Gabes Torres

(she/siya) is a mental health practitioner, grassroots organizer, and writer based in the global South. Her clinical practice and research focus on collective and intergenerational trauma and healing methods, including the psychosomatic implications of imperialism, racism, climate catastrophes, and human rights violations. Her passion is elevating communities and models of collective flourishing.

Articles By This Author

Health & Happiness

Filipino Communities Counter Election Grief

Care-centered organizations are helping people process loss, remain rooted, and imagine new futures.

Gabes Torres | Dec 9, 2024

Social Justice

Little Gaza鈥檚 Kitchen Brings a Taste of Home to Displaced Palestinians

Palestinian refugees are settling in the Philippines, and bringing their cultural foods with them.

Gabes Torres | Jun 27, 2024

Environment

The Climate Lessons a Typhoon Taught Us

A decade after Typhoon Haiyan decimated the Philippines, the city of Tacloban is setting a new standard for surviving global catastrophes.

Gabes Torres | Apr 9, 2024

Therapy Has Never Been Sexier

Thanks to pop culture, more couples than ever are seeking professional help in service of better sex.

Gabes Torres | Mar 4, 2024

Health & Happiness

Healing From Purity Culture

How can we transform our relationship with pleasure after religious trauma?

Gabes Torres | Oct 16, 2023

Opinion | Health & Happiness

Eros and the Revolution: Why Activism Needs Pleasure

Punishing ourselves through the deprivation of rest and pleasure won鈥檛 get us free.

Gabes Torres | Sep 26, 2023

Social Justice

Gun Violence Prevention on the Basketball Court

In her documentary 鈥淏ad Things Happen in Philadelphia,鈥� filmmaker Kyra Knox highlights Philadelphia communities creatively addressing gun violence.

Gabes Torres | Aug 14, 2023

Opinion | Health & Happiness

Can Astrology Be a Tool for Liberation?

Astrology is a map that directs us to deep connections and meaning-making.

Gabes Torres | Jul 13, 2023

Opinion | Health & Happiness

For the Colonized Body, Tattoos Are Reclamation

There is something medicinal in choosing the kinds of scars that mark us.

Gabes Torres | Jun 1, 2023

Health & Happiness

Good Care for Good Trouble

Three ways to practice community care for movement organizers, unionizers, and other folks on the ground keeping good trouble going.

Gabes Torres | May 4, 2023

Opinion | Health & Happiness

Food as Embodiment and Connection

Colonization and capitalism have distorted our relationships with food. How do we return to its physical and social sacredness?

Gabes Torres | Jan 25, 2023

Opinion | Health & Happiness

How to Navigate Body Shame

Capitalism and White supremacy have given us many reasons to hate our bodies because they teach us to be ashamed of them鈥攁nd to shame others.

Gabes Torres | Dec 22, 2022

Opinion | Health & Happiness

How to Support Your Mental Health During the Change in Seasons

For some, a lack of light and warmth can have a negative impact on mental wellbeing. Here are some ways to navigate this transition.

Gabes Torres | Nov 14, 2022

Opinion | Health & Happiness

Reclaiming Abundance Under Capitalism

Is there a way we can be critical of our cultures of consumption, while also preserving the spirit of abundance?

Gabes Torres | Oct 26, 2022

Opinion | Health & Happiness

What Capitalism Has to Do With Falling in Love

Even though most of us are sincere in our pursuits of true love, how much do we actually perceive love as a product, and how does this influence our relationships?

Gabes Torres | Sep 19, 2022

Opinion | Health & Happiness

The Transformative Power of Film

Storytelling鈥攊n all its images, metaphor, movement, and sounds鈥攃an be reflectors for self-understanding and containers for easing pain from times of crisis.

Gabes Torres | Aug 29, 2022

Opinion | Health & Happiness

How to Decolonize Mental Health Treatment for BIPOC

Therapy can be very helpful, but we have to remember that therapy is not the standard nor the only place to find healing and safety.

Gabes Torres | Jul 28, 2022

Opinion | Health & Happiness

How to Process Our Collective Grief

During a time of relentless violence and mass shootings, it is important to understand how grief impacts us all.

Gabes Torres | Jun 23, 2022

Opinion | Social Justice

The Burden of Asian and Pacific Islander Month Under the White Gaze

Since the start of the pandemic, the sense of responsibility to educate White people on racism and anti-Asian violence has overshadowed what API Month is really about: celebration and connection.

Gabes Torres | May 26, 2022

Opinion | Health & Happiness

The Politics of Rage

Black and Brown rage is often dehumanized, while White rage is protected and coddled. But it takes courage to transmute rage and anger into collective and lasting transformation.

Gabes Torres | Apr 28, 2022

Opinion | Health & Happiness

What Holistic Care for Refugees Looks Like

Attachment theory can be helpful in holistically supporting refugee children by using its evidence to improve refugee relief and resettlement.

Gabes Torres | Mar 28, 2022

Opinion | Health & Happiness

How I Broke Free From Relationship Hierarchies

Patriarchy and capitalism did not leave love untouched. As a child of the diaspora, I鈥檝e learned to find intimacy in many places outside the phenomena of sex and romance.

Gabes Torres | Mar 7, 2022