Isabel is dedicated to creating spaces that promote community healing and transformation, grounding her work in decolonial psychology and embodied contemplative practice.

Isabel earned her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Palo Alto University, a Master’s in Psychology in Education at Teachers College Columbia University, and a Bachelor’s in Psychology at Yale University. Currently, Isabel serves as Psychosocial Consultant for the Garrison Institute’s Contemplative-Based Resilience Project. Isabel's research and clinical work has taken place in Rwanda, Central African Republic, and Kenya and domestically, with international immigrant and homeless populations. As a therapist, Isabel draws from psychodynamic, mindfulness-based, and decolonial approaches while as an educator, she takes a healing-centered approach, seeing the classroom as an ideal space to develop self-awareness and cultural humility. A long term meditator, Isabel is a certified mindfulness teacher through the Mindfulness Training Institute. For her doctoral dissertation, Isabel returned to her home in Puerto Rico where she researched community transformation post-Hurricane María. Isabel’s vision going forward centers on sustaining post disaster community transformation by initiating programs on emotional self-awareness, trauma healing, and contemplative practices.

Education

Publications

Unanue, I., Patel, S. G., Tormala, T. T., Trott, C. D., Piazza Rodríguez, A. A., Méndez Serrano, K., & Brown, L. M. (2020). Seeing more clearly: Communities transforming towards justice in post-hurricane Puerto Rico. Community Psychology in Global Perspective.

Patel, S. G., Unanue, I., Crittenden, P., Kieschnick, D., Froming, K., Brown, L. M., ... & Froming, W. (2020). A qualitative approach to informing mental health programming in Central African Republic. International Perspectives in Psychology: Research, Practice, Consultation.

 Mutiso, V.N., Musyimi, C.W., Ndetei, D. M., Unanue, I., Desai, D., Patel, S. G., ... Bunders, J. (2017). Mental health treatment in Kenya: Task-sharing challenges faced by informal health providers. International Journal of Mental Health Systems.

Selected Talks

Unanue, I. (2022, June). Allying with Community Initiatives for Improved Mental Health Access. In Unanue, I. (Chair), Mental health in global humanitarian contexts: Innovative, multi-sectorial approaches. Interactive discussion to be co-facilitated at the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Conference, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Unanue, I., Reyes, O. E., Hernandez Rivera, L. E., & Trott, C. D. (2022, June). Desde adentro: Psychological approaches to sustain community transformation. Interactive discussion to be co-facilitated at the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Conference, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Unanue, I., & Colón, Y. (2021, June 15). MDMA-Assisted therapy for PTSD: An introduction and exploration [Conference session]. Psychology Service, VA Caribbean Healthcare System, San Juan, PR. 

Unanue, I., Patel, S.G., Brown, L., Piazza-Rodriguez, A., & Mendoza-Rivera, P. (2019). Collective trauma as a catalyst for community-level growth: A grounded theory study in Puerto Rico post-Hurricane María. Poster presented at the 35th Annual International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies Meeting, Boston, MA.

Unanue, I. (2019, February). Community transformation in the wake of Hurricane María. In Poe, C. (Chair), Advancing socially-just initiatives through international doctoral training and research. Symposium conducted at the 36th Annual Winter Roundtable at Teachers College Columbia University, New York, NY.

Unanue, I. (2018, January). Accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy: An introduction. Invited presenter for Behavioral Health brown bag lunch series at LifeMoves Administrative Offices, Menlo Park, CA.