Meet Leana Torrez

Hi, I’m Leana Torrez , a bilingual Licensed Mental Health Counselor, EMDR-certified therapist, and founder of Let’s Talk Psychotherapy. I created this practice to provide a culturally responsive, trauma-informed space where people can heal from experiences that continue to shape their nervous system, their relationships, and their sense of self.

I specialize in online trauma therapy and EMDR therapy for teens and adults throughout Florida in English and Spanish.

Trauma often lives beyond memory in the nervous system, relationships, and the way safety begins to feel unfamiliar.

Why I Built This Practice

From a young age, I felt called to this work. But it wasn’t until I spent years inside community-based trauma systems, domestic violence shelters, immigration organizations, and psychiatric facilities, that I truly understood what healing requires.

It requires more than technique. It requires a therapist who understands the systems, the barriers, and the cultural weight that shapes how trauma lives in the body. That understanding is the foundation of everything I do at Let’s Talk Psychotherapy.

Who I work with

I provide bilingual online trauma therapy and EMDR therapy across Florida for:

Adults and teens navigating trauma, PTSD, and complex emotional patterns
Latinx and immigrant individuals and families processing cultural identity, immigration stress, and intergenerational trauma
Survivors of domestic violence and relationship trauma
BIPOC clients seeking a therapist who understands the intersection of race, culture, and mental health
LGBTQIA+ individuals looking for an affirming, non-judgmental therapeutic space
First-generation clients navigating the pressures of living between two cultures
Children and adolescents ages 5–17 whose behavior is telling the story their words can’t yet express
Anyone who understands their story logically but still feels it in their body

Bilingual trauma therapy available in English and Spanish for clients throughout Florida.

The Work That Shaped Me

Women in Distress of Broward County — Domestic Violence Therapy

I began my clinical career at one of Florida’s largest domestic violence organizations, working directly with children, mothers, and families living in shelter and outreach.

I provided individual trauma therapy using Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) and Trauma-Focused CBT (TF-CBT) for children who had witnessed violence and were trying to make sense of a world that had stopped feeling safe. I facilitated a support group for mothers navigating the compounding stress of parenting through domestic violence, holding space for women who were simultaneously protecting their children, rebuilding their lives, and processing their own trauma.

I worked alongside victim advocates supporting survivors through legal proceedings, collaborated with attorneys on VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) cases, and learned Florida’s child court system from the inside. I helped organize fundraisers that provided free school supplies, holiday gifts, and basic necessities for families in shelters, because healing cannot happen when survival needs go unmet.

This is where I learned what family therapy truly looks like when the stakes are highest and where I developed a deep understanding of how childhood trauma lives inside family systems.

Catholic Charities of Stuart — Immigration, Asylum & EMDR Training

From domestic violence work, I moved into immigration-focused trauma therapy at Catholic Charities, where I worked almost exclusively with undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers.

I collaborated with immigration attorneys to support clients through complex legal processes while simultaneously helping them process what brought them here: human trafficking, childhood abuse, political asylum, and the particular grief of leaving everything familiar in order to survive. This population carries some of the most layered, complex trauma I’ve encountered in my career, trauma shaped by systems, borders, and survival.

This is where I received my foundational EMDR training and began to understand at a clinical level why talk therapy alone often cannot reach the depth of what these clients were carrying. That early exposure planted something in me that never left. When I opened Let’s Talk Psychotherapy, one of the first decisions I made was to pursue full EMDR certification through EMDRIA, because I had seen firsthand what this modality can do for people who have carried trauma for years, decades, sometimes a lifetime. EMDR doesn’t just help people talk about what happened. It helps the brain finally finish processing it. I believe in it that deeply.

This work is personal to me. As a Latina therapist in Florida, I understand that for many of these clients, finding a therapist who speaks their language, literally and culturally, is not a preference. It’s the difference between healing and not healing.

That work taught me that trauma doesn’t look the same for everyone. It looks different when you’re navigating it in a language that isn’t your first. It looks different when your culture tells you to stay strong and keep it in the family. It looks different when the systems meant to protect you have historically failed people who look like you.

New Horizons of the Treasure Coast — Psychiatric Crisis & Evaluating

Alongside my work at Catholic Charities, I worked PRN at New Horizons in Fort Pierce, conducting psychiatric evaluations and inpatient admissions for adults and children entering the psychiatric unit.

I was often the first clinical contact for individuals in acute mental health crisis, working alongside psychiatrists, nurses, and counselors to assess, stabilize, and support people at their most vulnerable.

Aventura Hospital — Hospital-Based Crisis Intervention

My graduate internship at Aventura Hospital in Miami was where the foundation of my clinical work truly began. I worked as part of an interdisciplinary team alongside psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, and other medical professionals supporting individuals and families through acute psychiatric crises.

It was in this environment that I learned how to navigate the intensity and complexity of severe mental health situations with steadiness, compassion, and clinical clarity. I facilitated group therapy, participated in treatment planning and discharge coordination, provided crisis intervention, and supported immediate family sessions during some of the most vulnerable moments in a person’s life.

This experience shaped my understanding of what crisis truly looks like, not just clinically, but emotionally and systemically. It taught me how to remain grounded in high-stress situations while helping individuals and families feel supported, stabilized, and understood.

That foundation continues to influence the way I practice today. It gave me a level of clinical experience and crisis awareness that many outpatient therapists never fully develop: a real, grounded understanding of severe mental health crises and what people genuinely need in those moments.

Education

Miami Dade College — where it all began
Bachelor of Science in Psychology & Religious Studies — University of Miami (Go Canes!)
Master of Science in Mental Health Counseling — Nova Southeastern University
EMDR Certified — EMDRIA Approved

My Approach to Online Trauma Therapy and EMDR in Florida

As a bilingual Latina therapist in Florida, I understand that healing looks different depending on who you are, where you come from, and what you’ve been told about asking for help.

My approach is collaborative, culturally informed, and grounded in evidence-based trauma treatment. I believe therapy should honor the whole person, not just the diagnosis. My goal is to help clients develop self-awareness, process unresolved experiences, and build healthier emotional patterns so they can move forward with greater clarity and stability.

Therapy here is direct, steady, and real especially for clients looking for a deeper, trauma-informed approach to healing. We won’t stay at the surface if you’re ready for something deeper.

Ready to Take the Next Step?

If something on this page resonated, that’s worth paying attention to.

A free 15-minute consultation is available so we can talk through what’s bringing you in, answer your questions, and see if this feels like the right fit. No pressure. No commitment.

Online trauma therapy and EMDR therapy are available for teens and adults throughout Florida in English and Spanish.

Book Your Free 15-Minute Consultation →