Radical Trauma Healing for Texans

Virtually or in-person in Austin, TX.

  • "In the World through which I travel, I am endlessly creating myself."

    Frantz Fanon

  • "They were all slender, frail creatures with wondering eyes and soft fluttery voices. But they were made out of thin invisible steel."

    Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

  • "You have something in this world. So, stand for it."

    Ghassan Kanafani

  • "Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion."

    bell hooks

  • "The greater the wounding, the more numerous and powerful our protectors need to be."

    Bonnie Badenoch

  • “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”

    Audre Lorde

  • "Time cannot be broken; that is our greatest burden. And our greatest challenge is to live in spite of that burden."

    Irvin D. Yalom

  • "Trauma is not a disorder but a reaction to a kind of wound. It is a reaction to profoundly injurious events and situations in the real world and, indeed, to a world in which people are routinely wounded."

    Bonnie Burstow

  • "The only pain that can be avoided is the pain that comes from trying to avoid unavoidable pain."

    Pete Walker

  • "If I do not love the world, if I do not love life, if I do not love people, I cannot enter into dialogue."

    Paulo Freire

Close-up of a smiling person wearing glasses and a navy blue turtleneck sweater, standing in front of a lush garden with trees, rocks, and a pond.

Welcome to Invisible Steel Counseling!

I’m Emily Villarreal, LMSW (she/they)

As your therapist, I am committed to cultivating a safe space by welcoming all identities you hold. I believe that you already have the innate wisdom you need to heal; I am just here to guide you on your journey. Learn more about me and how I work.

Supervised by Vanessa Newton, LCSW-S

Areas of Specialty

Invisible Steel Counseling is committed to providing affirming, collaborative, and person-centered care. Here are the most common issues that come up in the therapy room with me:

  • Childhood trauma

  • Complex trauma

  • C-PTSD & OCD co-morbidity

  • Intergenerational trauma

  • Anti-oppression & social justice

  • Attachments & relationships

  • Intellectualization & dissociation

  • Anxiety & depression

  • Life transitions

  • Inner child/ parts work

  • Boundaries & conflict/resolution

  • Parentification

  • Dysfunctional family of origin

  • Identity exploration

Collective Healing

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Collective Liberation

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Collective Healing ♡ Collective Liberation ♡

Our Values

Invisible Steel Counseling acknowledges that systems of oppression are at the root of our collective traumas, and I always consider how these systems have contributed to your own trauma. None of us are free until we are all free!

  • Black liberation & anti-racism

  • Landback & Indigenous Sovereignty

  • Anti-carcerality & abolition

  • De-colonialism

  • Immigration/ migration justice

  • Class consciousness

  • De-institutionalization

  • Disability justice

  • Sumud (steadfastness)

  • Collective healing & liberation

  • Intersectional feminism

  • Queer & transgender justice