I Support the Latinx Community Through Trauma-Responsive, Queer-Affirming, Culturally-Attuned Mental Healthcare
Learn About Me and How I Can Help
Dario Zamorano, MA
Bilingual Psychotherapist Intern
Hello and welcome! My name is Dario Zamorano (he/him/él), and I’m a Bilingual Psychotherapist Intern at Latinx Talk Therapy. As a descendant of Mexican immigrant parents and as a human who identifies as a queer, first-generation, Latinx/e therapist-in-training, my intersecting identities and experiences actively inform and interact with the way I move through the world and approach theories and practices of mental health and wellbeing. I live a life as a person of color constantly coming up against a culture of white supremacy and racial capitalism. I understand what it’s like to move at the pace of urgency, under the weight of racism, cis-heteronormativity, ableism, sexism, sizeism, xenophobia, and other forces of oppression. These forces infiltrate our essence, embed themselves in our nervous systems, and propel our minds into a state of chronic survival and scarcity. We come to make neither space nor time for rest and restoration and instead make habit out of abandoning our needs, our agency, and our pleasure in order to safely make ends meet, never fully settling into a life well-lived. If this seems familiar to you, you might be reminded of moments when you’ve felt depleted or dysregulated after (re)witnessing or (re)experiencing a past rupture, past violence, past betrayal, past disregard and the untended wounds they’ve left behind. You might notice an urge to erase or do away with this feeling as you shift your awareness to how you may be reacting now, as if the feeling has no place here. Consequently, the body and the mind no longer feel like home. This painful reality is evident in our lives. Addressing this forms the foundation of my healing work.
Guided by anti-oppressive, trauma-responsive, culturally-attuned, queer-affirming frameworks, I work to make sure that the evidence-based behavioral modalities I draw from—such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)—give structure to our sessions and shape our therapy space as a site for individual and collective liberation. I believe deeply in allowing for curiosity to lead us into a place of compassion as we come to know one another and how you navigate your world on your terms. In practice, this looks like tenderly holding and examining patterns of chronic discomfort, distress, and disruption that have surfaced in your life and have strained your capacity for meaningfully connecting with yourself, with others in your community, and with the embodied awareness that guides you to respond authentically against oppressive systems and structures in your environment that cause you harm.
In embracing your authentic self, my commitment to you is to stand beside you, integrating my professional and personal experiences to engage with you in a way that radically nurtures open-heartedness, sparks critical self-reflection, and inspires intentionality in owning your change process. You’re worthy of care in all its dimensions and even more, and I’m dedicated to creating a healing and liberating space with you where you feel safe to explore all parts of yourself—your identities, values, and wisdom, and the ways your mind and body trust in certain rituals or resources to regulate, relate, and reason—while embarking on this tender journey home.
- I meet with clients in person and virtually.
You Don’t Have to Face Your Struggles Alone, I Am Here to Help
In the United States, mental healthcare systems, policies, and practices have contributed to the creation of conditions that have historically excluded, minoritized, and disinvested Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color (QTBIPOC) communities. The resulting culture of care has led to systemic disparities in access, affordability, and availability of mental health resources today. So, it’s no wonder why our community might feel distrustful in seeking care in a predominantly white industry. My decision to become a therapist thus comes from a desire to disrupt and dismantle harmful narratives, binaries, and expectations that keep you from trusting in your capacity for healing.
My journey in this field began in 2020 as a Mental Health Worker at Heartland Alliance Health, working in a supportive housing program. There, I collaborated with a treatment team to provide case management, resource navigation, and community and clinical support services to individuals with histories of serious mental health conditions, substance use, and chronic homelessness. A year later, in 2021, I transitioned from community mental health to mental healthcare administration as a Patient Care Coordinator at Compass Health Center. In this role, I partnered with providers and patient advocates during intake processes to assemble charts used for prospective clients in need for treatment at the center’s intensive outpatient (IOP) and partial hospitalization programs (PHP). By 2022, I had shifted towards more direct clinical practice as a Group Therapist Intern within Compass Health Center’s Adult Mood & Anxiety Programs. Here, I co-facilitated skills-based and process-based group sessions for adults grappling with depression, anxiety, OCD, and trauma symptoms impacting their daily lives. Presently, I serve as a Care Coach at Charlie Health’s Adolescent & Young Adult Virtual IOPs, engaging primarily with young adult clients facing high-acuity mental health challenges. During their group sessions, I provide contextually-responsive crisis intervention as needed.
Throughout my experiences in working with individuals, relationships, and families with multiple marginalized identities, I’ve learned that the care you extend to yourself can generate transformative shifts within the collectives we all inhabit. In our sessions together, I’ll invite you to explore expansiveness, flexibility, and softness. My aim is to fully embrace my humanity alongside you, creating conditions for holding and sustaining your healing journey. Whether it involves developing skills to attune to present-moment emotions and thoughts, uprooting unhelpful core beliefs and value systems, or braving new relationships and contexts, I’ll be there with you—providing space, establishing connection, and facilitating mindful progress.
Get to Know A Little Bit More About Me
I was born and raised in a small brick-laden bungalow nestled in the Northwest corridors of Chicago, between Belmont Cragin and Hermosa, surrounded by a vibrant community of primarily Latinx/e families and households.
In 2018, I earned my Associate’s degree in General Psychology from Harold Washington College, City College of Chicago. Following that, I transferred to the University of Illinois at Chicago to pursue my Bachelor’s degree in Applied Psychology, with a minor in Sociology, which I completed in 2020. At present, I am in the final year of my Master’s program in Social Work, Social Policy, and Social Administration, and I am undergoing intensive clinical training in trauma-responsive social work at the University of Chicago. I am on track to become licensed as a social worker upon graduation.
Beyond the therapy room, I show up for myself by carving out both space and time for things that replenish my emotional reserves and invite joy in. Sometimes this might involve being intentional about scheduling breaks from the demands of graduate school and work to rest and recharge. Other times, it could manifest through explorations of cozy coffee shops, trips to thrift stores, leisurely strolls around downtown, spontaneous visits to farmer’s markets over the weekend, or the occasional perusal of local bookstores (with City Lit Books at Logan Square being my personal favorite).
My Specialties
The thrust of my work involves tailoring therapeutic interventions to address the intersectional struggles of BIPOC, Latinx/e, and LGBTQIA+ young adults, adults, and individuals in diverse relational structures (poly/non-monogamous) who are seeking to navigate the complexities of trauma, mood and anxiety challenges, minority stress, gender identity and sexuality, life transitions, academic exploration, and burnout.
I’m mindful of the boundaries inherent in being a therapist-in-training, and, for that reason, I’m dedicated to my continuous growth, which involves regular clinical supervision and consultation with my team. I also prioritize uplifting your expertise in your lived experiences by staying attuned to your feedback as we chart the course of your care, honoring forms of healing that align with your preferences and needs as they arise. I’m inspired by thought leaders in sex therapy, pleasure activism, healing justice, somatic abolitionism, and decolonizing movements and believe their efforts create critical dialogues that deepen our relationship with mental health and well-being.
If any of what I’ve shared resonates with you, I extend an invitation to reach out and explore the possibilities of embarking on a transformative journey together. Your process is unique, and I look forward to accompanying you on your path of growth and healing.