Dr. Benavidez-Hatzis is a Latina social work clinician, educator, and researcher. Her current scholarship explores sexual violence survivors' help-seeking pathways to mental healthcare and critically examines EMDR as a course of treatment related to sexual trauma. Related inquiries involved examinations of what constitutes evidence of EMDR's effectiveness in achieving healing and growth from the perspective of survivors. Dr. Benavidez-Hatzis' research is the culmination of thirty years in service, across various contexts, to sexual assault survivors. Dr. Benavidez-Hatzis is actively involved with EMDRIA's Humanitarian Assistance Program (HAP) and has practiced internationally working with first responders during the Syrian refugee crisis at Camp Moria (Lesvos, Greece) and most recently during the COVID-19 public health crisis. Dr. Benavidez-Hatzis teaches several advanced-year electives at Adelphi University's School of Social Work MSW program on traumatic stress and coping and affirmative practices with LGBTQIA individuals. Her published work includes an article that discussed and illustrated the role and impact of the intersection of supervisors' and supervisees' social identities and associated power and privilege within the supervisory context in trauma-impacted agencies. Before becoming a social worker, she led a distinguished professional recruitment, retention, and employee development career with major national and international law firms in Manhattan. During her tenure with the firm Nixon Peabody, LLP, she was privileged to lead a team that designed and implemented an employee morale program. The team's success led to Nixon Peabody being named one of Fortune Magazine's 100 Best Places to Work in 2008 and being awarded a perfect score by the Human Rights Campaign on their Equality Index. Dr. Benavidez-Hatzis works with her clients to create an open and safe environment where thoughts and feelings can be shared without fear of judgment. Congratulations on having the courage to take the first steps forward in reclaiming your well-being.
Additional areas of focus: Trauma and abuse, Career difficulties, Coaching, Communication problems, Coping with Natural or Human-Caused Disaster, Guilt and shame, Life purpose, Midlife crisis, Multicultural Concerns, Postpartum Depression, Prejudice and Discrimination, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), Self-love, Sexuality, Social anxiety and phobia, Women's issues, Workplace issues, Young Adult Issues
Clinical approaches: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Client-Centered Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT), Existential Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Imago Relationship Therapy, Jungian Therapy, Mindfulness Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Narrative Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy, Somatic Therapy, Trauma-Focused Therapy, Internal Family Systems
NY LCSW 083026