Meet the staff

As the Program Consultant, Carla supports the development and design of comprehensive workshops, worksheets, and resources for our AWBW Facilitators and Community of Practice. Carla attended California State University Long Beach for her undergraduate psychology degree and obtained her master's degree in counseling at California State University Fullerton. Carla has prior experience working as an AWBW Facilitator, therapist trainee, outreach and youth client advocate at a domestic violence agency, and an educator. Carla is passionate about working with youth and adolescents and uplifting the voices of BIPOC folxs through art and creativity.

Cathy Salser is a durational artist and Founder of A Window Between Worlds with over 30 years of experience developing interactive art-based journeys that invite brave space for disrupting and divesting from legacies of trauma. Recognizing that at the heart of both individual and social change, we are called to crystalize our leadership in the face of challenge, sustain action over time, and replace isolation with community, Cathy has fostered a collective space for 30 years that invites us to innovate art practices that meet these needs. With Cathy’s guidance, AWBW began as an interactive art journey and to this day, functions as a circle of co-creation, honoring each partner, facilitator and participant as a unique innovator of art-based transformative processes that anchor change on a range of levels, from cellular to systemic. As Strategic Vision and Partnership Advisor, Cathy currently supports AWBW’s art-based collective visioning practices, nurtures key external relationships and mentors AWBW staff to thoughtfully and sustainably evolve our work. Key priorities include building organizational capacity to field sector-based investments and developing connective technology that can power integrated, systemic community-based initiatives. Cathy has been nationally recognized for her work using art as a healing tool for domestic violence survivors, and has been honored with the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund Award, the Bank of America Local Heroes Award, the President’s Award from the Women’s Caucus for Art, the Betty Fisher Award from the LA Domestic Violence Council, and the Karen Cooper Lifetime Achievement Award from th

Christy Turek Rials holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, is trained in Trauma-Informed Care and has facilitated trauma-informed art workshops with trauma survivors and service providers for over 20 years. She has also trained mental health clinicians and community-based professionals through A Window Between Worlds’ (AWBW) Two-Day Windows Facilitator Training for over 15 years. Trainees benefit from her expertise in trauma-informed facilitation, curriculum design, and translating creative practices into practical tools that support emotional regulation, engagement, expression, and client connection.

Kat Mardo holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Performance with intensive movement-based training emphasizing grounding, self-regulation, listening, and presence. She has over four years of experience co-facilitating AWBW’s Two-Day Windows Facilitator Training and On-Demand course, contributing to experiential training for helping professionals. Trainees benefit from her expertise in embodied practices and practical strategies that enhance safety, engagement, emotional regulation, and reflective insight in individual and group settings.

La Shonda was trained as an AWBW art workshop facilitator in 2016 and is currently the co-chair of our Advisory Board. An award winning international speaker and educator, she serves as an administrator within Pepperdine University. In addition to overseeing the University’s response and prevention of sexual violence and sex-based discrimination, La Shonda provides leadership and supervision for the Health, Wellness and Resilience departments and leads the University’s Student Care Team. She earned her Master of Social Work degree at the University of Southern California with a concentration in Community Organization, Planning and Administration. She advanced in her clinical career to earn her state license as a social worker and established a private practice where she has worked tirelessly to empower communities and individuals to prevent violence and foster healing for those that have been impacted by interpersonal violence and racialized trauma. In her practice, La Shonda has developed an expertise in the areas of somatic based therapeutic healing and interpersonal violence prevention. She is the Founder of Trauma & Healing In Colour (THIC), a program designed to empower people to flourish amidst adversities through education, training and wellness programs. She cherishes her four beautiful children and loving husband who motivate and inspire her daily. "For me, AWBW is Impact, Compassion, & Collective Wellness."

Rachel Price holds a Master of Fine Arts in Poetry, an Art Therapy Certificate, and has extensive experience facilitating healing art workshops with survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, homelessness, and trauma. For over four years, she has trained helping professionals through AWBW’s Two-Day Windows Facilitator Training and related professional development programs. Trainees benefit from her expertise in group facilitation, survivor-centered programming, community engagement, and using creative expression to foster resilience, voice, and connection with clients.

Rudy S. Hernandez holds a Master of Arts in Education Curriculum & Instruction, a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential, and has over 16 years of experience in trauma-informed education, curriculum development, and healing arts program implementation. For over 12 years, he has led AWBW’s Two-Day Windows Facilitator Training and additional art-based professional trainings for helping professionals. Trainees benefit from his expertise in translating trauma-informed principles into practical training tools and creating engaging strategies that support diverse individuals and communities impacted by violence and trauma.

Sherisa is an innovative creator of evidenced informed holistic treatment modalities for PTSD who prioritizes joy, resiliency and playfulness as a way of life. With a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology from San Jose State University and licensed as a marriage and family therapist in California, Ms. Dahlgren holds specific expertise in integrating arts and holistic modalities into the healing of primary and secondary trauma. Most recently she co-created with Georgetown University a residential retreat treatment program for chronic post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) found effective in a double blind clinical trial. She has built her professional career with a strong focus on somatic therapies, including yoga, breathing, mindfulness and movement, as well as applying these techniques to strengthen naturally existing, healthy resiliency skills in children and adults. Through her consulting firm, Inherent Wellbeing, Sherisa provides experiential trainings for organizations on wellness strategies to address vicarious trauma, serves as interim executive capacity for organizations in transition, designs and implements resiliency based clinical approaches to PTSD and creates sustainable work practices in under-resourced environments. Sherisa’s mission is to create change that promotes global service while living life from a place of true joy.

Tiombe Wallace, LMFT, holds a Master of Science in Counseling and is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with over 20 years of experience providing clinical services, training, and supervision to professionals working with survivors of interpersonal trauma, including sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse. She also has over 20 years of experience facilitating healing art workshops with both trauma survivors and those who serve them. Trainees benefit from her expertise in intersectionality, trauma-informed care, and training providers to work effectively with clients impacted by interpersonal trauma, oppression, and marginalization.