Briana Driver, LCSW
Therapist & Wellness Coach
“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even if her shackles are very different from my own.'“—Audre Lorde
Human Design: 3/5 Projector
Big 5: Empathetic Idealist 97% Zodiac: Gemini, born under a full moon (of course). Theme Song: “Window Seat” by Queen Erykah Badu
I’m Briana, but my homies call me Bri. I’m a Black, fat, queer, disabled, neurodivergent, highly sensitive, unconventional, creative, radical, woman and single mother. My identities are complex and political. My life has been touched by poverty, domestic violence, addiction, incarceration, gun violence, suicide, sexual abuse, homelessness, and child welfare and carceral systems in ways that could have only radicalized me and inform my work today.
Navigating the world at the intersections of all of my identities, I am acutely aware of the privileges I hold and the oppression I must confront. Having held onto many experiences of "not-enoughness"—from my body to my racial identity to my status as a black single mother to my value as a woman—that set me on this lifelong practice of healing and I am honored to share that medicine with other women and gender expansive kin.
When I’m not in session, I can always be found near the ocean or out in nature, at the library checking out too many books (I will share all of the inspirational quotes with you), filling my phone with photos of animals, writing, or listening to podcasts and all sorts of music. I have a deep passion for climate justice, particularly interested in marine life and how to protect the oceans. I love learning about culture, philosophy, and world religions. Everything I own can fit in two suitcases; I’m an aspiring digital nomad and expat.
My Approach
I use a relational, abolitionist, intersectionally feminist, liberatory, narrative (meaning you get to tell your story), radical approach to care. Experienced in working from an intersectionality-focused lens with predominantly Black, Indigenous, and folks of color with different neurotypes, I view you as the expert of your experience and me as your thought partner, guide, loving accountability buddy, and passenger seat hype woman.
My clients have described me as nurturing and engaging, and I have been lovingly compared to Khadijah James from Living Single, the village crazy lady and eccentric storyteller Gramma Tala from Moana, and my personal favorite from a group of incarcerated teens serving juvenile life sentences—“that auntie your mama sends you to live with for the summer after you get in trouble.”
I conduct coaching sessions by centering curiosity and connection, insightful and challenging questions, deconstructive conversations, and a commitment to naming the oppressive systems and dominant narratives at work, while aiming to make the most therapeutic impact in any single session. My work in restorative and transformative justice lends itself to holding space for possibility, creativity, learning and unlearning and exploring subversive, out of the box, counter-cultural ways of thinking, living, and being with ourselves and each other. My approach is less structured, more flow. Less telling you what to do, more inviting you to listen to your own wisdom. Less rigid clinical approach, more radical and creative. Come with an open mind.
My Values
I believe in liberation for all people, and know it will be possible when we create a world free from white supremacy, domination, patriarchy, and exploitative capitalism. People and the planet will be able to breathe when we no longer live in a world driven by extraction, exploitation, and urgency—and when we give land back to Indigenous stewardship, reparations to descendants of enslaved peoples, end violence against girls and women, abolish prisons and cages, and dismantle all of the industrial complexes. I don’t fuck with racism, homophobia, transphobia, ageism, sizeism, colorism, classism, sexism, ableism, respectability politics, victim blaming, hating other women, and all the other “ists” and “isms” that keep people at the margins of society.
Education & Experience
I received Bachelor’s of Social Work (when my son was 3) and Master’s of Social Work (when my son was 5), with a focus on addictions, domestic violence, and women’s mental health. Two full-time unpaid internships (while working full-time and attending school full-time), I received my clinical social work license and school social work license, as well as training in Mediation, Conflict Resolution, and Restorative Justice. I was the first in my family to go to college.
With over 12 years of experience, I’ve served in many roles such as a Domestic Violence Victim Advocate providing advocacy, case management, and support to survivors of domestic violence; HIV/AIDS Medical Case Manager providing case management and supportive services young LGBTQ+ adults to medical care and basic needs, Substance Use Counselor for adults and adolescents dealing with addictions and co-occurring mental health issues, Community and School Based Therapist providing counseling and advocacy for at-promise teen girls and their families experiencing abuse, homelessness, neglect, trafficking, early pregnancy, involvement with child welfare and legal systems; and by far the one that radicalized me, as School Social Worker providing counseling, advocacy, and restorative/transformative justice support for teen boys incarcerated for violent crimes serving juvenile life and beyond.
Why I Do This Work
I’ve never been one to follow rules. I call things out when I see them (this definitely kept me in trouble as a kid). I’ve always been in the corner of the underdog and I love a good comeback story. I’m most in my element when I am confronting and challenging the systems and institutions that keep up in distress and dis-ease. I vividly remember arguing with my professors in school from the back of the class about how the theories and approaches we were taught “treat” people were outdated, whack, and blatantly sexist, ableist, and racist. I’ve never been afraid to get in trouble, and I’ve worked every last nerve of every last supervisor in the name of doing the right things and getting people the right care.
After a more than decade long career as a social worker, losing countless young people to gun violence and the prison system, watching black and brown teen girls be pushed out of the public school and into trafficking and exploitation, battling the medical system to get queer folks proper care, trying to disrupt a culture that normalizes domestic violence and fails to support survivors, mourning alongside mothers and sisters, raging at the powers and institutions that be, I had a radical shift in my position. I was burned out, heartbroken, questioning what the hell I was doing and if I was even helping anyone. I took a major step back and looked at my career. It was time to do something different. Out of great trauma, grief, and loss—a radical and revolutionary framework was presented to me and Revolutionary Women’s Wellness was birthed. Since then, I have committed to a lifelong journey of learning and unlearning, disrupting and divestment, and embracing liberatory care that supports revolutionary women, mothers, activists, and care workers working to free us all.