Liliana Rosas-Cruz

Liliana Rosas-Cruz is a social worker who provides therapeutic support for children and families in the immediate aftermath of trauma discovery or disclosure. She is especially interested in addressing the emotional well-being of families of color and in helping immigrant families assimilate to U.S. life by providing support as they navigate social systems.

Rosas-Cruz uses a multifaceted approach to clinical care. She offers brief intervention services, trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (a form of CBT that helps patients develop skills to manage extreme emotions and harmful behaviors), family systems therapy and psychoeducation. She ensures that her patients and their families receive case management and guided court support for coping with the judicial process. She enjoys collaborating with forensic medical teams, forensic interviewers, district attorneys and members of law enforcement.

Rosas-Cruz believes that patients can benefit from in vivo coping skills (skills that are practiced in real life) for stress management, and she encourages parent-child support and communication modeling to restore healthy relationships. She also feels that faith and spiritual practices can help clients experiencing distress and serve as resources to promote healing. She believes that education, communication and intervention can stop the perpetual cycle of abuse as well as the mental health stigma and silence that often follow trauma. She has experience working with at-risk individuals and families, people in gangs, pregnant teens, the disabled population and school-based communities.

Rosas-Cruz earned a bachelor's degree in sociology and a master's degree in social work at California State University, East Bay. As part of her training, she completed an internship with Contra Costa County Children & Families Services. Her personal experience with self-advocacy for social support and basic resources motivated her to become a social worker. She immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico as a child and is devoted to serving the East Bay community, where she has lived for more than 40 years.