Sarah

I’m interested in how identity-based support systems provide corrective experiences for past attachment ruptures, embodied oppression, and complex trauma. I believe that harm reduction and participatory action research are integral to accurately ascertaining gauges of distress (such as consensual sex work vs. exploitation, substance mis/use), so as to avoid exacerbating marginalization and pathologization. My research goal is to expand definitions of family systems within the field of social welfare to harness cultural wealth embedded in LGBTQ+ communities, with a focus on interventions to support system-involved transitional age youth.