Nicole I Torres, PhD, MSW

Assistant Professor

About

I am a cultural anthropologist and clinical social worker. I am also the author of Walls of Indifference: Immigration and the Militarization of the US-Mexico Border (2015), a book based on my doctoral research. That research focused on the social and political practices of militarization and its effects on the wellbeing of people and the communities in which they live. I learned that the process of militarization and the political violence associated with it has tangible social, psychological, and physical effects on people living in targeted communities. My experiences while conducting doctoral research led me to obtaining a degree in clinical social work. I am also a practicing psychotherapist  and clinical supervisor for MSW students and associate-level clinicians. I work primarily from Lacanian and ecopsychological perspectives.

Research Projects

  • BIPOC Perspectives and the "Psychedelic Renaissance"

Scholarly interests

  • Ecopsychology and decolonial praxis
  • Consciousness and creativity
  • "Symbolic Misery" and the colonization of lifeworlds

Clinical Focus

  • Depression and anxiety
  • Eco-anxiety and ecological trauma; ecotherapy
  • Culturally responsive/multicultural counseling
  • Harm Reduction

Education

  • NIMH T32 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Psychiatry, University of Washington
  • MSW - Social Work, University of Washington
  • MA, PhD - Cultural Anthropology, University of Washington
  • MA - Social Science, University of Chicago
  • BA - Colorado Mesa University (Mesa State)

Selected Publications

Selected Public Presentations