Staff Profiles
Laurene Dominguez - 415-338-2208
Coordinator
The SAFE Place
Counseling and Psychological Services
I am a Clinical Social Worker and have worked in various community mental health and school-based settings with children, adults, and families. I work from a strenghts based perspective and believe that all of us have the capacity to heal despite having traumatic experiences happen to us. I feel that creating a safe space for survivors to talk about their needs and get support is a critical part of that healing process. I am committed to working with communities that are often marginalized and feel their power & voice have been taken from them. I have a particular interest in supporting students dealing with crisis/trauma, relationship issues, identity/multicultural issues, and working with Chicano/Latino & first generation students. I am passionate about social justice issues and the integration of western and indigenous ways of healing.
Ismael de Guzman - 415-338-2208
Prevention Education Specialist
The SAFE Place ~ Men Can Stop Violence
Counseling and Psychological Services
Ismael de Guzman's position was borne out of the need to have men involved in the work to end violence against women and men. He received his BA in Sociology from SF State and is currently working on his Masters in Counseling with an emphasis on Marriage & Family Therapy and a specialization in Gerontology at SF State. For the past, 4 years he's helped create a men's program in addressing sexual violence in the campus community from a male-allyship perspective. He has always shown interest in working with men in different capacities. Creating the program Men Can Stop Violence has allowed him to be able to support men in better understanding themselves as positive members of society by addressing violence from a male-ally perspective. He's created an event called Walk In Her Heels involving men to walk in women's heels to show support in continuing to create awareness about violence against women. He applies expressive arts as an amazing instrument in exploring the human experience, for that reason he created CockTales, a men's stories platform where men compose their stories of what it means to be a man. Thereafter, each men finish writing their piece, they subsequently perform their written work in front of hundreds of people.
He believes his work addressing sexual violence and intimate partner violence are both social justice issues because they are both forms of oppression. He believes in addressing ALL forms of oppression. He's helped create awareness around LGBT issues on campus by acting as a staff co-chair for the Queer Yo Mind Conference and being an active committee member for Pride @ SF State which began in 2009. He's been leading an anger management group for the past two semesters supporting students by applying cognitive behavioral therapy, as well as elements of mindfulness and buddhist approach. He also leans towards a social justice, narrative, cognitive behavioral (CBT), person-centered approach to counseling in supporting students in their development.
