PROGRAM DIRECTOR, THERAPIST & ART THERAPIST

Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska | Alisha is the Program Director for Project AWARE in Santa Fe and a dedicated advocate for the mental health and success of Native American youth. A member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, Alisha brings over twenty years of experience as a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and Licensed Practicing Art Therapist. Her work has spanned trauma recovery, addiction treatment, and counseling in both residential and outpatient settings, including with inmates in correctional facilities and veterans through the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Alisha is the founder and owner of Serenity Wellness Center of Santa Fe, LLC, a private practice and intensive outpatient program focused on treating trauma and addiction. She is trained in EMDR, DBT, sex addiction treatment, and art therapy, and is passionate about using creative expression as a path to healing. Her work often includes collaboration with local Tribes and Pueblos to develop culturally grounded approaches to care. 

In addition to her clinical work, Alisha serves as adjunct faculty at Southwestern College, teaching in the Art Therapy and Counseling Department. She is an alumna of the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), Southwestern College, and Edgewood College, with a BA in Art Therapy and Graphic Design. 

Alisha is deeply committed to building community and fostering authentic human connection, which she sees as essential to healing and thriving. In her free time, she enjoys making art, starting new projects (she never finishes), and watching New Mexico’s epic sunsets. 

Email: alishashelbourn@gmail.com

PROGRAM MANAGER, THERAPIST & ART THERAPIST (CHS)

Katie is a graduate of Southwestern College in Santa Fe, NM, who has gained clinical experience in community behavioral health, memory care centers, hospice, school-based mental health for teens, and serving our native youth through Project AWARE. After nearly two decades of her graphic design career, she consciously shifted away from high-pressure commercial art and towards therapeutic art. She hopes to help clients decondition, heal, and fully embody their unique and whole selves. Katie applies a relational-cultural and neuro-affirming approach to best serve New Mexico and our community at Project AWARE. She is also trained in and passionate about brainspotting, an alternative therapy used to help people process and release trauma, deep emotional pain, and stress. When she’s not wearing her therapist hat, you can find her cozying up with a book, crafting, or relaxing in nature, preferably by a river or stream.

Email: katmccabe@sfps.k12.nm.us

NAVIGATOR & COMMUNITY SUPPORT WORKER (SFHS)

Navajo | Sheldon Begody is beginning her third year as Navigator at Santa Fe High School with Project AWARE. She is Diné and from Arizona. Sheldon holds a bachelor's degree in psychology and has extensive case management experience and is trained in Comprehensive Community Support Services (CCSS). Sheldon gained knowledge and experience through working in an inpatient adolescent mental health facility and participating in Indigenous healing practices. Sheldon is passionate about sharing Native culture and forming a meaningful, open community with the youth, and empowering them in school and life. She is driven to be a strong role model in her community. When she's not at Santa Fe High School or making food deliveries to Native families, she can be found exploring local hiking trails.   

Email: sbegody@sfps.k12.nm.us

NAVIGATOR & COMMUNITY SUPPORT WORKER (CHS)

San Felipe and Santo Domingo Pueblo | Trishelle Jena Chavez is a Navigator and Community Support Worker at Capital High School with Project AWARE. She is from San Felipe and Santo Domingo Pueblo and is a proud Native New Mexican. Trishelle is trained in Comprehensive Community Support Services (CCSS) and is completing her associate degree in Psychology at Santa Fe Community College. She plans to transfer to Highlands University to pursue her bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Trishelle is passionate about working with youth and creating welcoming, safe, and supportive spaces where Indigenous youth can build community and experience positive growth. Her approach is community-centered, nonjudgmental, and strengths-based. She is committed to supporting individuals in reaching their goals, navigating challenges, and recognizing their own strengths and potential. For Trishelle, community and family are at the heart of everything she does. Outside of work and school, Trishelle enjoys reading, taking walks, spending time with family and friends, and experiencing live music.

Email: trishchavez@sfps.k12.nm.us

THERAPY & ART THERAPY INTERN

Daniela is an Art Therapy Intern and M.A. candidate at Southwestern College. She has over 11 years experience working with children, youth, and families in community organizations, non-profits, public schools, behavioral health centers, and shelters. She has previously served roles such as Comprehensive Community Support Specialist, Respite Program Coordinator, Arts Program Coordinator, and Community Arts Specialist. Some of her proudest roles include developing and facilitating art programming at Sojourner Family Peace Center (Wisconsin’s largest domestic violence shelter) and facilitating art programming at the 19 most high-risk parks and recreation centers in Milwaukee, WI, where she is originally from.

Daniela firmly believes in the power of young people’s capability to shape their own lives despite their past and in their capability to make impactful change in their surrounding communities. Daniela implements person-centered, trauma-informed, and strength-based practices with her clients to empower them and help them find the healing they already harbor within.

Daniela is a proud Chilean-American Latina who is bilingual in Spanish and English. She honors her culture through food, education, and cultural celebrations as well as traditions. In her free time, Daniela enjoys cooking, spending time with her cats, and being in natural bodies of water.

Email: dafernandez@sfps.k12.nm.us

THERAPY & ART THERAPY INTERN

Katherine is a graduate student in Art Therapy and Counseling at Southwestern College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Born and raised in Northern New Mexico, she brings a background in creative fabrication, caregiving, and community arts organizing to the counseling field. Her approach is person-centered, neurodiversity-affirming, and influenced by Narrative Therapy. She approaches counseling with curiosity, collaboration, and the belief that clients are the experts in their own lives. Her perspective is informed by her own experiences growing up with different types of neurodivergence and navigating sudden loss. These experiences have contributed to her interest in identity, grief, resilience, and the many different ways people adapt to the world around them. Rather than viewing therapy as a process of “fixing” people, she works with clients to better understand themselves, recognize their strengths, and find approaches to change that fit who they are. As an emerging art therapist, Katherine also incorporates creativity and art-making as opportunities for expression, exploration, and new perspectives.

Email: katmorgan@sfps.k12.nm.us

THERAPY & ART THERAPY INTERN

Tobias is a graduate student in Art Therapy and Counseling at Southwestern College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He hails from Massachusetts, having spent the majority of his life living on the beaches of Cape Cod. He has a long history of working in the performing arts with theater and music and as a fine artist.

His theoretical orientation for counseling and art therapy is humanistic and person-centered. Approaching therapy through the lenses of anti-racist, womanist/feminist, disability, and neuroqueering/empowerment models with trauma-informed principles, tailoring treatment to the specific needs of each. His clinical experience includes over a year supporting hospice patients and their families through grief, chronic pain, and loss. He has also provided dedicated art therapy and counseling to adolescents and families through the Los Alamos Juvenile Justice Advisory Board, Serenity Wellness Center, and Project Aware.

Tobias’s passion for addiction and trauma recovery is rooted in his own personal journey. Having walked the path of recovery himself, he understands how our life narratives impact our development and well-being. He works compassionately with clients navigating substance use, guiding clients to use the art-making process to honor their past experiences, and assisting them in the process of re-authoring their personal narratives to find new insights into their strengths, values, and capacity for resilience.

Email: toballen@sfps.k12.nm.us

SOCIAL WORK/THERAPY INTERN

Irene is a graduate student of social work at New Mexico State University. Born and raised outside Washington, D.C., she holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Virginia and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Environmental Science from the University of Virginia. She brings more than 15 years of experience designing and implementing programs in several countries in Africa and the Navajo Nation, with a focus on HIV prevention, sexual and reproductive health, community development, and mobile healthcare. Irene is passionate about advancing social justice and addressing health disparities, particularly through the empowerment of women and youth. She brings a relational, strengths-based, and culturally affirming lens to her practice with individuals and communities. Irene lives in Santa Fe with her partner, 10-year-old son, and the sweetest rez dog, Diego. She feels especially grateful to call northern New Mexico home, where she finds daily inspiration in its expansive skies and spectacular sunsets.

Email: ikitzantides@sfps.k12.nm.us

THERAPY INTERN

Bio Coming Soon!