Mariya Javed-Payne is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker, Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor, Certified Brainspotting Trainer and Consultant, and a MN Board Approved Supervisor. In her clinical practice, she offers somatic psychotherapy, Brainspotting therapy, and psychedelic assisted therapy. She is also well known as a consultant, educator and trainer in the realms of trauma therapy, addiction counseling, and anti-racist practices. She previously has served as the Director of Behavioral Health at United Family Medicine, a federally qualified community health center, leading a team of therapists, psychiatric providers, and social workers to provide cutting-edge trauma-responsive and addiction therapies in collaboration with primary care physicians and a residency program. She also maintains a private practice where she curates trauma therapy intensives for clients using Brainspotting and other healing modalities.
Mariya has 12 years of experience in working with complex post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorders as well as extensive experience in medication assisted treatment therapies, developmental trauma, generational trauma, brain injuries, and those with physical ailments and disabilities. She has completed her certificate in Psychedelic Assisted Therapies and Research through the California Institute of Integrated Studies and has completed the MAPS training for MDMA assisted therapy. She uses Brainspotting, as well as Internal Family Systems, mindfulness, sensorimotor and Somatic Experiencing techniques. She believes in using an integrative, person-centered approach while also exploring the interconnectedness of systems within an individual’s life.
Mariya has her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Social Work from Augsburg University. She also has her Addiction Counseling certification through Minneapolis Community & Technical College. She is an International Brainspotting trainer, studying closely with Dr. David Grand, the developer of this innovative somatic trauma therapy. She also continues to be mentored by Dr. Roby Abeles, an international expert in trauma and addiction therapy, and teaches Brainspotting and addiction techniques to professionals worldwide.
At her core, Mariya is passionate about social justice and embodied anti-racism practices, such as somatic abolitionism, to promote the healing of marginalized communities from historical and racial trauma. She has spent two years under the guidance of Resmaa Menakem, Carlin Quinn, Karine Bell, and Erin Trent Johnson, who are leaders in embodied anti-racism work and the somatic abolitionism movement. She is dedicated to creating an accountable culture shift in therapy spaces, workplaces and society that goes beyond the cognitive to truly embodying anti-oppressive ways of being.
In her personal life, Mariya’s core beliefs are self-growth and integrity. She has studied spirituality and shamanic practices with indigenous peoples from the Dakota and Amazonian traditions for the last 12 years, who have graciously shared their knowledge with her. She is dedicated to learning and healing and being a humble steward to community and nature. She consistently seeks innovative and careful ways to help others return to and live in harmony within these sacred relationships.
