A clinician and researcher who's lived this work.
Dr. Aleman-Herba is a licensed mental health counselor and core faculty of Clinical Counseling and Rehabilitation at Salve Regina University, and an alumna of Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. She has practiced counseling since 2009 across substance use, drug court, community, and private practice settings — working with individuals, couples, families, caregivers, LGBTQ+ clients, and people with medical, sensory, and neurodivergent needs.
Her clinical approach is integrative, drawing on person-centered, disability-affirming, and trauma-informed work, alongside Emotion-Focused Therapy, the Gottman Method, EMDR, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy — always shaped around the person in front of her rather than a fixed protocol.
"What motivated this research was the intersection of lived experience and professional inquiry."
That intersection — personal experience as a caregiver and years of clinical practice — led to her original research, They Don't Get It: Caregivers of Children with Developmental Disabilities and Social Support, which now grounds the trainings she offers to other professionals.