SXU Alumna Helps to Heal Survivors of Trauma
Saint Xavier University (SXU) alumna Ana Javier '02 is following the University's Mercy tradition by giving back to her community and helping heal survivors of trauma.
Javier, who studied industrial organizational psychology and history while at Saint Xavier, has served as a therapist since 2004. She earned a master's degree in counseling psychology from Adler University and has earned many certifications, including certification in sensorimotor training, relational development, dynamic attachment repatterning, domestic violence, body-mind psychotherapy and more.
Javier has served in several roles in her profession including clinical supervisor, therapist, crisis worker and community liaison, all of which helped her to develop advanced clinical skills. Currently, her interests lie in alternative treatments, including somatic therapy and the use of psychedelics. She was drawn to pursuing a career in therapy because of her innate desire to give others hope since she was a young child.
The small SXU campus was the perfect place for Javier to forge the beginning of her studies, as she received personalized attention and close support from peers.
"SXU felt like a home, a loving community. All my professors were so passionate about their work and approachable. Because it was such an intimate environment, I could connect with them, and we developed great relationships. I didn't feel like a number there," said Javier.
Javier holds plenty of great memories from her undergraduate years, including karaoke in the SXU Diner, walking around Lake Marion, and visiting the newly built Shannon Athletic and Convocation Center. Perhaps most memorable for Javier about her time at SXU was falling in love with her husband, fellow alum Eric Etapa '02.
Javier remains involved with Saint Xavier, spending lots of time studying in the Robert and Mary Rita Murphy Stump Library and even getting her family involved in service projects with McDonough Chapel, such as collecting pill bottle donations for Africa.
She's also involved with other community service, including co-facilitation of a program called Roots & Shoots, an initiative based on the work of the Jane Goodall Institute with a mission to empower young people to affect positive change in their communities. In her role, Javier and zoologist Lisa Rank help grade school students find social and environmental causes they are interested in and support them as they work through identifying problems and finding solutions as a collective.
Javier is a big proponent of the SXU core value learning for life. She consistently pursues cutting edge evidence-based treatment modalities to enhance her clinical skills and is currently pursuing certification to become a psychedelic assisted therapy provider through the Integrative Psychiatry Institute, which will help her to treat clients with PTSD or clients who experienced limited results with traditional talk therapy.
In addition to her focus on somatic healing and psilocybin therapy, Javier is passionate about contributing to environmental sustainability. In the future, she plans to write books that will help educate society about the purpose of animals in the ecosystem.
"I want to teach people the role of animals in the ecosystem in a compassionate way that helps people reconnect to the animals and the earth, so they too want to care for them. Making a bigger impact on the world would be magical for me."
Javier also plans to eventually get licensed in Colorado and California. Ultimately, her goal is to open a yoga studio and help overworked and stressed adults learn to decrease stress almost instantaneously through their body based on her somatic trainings. She takes pride in providing the highest level of care using evidence-based treatment modalities and blending spirituality with science to help as many people as she can grow, heal and thrive.