Tobi Ricca, MSW, LICSW, BCETS, BCECR,
FAAETS. I am a Licensed Clinical Social
Worker in the state of Washington and have been
practicing for over 20 years. I received my
Masters Degree in Social Work (MSW) at the University
of Pennsylvania, School of Social Work, in Philadelphia.
I have maintained a commitment to ongoing education
and now use Eidetic Imagery, EMDR, Energy Psychology,
and Creative Arts in my practice and am trained
in Critical Incident Stress Management as well.
I provide individual and group psychotherapy
to adult survivors of incest and childhood sexual
trauma, workshops and trainings on these issues
for other providers in the community, and have
spoken on local radio about long-term effects
of abuse. I have provided process-oriented psychotherapy
groups for survivors of childhood sexual abuse
with both excellent and sustained outcomes.
In addition, I have provided psychoeducational
groups open to the public interested in learning
more about trauma.
I have found Imagery (including rescripting)
to be very productive in the treatment of trauma,
use it in my own practice extensively, and have
provided trainings for colleagues on the use
of imagery in their own practices. I also greatly
enjoy mentoring and training newly-graduated
clinicians who are just stepping into their
persona as a therapist by assisting them in
developing ethical clinical practices and in
providing effective assessment and treatment
to trauma survivors.
As the mental health professional in an emergency
room for many years, I developed expertise and
comfort with addressing the daily crises. Through
my work with hundreds of patients traumatized
in car accidents, house fires, suicide attempts,
gunshot wounds; with decompensated, chronically
mentally ill individuals; and with trauma survivors
in the recurrently acute grip of PTSD and complex
PTSD, I have developed a practice of what I
call constructive presence. By this, I mean
the ability to be present with an individual,
i.e., hearing their story with compassion and
love while simultaneously helping them ground
themselves and develop a plan to accomplish
what needs to be done in order to continue on.
Essentially, a tending of spirit and body, of
heart and mind—it is through promoting
this synergy that we foster recovery.
