Valerie Papillon (she/her) serves as a trauma therapist (LCSW) as well as an actor. Valerie is deeply honored and grateful to serve in this position, bearing witness to survivors’ stories of trauma, resilience, and healing, and collaborating with them as they navigate ongoing state violence and embark on their healing journeys. 

She credits her ability to do this work to her village, the supportive team at CTJC, her artist training and work, and her community organizing training. Organizing training has been a vital supplement to her clinical training, helping to situate the complex harm survivors experience within the larger systems that manufacture psychological harm, racialized trauma, and other forms of oppression. 

Prior to joining the CTJC team, Valerie was a high school social worker, worked with incarcerated individuals and survivors of sexual violence, and conducted talk and play therapy at a vibrant after-school program in the Mississippi Delta. Valerie obtained her degree in social work from the University of Chicago.