Pamuela Halliwell

Pamuela Halliwell (she/her) is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who specializes in working with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, transgender, non-binary and gender non-confirming individuals, unhoused and transitional age youth (TAY) active duty and retired military members, and members of the LGBTQIA+ communities. She graduated from the University of California, San Diego with her bachelor’s degree in psychology and minors in law & Black Studies. She attended and graduated from Argosy University with her master’s degree in counseling psychology. She was the President of the San Diego Black LGBTQ Coalition from 2021-2023, a former member of The Gender Phluid Collective, and a member of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapist. She is also a former CASA, court appointed special advocate, for foster youth. She currently sits on the following boards: Sheriff’s LGBTQ Advisory Council, LGBTQ+ Survivors Taskforce, Transgender Community Advisory Board (TCAB), and the Tran©ending HIV Syndemic Collective aka Transgender Health Project.

She has been working in the field of psychology for over 10 years and works as the Assistant Director of Behavioral Health Services at the San Diego LGBT Community Center. Aside from her role, she has taken part in the Center’s Black LGBTQ Center Advisory Committee, Black Staff Retention Taskforce and provided trainings on gender affirmation letter writing, gender identity, de-escalation skills and techniques, providing trauma informed care, and anti-Black racism. She is the first Black Transgender Female therapist that has ever worked at the San Diego LGBT Community Center. She also provides gender affirmation letters of medical necessity for transgender and gender non-binary individuals who require a letter to access care for gender affirmation/confirmation surgery including providing resources and short-term case management support.

Pamuela has presented and attended various conferences including WPATH (World Professional Association for Transgender Health), Thomas Jefferson School of Law, and Gender Odyssey. She has also written various articles pertaining to transgender rights and mental health, even debuting her first fantasy fiction novel, Grieving Still: Finding the Other Side with the second book in the series, Crossing Over: The Garden of Hope coming soon. She most recently was first author on publishing in the Violence Against Women Journal: Characterizing the Prevalence and Perpetrators of Documented Fatal Violence Against Black Transgender Women in the United States (2013-2021) research that is the first of it’s kind on exploring systemic factors leading to the deaths of trans/nonbinary individuals throughout the U.S. for nearly a decade, with special emphasis on the rise of Black trans women being murdered at higher rates and structural, societal, legal, and systemic recommendations to protect them.

As a therapist, a woman, a transgender woman and an African American woman, she is aware of both her role in the community and working to fight against discrimination in and outside the Center. Pamuela also maintains a private practice part time and works to both empower and mobilize the community to make a change.