ECMH Clinical Social Services Program Director at the YMCA of San Diego

Melanie Morones, MFT/ATR/ECMHS, (she/they). I began my career in infant and early childhood mental health in south central Los Angeles providing intensive mental health services to youth & their families, as well as participating as a facilitator in the Early Intervention Training Institute. There I was selected to be in the first cohort to complete and join the rosters of the CPP (Child Parent Psychotherapy) family. I enjoy facilitating trainings and conversations in effort to support reflective practice, program development and ensure youth & families receive culturally appropriate & trauma-informed care. I hold a faculty position at Loyola Marymount University, providing Clinical Art Therapy supervision & I work as the Early Childhood Mental Health Clinical Program Director at the YMCA San Diego. In 2020, I helped to establish the ongoing, annual Birth of Brilliance Conference & Cultural Fair, focused on increasing equity in all child & family facing services. Raised in the smallest of rural towns in the White Mountains of AZ, I am well versed in seeing the impact of racial (& other) inequities on youth & families. My roots, combined with intentionally sought diverse professional experiences, have cultivated a frame of compassionate curiosity & cultural reverence that is the foundation of both my clinical work and approach to life.