About Cecilia
Cecilia Ines Tavarez (she/her/ella)
Education & Work Experience:
Cecilia Ines Tavarez (SEeR) is a multidisciplinary artist and creative guide of Dominican roots, born and raised on Lenape land in Washington Heights, NYC. She now resides on Ohlone land in Oakland, CA, pursuing a Master's in Clinical Psychology toward Marriage and Family Therapy licensure in Expressive Arts Therapy. Her B.A. in Studio Arts from City College of New York (2015) follows early training at High School of Art & Design, Fashion Institute of Technology, and Altos de Chavón School in La Romana, D.R. Her art has illuminated group exhibitions in New York City with Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance and West Harlem Arts.
She's deeply committed to healing and community mental health, with years in nonprofit social services providing creative and emotional care to people and families facing trauma and big life changes. A curious explorer of life's mysteries and metaphysics, she offers energy healing, leads divination sessions, and runs art therapy workshops as a Reiki practitioner, spiritual guide, and teaching artist.
Life Experience:
Her vivid memories of childhood summers spent on her family’s farmland in the Dominican Republic remain etched in her heart—running through fields alongside the chickens, swimming in nearby rivers, and feeling profoundly connected to the rhythms of the natural world. These formative experiences instilled in her a deep reverence for nature and solidified her belief in its healing powers. However, growing up as the daughter of immigrant parents who faced the challenges of surviving in the harsh, fast-paced urban environment of New York City also exposed her to intergenerational trauma, systemic oppression, and economic struggles. These stark contrasts ignited a lifelong dedication to reclaiming joy and ancestral wisdom as means of regenerative healing and empowerment.
As a survivor of complex trauma who faced depression with anxiety during her teenage and young adult years, she found it challenging to obtain the necessary support from the western healthcare system. This led her to embark on a journey of exploration for healing, seeking answers and methods to transform her life. Identifying as a neurodivergent empath with a late ADHD diagnosis, she advocates for holistic integrative healing and values indigenous and ancestral practices. She has been fortunate to witness the profound effects these non-Western approaches have had on her healing across all dimensions.
Her therapeutic and artistic approach is rooted in trauma awareness, ecofeminism within a framework of humanistic and existential psychology. As an animist, she sees herself as a steward of Mother Nature, working toward intergenerational healing and the decolonization of mental health.
She now dedicates her creative force and therapeutic work to supporting other souls who, like her, have experienced trauma, who carry layered neurodivergent identities, as well as marginalized and underserved communities. Through psychospiritual expressive arts, she seeks to help others reconnect with their inner child, nurture curiosity, and reclaim their wholeness through the power of imagination and creativity.
Artistic & Therapeutic Approach:
Cecilia works across various mediums—including collage, photography, illustration, and painting—favoring analog processes, natural materials, and found objects. Her work explores the sacred and the surreal, reflecting themes of divine femininity, inner/outer landscapes, and the mystical dimensions of everyday life. Deeply inspired by nature, culture, and spirituality, she crafts handmade sacred objects and visual narratives that invite reflection, connection, and renewal.