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Life and Work with Nina Garcia

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Nina Garcia.

Nina, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
As a Drama Therapist, I am all about the journey! For me, it’s been following the transformation of my natural creativity and desire to live by example: from Creative to Creative Arts Therapist. From the age of five, I wrote that I wanted to be a “role model for women everywhere.” As a lifetime performer and first-generation college student of Puerto Rican descent, I have followed my creative streak and utilized it as a role model in a variety of settings to be just that and more. I majored in Musical Theatre at Sam Houston State University and performed professionally in Houston with Stages Repertory Theatre, TUTS, and more. After doing this professionally for some time, I began to realize the sensation that something was missing. That, for some reason, performing alone was no longer my definition of success – it felt like there was something shallow about it at times like the high was short term and lacked a depth of consideration. I found myself walking away from some shows thinking “Did we ask them to think or feel anything deeper…or was this just entertainment?”

It was clear an intervention was necessary. So, I became certified in Texas to teach drama and theatre in an effort to define what I felt was a greater sense of purpose for myself in my community. I LOVED being a teacher and Fine Arts Department Chair at what is now Heights High School. In my two years there, we created a theatre environment that was known, respected, and reached throughout and beyond the student body. Even so, I witnessed the reality that our youth need more opportunities to express themselves in intentionally healthy ways – to be able to share and work through how they “really” feel about things, and not just bulldoze their way through life because it’s what most adults expect. I would inevitably see this as an opportunity for my own growth, leading me to pursue a Master’s degree from New York University in Drama Therapy.

As a Drama Therapist, I utilize drama and theatre interventions (as well as other creative modalities) to support the journey of adults and adolescents experiencing trauma, identity concerns, and/or in need of coping and regulation skills. Given my own history of PTSD, as well as professional and lifetime experience working in a variety of environments (from schools to residential eating disorder facilities to jail hospitals) I offer a unique outlook on the idea of “therapy”. Number one piece of advice I offer my clients? “Flip the script.” Therapy can be fun, it can be safe, and it can be effective – it’s all about the journey, and how you’re willing to spend it.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Define “smooth” haha! Life is inherently unstable, you know? And we don’t just deal with our own struggles – the struggles of our parents, our partners, our countries… it can all become a facet of our own struggle. For me, the key is not in asking “how do I make my road smoother/life easier” so much as “how do I make myself more flexible to deal with what life throws at me?” That said, there are always going to be things that throw us way off our game; things for which we cannot possibly prepare.

As a personal example, a pivotal part of my life journey has been dealing with PTSD for the better part of twelve years. Following a sexual assault/abuse from a high school teacher during my sophomore year, I proceeded to “push” forward without seeking professional support; without telling anyone, really. I was figuring my way through it – I didn’t know that therapy could be so beneficial early on, and I didn’t have anyone around me who understood what I was going through in a way that they could offer healthy support.

Now, I know the trauma will always be there – but PTSD isn’t a part of my life anymore. There are a lot of women I know – of ALL ages – who experienced similar traumas and are just living with flashbacks, nightmares, and a whole host of other PTSD symptoms. I’ve heard time and again “I don’t think you can make it go away – I’ll always be like this”. It doesn’t have to be that way: we CAN flip the script. But because this subject is still taboo (even in the Me Too era), it’s understandably a challenge to do so – very, very rarely are we given the tools to speak about assault prior to it happening, and we’re certainly not prepared for the emotional onslaught after experiencing something so traumatic that it completely disrupts our once healthy way of experiencing the world. I could go on and on about the effects of trauma, but as a bottom line: we have to start and continue flipping the script on this narrative. PTSD doesn’t just happen to veterans: SO many women (and men, and GNC) are struggling with it, and think “This is just my life now.” It doesn’t have to be that way. We can do more, and we can heal.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Houston Creative Arts Therapy – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
I LOVE what I do: I specialize in working with adults (and adolescents) to reach therapeutic goals. In creative and playful ways, we co-create a world that supports a healing journey and empowers them to achieve balance in their life. Due to my own life and professional experience, I’m known for supporting others in creatively dealing with past trauma as it presently expresses itself. Trauma mastery is our body’s natural attempt to heal the injury that is trauma, and is a natural part of human existence – but without the awareness and tools to recognize it, we may find ourselves caught in a negative trauma mastery cycle as if our life is on an undesired repeat. I challenge my clients to flip the script, and disrupt the narrative: we are more powerful than we know.

I’m naturally set apart from most other therapists, as I meet clients where they are at and we move forward with the whole body. Not just sitting in chairs talking, but truly embodied therapy, asking the client to acknowledge that our stories lie in our bodies and not just our heads. Do you want whole healing? Let’s use the whole body. This is powerful stuff we’re doing!

Do you think there are structural or other barriers impeding the emergence of more female leaders?
Given the history of female oppression, of which we are either occasionally or often reminded, there are several cultural barriers which manifest in a variety of structures. Nationally, we are experiencing elevated challenges in the way women are viewed, and the Me Too movement (while not wholly female) appears to be just getting started. This is a continuing area of growth and must be addressed accordingly on several levels (intrapersonally, interpersonally, communally, etc.).

But let’s be more specific. In my experience, one of the greatest barriers to female leadership (among other things) is gender policing. It often begins before birth, in the choosing of a newborn’s clothing, and room decor. It can take a variety of forms throughout life, comes from men and women, and is difficult to identify if you haven’t considered the notion that it is, in fact, a narrative on an unintentional repeat. It’s a stuck cycle, and it needs to be disrupted. Flipping the script on this could be beneficial to everyone’s growth, and bolsters female leadership intrapersonally, interpersonally, and communally. Not sure what gender policing is? Check out the Institute for Gender and the Economy’s < 5-minute video on YouTube with Lee Airton “on how we all participate in gender policing” – #ElevateYourself fellow Warriors!

Pricing:

  • Consultation – Free/15 min.
  • Expression Session – $55/30 Min.
  • Individual Therapy Session – $95/50 min.

Contact Info:


Image Credit:
personal photo taken by Noe Gonzalez

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