About

“There is reason, after all,
that some people wish to colonize the moon,
and others dance before it as an ancient friend.”
— James Baldwin

Gabes entered the world when a cataclysmic volcano erupted in the Philippines. She carries the history of that day with her, marveling and moving through incandescent questions of what it’s like to be alive in times of great, ceaseless change. She is a mental health practitioner, writer, and community organizer.

Gabes completed a Bachelor’s in Historical Theology & Philosophy at a theological school in Chicago, Illinois. She pursued this field because of her fascination in the birth and growth of the Western church and missionary movements, especially in light of Christian hegemony and colonization in the Philippines.

She earned a Master’s in Theology and Culture at The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology, focusing on colonialism and its impact on the virtue and practice of hospitality. She later fulfilled a second Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology in the same graduate school. Her clinical practice and research concentrated on racial and migration trauma.

Gabes is a mental health counselor offering support to climate and human rights defenders, attending to climate trauma, activist burnout, and sustainability in social-change movements.

She founded and co-facilitated the Heritage Workshop, a virtual workshop for people of color around the world where they explore ancestral lineages, stories, and medicine.

She writes for Yes! Magazine with a column focusing on mental health and collective action.

Gabes writes poetry and makes songs. She independently produced 3 albums of original music, and her first one was launched when she was 17. She has toured in Southeast Asia, Chicago, San Francisco, and Seattle.

You may find Gabes’ past speaking engagements below.

Photography by Arabella Paner and Laurel Yae

2026

How we respond: Therapy, Crisis & Collective care. Virtual summit, Speaker, Prospect Counselling and Training.
More-Than-Human Life (MOTH) Festival of Ideas. Academic speaker, London, United Kingdom.

2025

Holistic Security: Emotional First Aid and Collective Wellbeing Workshop, Instructor and facilitator, Oxfam International
“Oscillation, Interdependence, and the Search for Collective Liberation,” Guest speaker, Lumos Transforms.
“Symbiotic Relationality, Quantum Listening, and A Therapy of Insurgency” Guest Instructor, The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology, Seattle, WA.
“Decolonized Mental Health Strategies,” MEND Institute, Seattle WA.
Eros Retreat, Facilitator, Collective Wellness Retreats, La Union, Philippines.

2024

“Leaning Into Liberatory Practice” Speaker, Virtual Summit, Prospect Counselling and Training, British Columbia, Canada.
“Topographies of {Dis}Connection: re-membering self, community, and land,” Core Faculty, Virtual Teaching, Institute for the Development of Healing Arts, New York City, New York
“Contemporary Spirituality: Meaning and Mysticism in the Modern Age,” Core Faculty, Online Course, advaya.
“Attachment Theory in Migratory Populations,” Guest Instructor, The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology, Seattle, WA.
“Loneliness ⟺ Hyperconnectivity,” Panel speaker, International Think Big Summit, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
‘Where Streams Join,’ Panelist, Virtual Conference, The Pacific, Asian, and North American Asian Women in Theology and Ministry, Atlanta, GA.

2023

“Mental Health In Our Work and In Our Time,” Faculty, Collective Wellness Retreat hosted by Good Neighbors Solidarity Collective, Your Head Lah!, and Project Common Lounge. Lamphun, Thailand.
“Mental Health Wellness & Social Change Movements,” Teacher, Virtual Webinar, Together for Future and 350.org
“Conscious for Culture/Cultura,” Panel Speaker, Stranger Fruit Voices (A Spotify Original).

2022

6th Annual Social Justice Symposium, Keynote Speaker, San Diego State University, San Diego, California.
“Transnational Family Structures & Intergenerational Mental Health,” Teacher, Student-Directed Seminar, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.
“Exploring Healing in Our API Communities,” Panel Speaker, Asian-American Pacific Islander Women Lead Organization
Anti-Asian Racism Panel Discussion (internal), Panel Speaker, SickKids Foundation, hosted by the SickKids Foundation Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Committee,
“Healing in the In-Between: Exploring Migration and Vicarious Trauma,” Speaker. Community Mental Health Village: A Look Into Collective Healing Conference. Team CommUNITY (TCU).
“American-Asian Pacific Islander Journeys Toward Community Healing”, Panel Speaker, Asian Pacific Islanders Social Work Coalition, University of Michigan.
“Naaalala Mo Pa Ba?: Story Telling for Climate Change” Panel Speaker, Green Dreams of a Generation. Manila, Philippines.

2021

Reclaim Mental Health Conference, Speaker, The Associated Students of the University of California, Irvine.
“An Invitation to Creativity – A Virtual Expressive Event”, Speaker, The Creative Spark, Los Angeles, CA.
“Diversity of Tactics and Care, ” Teacher, Virtual Teaching Series. Diverse and Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries. Boston, MA.
“The Colonized (and Colonizing) Psyche,” Speaker, CYP Conference, Online Conference.

2020

Enneagram Global Summit, Panel Speaker, Online Conference, The Shift Network.
“Racial Trauma & Healing,” Teacher, Online Webinars, Check Your Privilege Summer Skool Program
“Xenophobia & the Church: Decolonizing the ‘Stranger,’” Speaker, Coalition for Christian Outreach Jubilee Conference,The Westin and David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, PA.
“Sexploration,” Panel Speaker. Hosted by Wesley Club at the University of Washington, Online Webinar.
Beyond Shame by Matthias Roberts Book Launch, Panel Speaker. Quest Church, Seattle, WA
“Race, Culture, & the Enneagram” Panel Speaker. The Art of Growth. International Enneagram Association Global Conference, Oakland Marriott City Center, Oakland, CA.

2019

“Power and Authenticity” Panel Speaker. For Women Who Roar Magazine Launch. Seattle, WA.
“Confronting Reality: Toward a De-Colonial Spirituality,” Speaker, Teaching series. Coastland Commons, Northminster Presbyterian Church, Seattle, WA.
“Decolonization as Spiritual Practice,” Teacher, WIDEN, 2019 (Private retreat) with Fr. Richard Rohr, Kaitlin Curtice, & Mirabai Starr, Santa Fe, NM.
“Formidable and Loved: The Story of a Migrant,” Speaker and performer. The Ravenna Collaboratory, Seattle, WA.
“Decolonization through Spirituality & Creativity,” Speaker and performer. Endings & New Beginnings, A Gathering for Thinkers & Creators, Seattle, WA.
“Decolonization & Hospitality: God’s gift of welcome as an antidote to colonialism,” Speaker. Coalition for Christian Outreach Jubilee Conference, The Westin and David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, PA.
“Undoing: Decolonizing our Bodies and Sexuality,” Panel Speaker with Annie Mesaros, MDiv & Dr. Tina Schermer Sellers, Seattle, WA.