Sin Fronteras: A Community Psychoanalytic Initiative
I was raised in Mexico and came to the United States as a young adult. Being a first-generation immigrant shaped how I understand the experience of displacement long before I had the clinical language for it. I know what it means to carry two countries, two languages, and two versions of yourself at once, and how this kind of split, while it can be a source of resilience, is also a wound that deserves real care.
That understanding is what led me to found Sin Fronteras, a community clinical program providing pro bono psychotherapy to migrants. Sin Fronteras is a community psychoanalytically-oriented clinical program which grew out of my years of work in Houston with migrant populations in community mental settings and originated as a pro-bono mental health network of clinicians working in collaboration with migrant serving organizations such as RAICES.
In 2026, Sin Fronteras received funding from the American Psychoanalytic Association to build out a sustainable clinical program which can offer ongoing therapeutic support to organizations serving migrants at partner organizations, at no cost to the clients or the organizations themselves. The work draws on a growing network of Spanish-speaking psychotherapists in Austin, many of whom have already contributed their time and clinical skill to this population. Our aim is to make psychodynamic trauma-informed, culturally attuned care available to people navigating displacement, asylum proceedings, and resettlement, often at the most precarious points in their lives.
Get Involved
Sin Fronteras runs on the generosity of clinicians, volunteers, and donors who believe that mental health care shouldn't depend on immigration status or ability to pay. There are several ways to support the work.
Volunteer (Administrative Support)
We're looking for volunteers to help with the behind-the-scenes work that keeps Sin Fronteras running. Client intake coordination, scheduling, translation support, grant administration, and outreach to partner organizations. No clinical license required, just organizational skill and a commitment to the mission. Please reach out if you are interested.
Partner With Us
Sin Fronteras collaborates with shelters, legal aid organizations, and migrant-serving groups across Austin to bring free, trauma-informed mental health care directly to the people they serve. If your organization works with migrants navigating displacement, asylum proceedings, or resettlement, we'd welcome the chance to explore a partnership.
Our Community Clinical Work Track can embed Spanish-speaking clinicians directly within partner settings. These include shelters, legal aid intake, or community programs in order to offer accessible therapeutic support alongside the services you already provide.
Contact us to discuss a partnership.
Clinical Positions (Paid)
Sin Fronteras offers paid clinical positions for licensed therapists interested in providing trauma-informed, culturally attuned psychotherapy to asylum seekers. Spanish fluency and experience with immigrant or displaced populations are strongly preferred. The initiative incorporates a psychodynamic lens as a framework for understanding patients’ internal worlds, relational patterns, trauma histories, and unconscious processes that may emerge even in brief encounters. This lens broadens clinical thinking and expands intervention possibilities. It does not dictate a specific modality or require a particular theoretical allegiance. Rather, it offers a depth-oriented perspective that can coexist with diverse clinical orientations while supporting reflective, attuned, and ethically grounded care.
Participating clinicians may provide:
Brief individual stabilization sessions
Psychoeducational and nervous system regulation groups
Short-term trauma-informed support
Immigration mental health evaluations (as appropriate)
Care is structured, time-limited, and grounded in the practical realities of shelter-based work.
Required
Active, unrestricted license (LCSW, LPC, LMFT, or equivalent) in good standing
No disciplinary history requiring disclosure
Background or interest in psychodynamic work
Willingness to work within Sin Fronteras's supervision/consultation structure
Strongly Preferred
Spanish fluency (client population is majority Spanish-speaking)
Prior experience with immigrant, refugee, or asylum-seeking populations
Trauma-informed training (e.g., somatic approaches, EMDR, psychodynamic trauma frameworks)
Comfort with ambiguity around legal status, housing instability, and other psychosocial stressors specific to this population
If you are interested in learning more about the Community Clinical Work Initiative, please complete the interest form below.