Instructor

Vanessa is the author of In Our Own Voice: African-American Stories of Oppression, Survival and Recovery in Mental Health Systems and Separate and Unequal: The Legacy of Racially Segregated Psychiatric Hospitals, monographs on the history of African-American psychiatric experiences and Robbing Peter to Pay Paul: Feminist Reflections on Therapy with Low-wage Earning Women in Psychotherapy with Women: Exploring Diverse Contexts and Identities (Marsha P. Mirkin, et al ,Eds.). She is co-editor of Understanding Power: A Human Services Imperative with Elaine Pinderhughes, MSW and Patricia Romney, Ph.D. Vanessa is a nationally recognized speaker on mental health issues, with a focus on culturally conscious therapy and therapy with marginalized populations. She has developed a concept, “fiscal trauma”, which served as the foundation for an economic empowerment recovery program for survivors of domestic violence. Ms. Jackson’s passion is supporting activists in creating healthy and balanced lives. She offers an Activists Assistance Program to provide politically conscious and clinically sound coaching and healing workshops to Atlanta-area feminist non-profit organizations. She serves as a Senior Facilitator for Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective (BEAM). Vanessa is a member of the Radical Optimist Collective which facilitates racial healing conversation