Onika Ross, LSW, EMDR-C

Onika Reigns is a Licensed Social Worker who earned an Honors degree in Psychology with a minor in Biology from Carlow University. They later received a Master of Social Work from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis with a concentration in marginalized populations and chronic trauma.

Their clinical approach is rooted in curiosity, compassion, and the belief that mental health is best understood rather than simply managed. Their work is deeply informed by restorative and reparational frameworks, particularly in relation to Black and Indigenous communities, and emphasizes honoring the ways systems, history, identity, and survival shape emotional well-being.

Their areas of interest and advocacy include mindfulness practices, harm reduction, restorative justice, prison abolition, sex worker advocacy, and collective/community-centered approaches to healing. They are EMDR-trained and especially drawn to Internal Family Systems (IFS) as a therapeutic framework, appreciating its emphasis on self-understanding, internal compassion, and relational healing.

Outside of clinical work, they co-run Black Dream Escape, a mindfulness and rest-centered space dedicated to supporting deep rest and sleep practices for Black and Indigenous people.

Originally from Ohio, they often describe themselves as “a tumbleweed, rarely tamed, but willing to move when necessary.” This philosophy informs their therapeutic work: honoring adaptability, resilience, and the many ways people learn to survive, transform, and reconnect with themselves.