, and permission. 🔗 Save, share, and learn more at https://lnkd.in/gvrPBZKS #TraumaTherapy #DIDAwareness #ComplexTrauma #TherapistEducation #ThinkDifferentLiveAuthentic

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