The AEDP Vision Collective has named Nicky Cameron, LCSW, as its new chair, with Lois Ridley, MA, serving as Co-Chair.

The AEDP Vision Collective is a committed and heartfelt group of Black-identified therapists united by a shared commitment to deepening and expanding AEDP’s understanding, addressing, and support for the healing of racialized trauma. Through its own leadership, reflection, and dedication, the Collective continues its important work within the AEDP community.

In Their Own Words

What excites you most about the future of the Vision Collective?

“I believe meaningful change comes through relationship, curiosity, and a willingness to engage one another. As Chair of the Vision Collective, what excites me most about our future is the chance to co-create spaces with the broader AEDP community where we bring our unique gifts, experiences, and perspectives into honest dialogue. Together, we can explore how AEDP can contribute to healing racialized trauma. My hope is that we embody the spirit of AEDP as we discover what meaningful action and lasting impact can actually look like.”

_{Nicky Cameron, LCSW — Chair}

How has being part of the Vision Collective impacted you personally and professionally?

“The AEDP Vision Collective, for me, is a perfect representation of our AEDP clinical model. It feels like a happy and loving, safe corner in my professional world. The VC team has my heart, and I have theirs.

“The work we do together and individually to impact the trajectory of safe, culturally attuned, and trauma-informed healing of BIPOC individuals requires bravery and courage. It helps me tremendously to have a healthy community to support the work I do personally to enhance the counseling profession in learning environments. I love how we in the Vision Collective work collectively to grow and enhance the greater AEDP family of professionals. Personally, I have experienced the Vision Collective as an honest environment of closeness, relationship, bravery, healthy challenge, clinical rigor, grace, academic excellence, and most of all, a mini family within our loving AEDP ecosphere.”

_{Lois Ridley, MA — Co-Chair}

Please join us in congratulating Nicky and Lois and in thanking the Collective for the care and courage this work asks of them.

Learn more about the AEDP Vision Collective.

There is a particular joy in witnessing a clinician grow into the fullness of their craft. AEDP certification marks a deepening capacity to sit with another person in their most vulnerable moments and to help transform suffering into healing through genuine connection.

AEDP rests on a simple but profound conviction: that human beings are wired for healing and that transformation becomes possible when we no longer have to face our pain alone. To become certified is to commit deeply to that vision, through many hours of practice, close consultation, and the willingness to stay present with both the struggle and the flourishing of those we serve.

The clinicians we celebrate today have walked this path with dedication and heart. Certification is both an arrival and a beginning, honoring what they have already accomplished while opening the door to all the lives they will continue to touch.

We are so proud to celebrate these members of our community who have recently achieved AEDP Certification. Each of these clinicians has demonstrated deep commitment to the healing-oriented, relationally embedded work at the heart of AEDP, and we are honored to mark this milestone with them.

Click on each name to learn more about their work and how to connect with them.

• Alessandra F. Teixeira Halkjaer-Lassen
• Cici Kinsman
• Juwon Oh
• YI-Fang Chiu
• Casey Lee
• Sara Lesser
• Chiaki Yamada
• Kaori Yoshijima
• Yael Stiles

We are grateful for the dedication each of them brings to this community and to the clients they serve!

Visit our Therapist Directory to connect with a certified AEDP® therapist.

Learn more about the AEDP® Certification Pathway.

I had the good fortune of being Julia’s Certification supervisor working closely with her on the transcriptions of her work with her clients. Our discussions were lively and informative and educative for me as well as for Julia. Her ability to invite me fully into the sessions and feel the work with her was very powerful. 

 Julia is thoroughly engaged with her clients. On display in her work is her clinical skillfulness, her easeful attunement and the way in which that fosters a stance of secure attachment. Her work demonstrates how she weaves AEDP principles and skills into her practice with adept skill and authenticity. 

Her commanding and deeply caring presence is not something that can be taught. Julia lives into the work in a bold and deeply authentic relational way.

Ilene writes of her experience of working closely with Julia..