Writing, Authorship, Poetry
“Whenever I speak or write, I want people who share the experiences I’m addressing to feel deeply seen, heard, and validated, and never othered.”
Gabriela has authored several foundational works that have served as blueprints for conferences, summits, and legislative advocacy efforts.
Gabriela’s professional writing is grounded in real-world practice and designed to support service providers, organizations, and policymakers in applying trauma-informed, survivor-centered, and equity-based approaches in their daily work. Their professional writing includes guides, toolkits, and an array of practice-support materials such as tipsheets, pocket guides, palm cards, and educational curricula.
They have also contributed their expertise as an editor, field reviewer, and peer reviewer on more than 100 articles, publications, and tools—including work for the American Society of Addiction Medicine, the Journal of Mental Health & Clinical Psychology, and national resource centers.
They have three new co-authored works currently in production with planned 2025 publication on trauma healing, substance use coercion, and program monitoring for accessibility for people impacted by gender-based violence as well as mental health and/or substance use.
Currently, Gabriela has three co-authored publications in production, set to be released in 2025, focusing on trauma healing, substance use coercion, and program monitoring to support equal access for marginalized populations.
Some of their work includes:
Committed to Serving ALL Survivors: Guidance for Domestic Violence Programs on Supporting Survivors Who Use Substances (2020),
7 Common Practices in Substance Use Disorder Care That Can Hurt Survivors and What You Can Do Instead (2021), and
Faith and Spirituality in Trauma Resilience, Recovery, and Healing: A Guide for Domestic Violence and Sexual Violence Advocates (2022).
“While I bring deep scholarly expertise to my areas of practice, I have consciously chosen not to let intellect alone guide my healing work. Instead, I lead with heart, spirit, and presence.
My writing reflects years of work to decolonize and re-indigenize my practice. I approach this work through multiple cultural lenses, drawing from ancient traditions and visionary futures to imagine and build the world we need.”
– Gabriela
A Selection Articles and Publications from Gabriela
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Faith and Spirituality in Trauma Resilience, Recovery, and Healing
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Committed to Safety for ALL Survivors: Guidance for Domestic Violence Programs on Supporting Survivors Who Use Substances
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Behavioral Health News: Striving for Compassionate Recovery-Oriented Substance Use Care
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New Research Findings Highlight the Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Maternal Mental Health
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Mental Health Treatment in the Context of Intimate Partner Violence
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7 Common Practices in Substance Use Disorder That Can Hurt Survivors
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Expanding Bystander Intervention Training
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Social, Emotional, and Relational Climate
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Substance Use Coercion Echo Toolkit
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Women's Plan and Practitioner Toolkit
Gabriela continues to explore these topics in their professional writing, always centering the perspectives and wisdom of those with lived and living experience.
Power-based violence
Mental health
Healing
Social justice
Trauma and its effects
Substance use
Culture
Eco-justice
Poetry: Gabriela’s First Love
While much of Gabriela’s writing focuses on tangible tools for advancing healing and justice, poetry — their original passion — remains a space for feeling, witnessing, and truth-telling. Here, Gabriela offers excerpts from two bodies of forthcoming works.
Songs for the End of the World (TBD)
Gabriela is currently working on a body of poetry that began in 2020, exploring themes of loss, survival, resistance, and renewal. The collection is in progress and seeking a publishing home.
Gesturing Divine Encounter (2005)
Gabriela’s unpublished thesis, Gesturing Divine Encounter, is a poetic exploration of the sacred as it resists definition, using original poems to evoke rather than explain moments of transcendence and interconnectedness. Grounded in personal experience, the collection delves into symbolism, belief, and the poet’s journey toward freedom, truth, and an embodied sense of self.