Rebel Roots
My journey in mental health is rooted in surviving systemic racism, child trafficking, wrongful incarceration, and a late diagnosis of Autism and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. I've broken through barriers in academia, film, and athletics—and yet, as hard as I and others try, the fight for true inclusivity remains forefront. While the general public has observed an increase in visibility of BIPOC folks, many fail to grasp how U.S. policies have not kept pace with the needs of our entire population. These experiences have continually fueled my determination to dismantle oppressive structures and advocate for culturally competent, inclusive, liberation-focused care. Not the "care" you may have received at a corporate mental health giant nor a government run community mental health clinic. This is genuine, lived experience that can't be bought—something that sets me apart from other practitioners who may struggle with cultural competence, understanding systemic violence, and navigating the politics that perpetuate the treatment of complex PTS.
My foundation comes from the cultural ideals my mother shared with me, rooted in Lakota knowledge—especially in natural and physical sciences, reincarnation, vision quests, and the sacred journey of the soul through the hole in the sky. I want to deeply acknowledge the practicing Indigenous peoples who, through generations of careful stewardship, have kept alive the teachings and wisdom that my own assimilated ancestors, like myself, have secretly harbored in our hearts for decades, despite the ongoing genocide against us, we reclaim our identities muted by violence. Being multi-racial gives me the gift of multi-cultural worldviews, so much so that I learned more from my natural world than I did from the academic institutions that I attended which are deeply racist by design. In contrast, my natural healing instincts are tied to my Native heritage, and I live in the middle of these two worlds. This balance mirrors Gall’s defining moment during starvation, when, as a young boy known as 'Bear Shedding His Hair,' he ate the gall bladder of a buffalo to survive. That act earned him the name 'Man Who Goes in the Middle,' or Phizí. In the same way, I have an inclination for dismantling systems that are essentially dead, much like the current state of mental health care.
Formally educated in social work with completion of a doctoral degree and extensively trained in EMDR, I have cultivated tools to address trauma at its roots. This foundation, paired with decades of practical experience, allows me to provide transformative care that embraces the full spectrum of human experiences—from the deep wounds of historical and personal trauma to the everyday stresses of modern life. My work reflects a shared journey of healing, where every spirit carries its history, choices, and potential for renewal. In my practice, I create a space that nurtures those who wish to walk the path of anti-racism, drawing from their own lived experiences and the wisdom of their elders, recognizing that the seeds of prejudice have been sown in us all, carried like the wind across generations.
This understanding is deeply connected to the teachings of Louis Riel, an ancestral elder, who fought for the recognition and dignity of his people, the Métis, in the face of intense opposition from a system that devalued bi- and multi-racial identities. Alongside his wife, Marguerite Monet dit Bellehumeur, he resisted the forces that sought to erase their culture and identity. Although he was executed for his actions, his spirit of resistance and justice continues to inspire those who come after him, including myself.
Chericka's great-great-grandmother, Woman Dress, also known as Green Grass, was a Stolen Sister. Chericka's mother, Bunny, tirelessly sought to reclaim their tribal membership while raising Chericka in poor urban settings and navigating the legacy of forced assimilation.
Chericka's Great Great Uncle and brother to Green Grass, Chief Gall originally named Matohinsa which means "Bear shedding his hair,"He was later named Phizí which means "Man that goes in the middle," after he ate the gall bladder of a dead animal while experiencing starvation. Phizí was an important military leader of the Hunkpapa Lakota in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Read more here.
Green Grass, held captive by the French Canadian fur trapper Jules Lamereaux, bore 17 children while enslaved, a lineage that also runs through Chericka’s veins. Chericka recognizes the journey of the women before her and dedicates herself to continued healing of these ancestral wounds.
Article concerning GreenGrass Woman Dress Stolen Sister being trafficked after her wic'áxca, Washakie, was murdered.
The Great Hanging at Gainsville- 1862
My mother, Bunny, shared her greatest gift, storytelling through spoken word and hand gestures. She highlighted stories passed down to her about our ancestors Louis and Marguerite Riel, Chief Cornstalk, Running Horses (Takes Many Sisters), Wakinyahsnala (Rattling Sighting), Cajeotowin (Walks-With-Many-Names) and Chief Gall, pumping courage and fight into my spirit and yet by age 14 I learned that talking about my lineage was not only an invitation to cruel and unusual behavior; it was downright dangerous. I learned it was uncouth to mention my uncle had a hand in taking Custer down. I gave a presentation in a history class (1987) and was threatened with detention by the principal shortly thereafter, if I mentioned my relatives again. I went on to become a terrible history student. By college I was adamant that it was "against my religion to have to study absolute lies and garbage against my peoples." I wrote that in a final exam Blue Book (1994) and received a C in the class that I quit going to half-way through the semester.
Was that an early demonstration of Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA, as defined by Western psychology), a Pervasive Drive for Autonomy (as the Autistic community identifies it), or was it epigenetics at play? When I reflect on that history class and how my body resisted being there, while incorporating all I now understand about processing trauma, I recognize it as ancestral. I imagine my ancestors shaking my bones to get my attention, protecting my brain from programming I would eventually succumb to—through the exhausting experiences of navigating race, what some label as Autism, and what I recognize as major cultural differences in how I move through the world. The struggles of my ancestors were not just against colonial rule but also against the deep prejudice that sought to erase mixed-race identities—an injustice that still echoes today. These stories shaped my path, compelling me to confront systemic barriers and navigate the world, particularly after the challenges of a late diagnosis.
Bunny also shared stories of her great-grandmother, Green Grass (Wíŋyaŋ Tȟóšaŋ), who was stolen and assimilated, and her own life marked by assault and the suppression of her many gifts. She tirelessly searched for the truth of our lineage while fighting for her rightful enrollment, a right stolen from her by the erasure of records. These stories became my reality, too. I have walked a similar path of struggle and survival, emerging not unscathed, but strengthened. This experience guides my work, a testament to the power of survival and the unbreakable spirit of our lineage. Bunny would say my Tȟóšaŋ ištá (green eyes) carried Green Grass in my sights, symbolizing reincarnation. To think all these years later, the number of people who mistreated my mother and portrayed her as being crazy when she was a marvelous historian with a dynamic and creative mind. Current epigentic research affords me a much greater and deeper understanding of my mother, who fell prey to Western Medicine via the mental health industrial complex, after becoming diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) in 1994. I was in my first year of undergrad. My mother did not have Dissociative Identity Disorder, which is the American rebranded version of what I am coining Complex Ancestral Trauma (CAT) [Copyright 2024], formerly referred to as MPD. My mother became medicated as a result of her "condition" and died at age 67 by overdose. I know that if she had met a clinician like myself, she would still be with us today. I honor my beautiful and vibrant mother, Bunny.
Inspired by the struggles of those who came before me, I am dedicated to dismantling oppressive structures and creating spaces for healing that honor and celebrate cultural identities. I am committed to challenging colonial narratives within mental health, advocating for care that fully embraces the complexities and richness of bi- and multi-racial people.
The stories my mother shared are central to my mission, guiding me to carry forward the work of healing and resistance. This journey is one we walk together, across generations. It is not about labels or division, but about understanding how history flows into the present, and allowing each person to choose their path—guided by spirit and ancestral wisdom (Wóčhekiye). This approach challenges dominant narratives in mental health and opens the way for care that fosters true recovery, growth, and reconnection to our authentic selves and communities.
Swell Session Mission
Committed to dismantling systemic barriers in mental health, our practice integrates anti-racist and decolonized methodologies to restore natural, ancestral practices as the standard of care.
Swell Session Vision
To reshape mental health services by identifying and addressing systemic failures, promoting a restorative approach that honors diverse, traditional wisdoms and ensures equitable access to healing for all communities.
Swell Sessions Approach
“Trauma is an injury, not an illness.”
Swell Sessions embraces the understanding that while trauma and its impacts are part of the natural order, profound strength and growth can arise through the healing process. Chericka views PTS as a virus of the nervous system, a pandemic that has been historically downplayed and its treatment gatekept. Swell Sessions focuses on dismantling systemic violence, guiding clients to externalize societal constructs that have disconnected them from their true selves and isolated them from natural communities of shared struggles, including people with disabilities, people of color, queer individuals, those living in poverty, and our vulnerable yet invaluable elders and children.
Swell Sessions facilitates quicker, sustainable recovery by integrating diverse healing modalities that honor the body, mind, and spirit. Our neurodivergent practitioners offer unique perspectives that resonate with clients who have felt marginalized by traditional therapeutic environments. The approach is solution-focused and results-oriented, ensuring that sessions are both productive and adaptable to each client’s pace, fostering consistent progress. The therapeutic techniques blend Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), and elements of Acceptance & Integrative therapies, along with relaxation and guided imagery, to prepare clients for EMDR. This intensive initial work elevates clients swiftly to a higher state of functioning and emotional stability, advancing them toward a maintenance phase for cost-effectiveness.
The practice incorporates somatic work, parts work, and family systems approaches to help clients connect with and integrate different aspects of themselves, enhancing their understanding and management of their internal dynamics. Additionally, Swell Sessions uses Family Constellations therapy to explore and resolve family dynamics and ancestral patterns, allowing clients to encounter, accept, and heal the past. Rituals and ceremonies provide powerful tools for ancestral healing, while meditation and visualization techniques foster deeper connections with one's ancestors. Energy and Ancestral lineage healing supports a non-dogmatic approach to healing that recognizes humans as part of a larger web of consciousness. This modality rests on the understanding that consciousness continues after death, the living and the dead can communicate, and both can profoundly affect one another.
By combining these diverse approaches, Swell Sessions creates a holistic practice that addresses the interconnectedness of physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Understanding epigenetics further enhances this work, revealing how trauma is transmitted across generations and allowing for meaningful healing of intergenerational wounds.