Ramona Cortez, M.Ed.
My name is Ramona Cortez. I have a Masters in Education. I am a Certified Professional Coach and Somatic Experience Practitioner and excited to bring this practice to GCCS. I am also a Practitioner of Reiki and Healing Touch Energy work. I am not a Mental Health licensed clinician. Being a Reiki Practitioner has helped me tune into clients which also helps to understand the body’s energy. My SE training has guided me in assisting clients to become aware of what their body needs in order to return to the its natural ability to heal.
My medical background as a former EMT -B and EMT -A, has helped me become familiar with how the body physiology reacts to physical injury and accumulated stress. I feel very strongly about the work that first responders do and want to send a message that we are here to assist you so you can go on with your work of saving lives.
I look to forward to working with you where you are and help you in reaching your goals. Movement is progress so let’s move together!
Derek Hess Intake Specialist
I’m Derek Hess and I am GCCS’s Intake Specialist and a current Masters in Education in Clinical Counseling candidate at the University of Houston. I’m a Houston native and have lived here a majority of my life. I got my Bachelors of Science in Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University in 2017 and decided to leave the engineering sector behind to dive into the mental health industry in 2022.
During 2022, I went to volunteer at Springbox Farms in Weatherford, Texas as an assistant therapist and farmhand. My responsibilities included helping the primary therapists help traumatized and mentally sensitive children nurture a sense of wellness though creative play, nature guided therapy, and other practices rooted in living in the present. After volunteering within my home state, I decided to take myself abroad for volunteering opportunities. I ended up heading to Aberdeen Scotland to volunteer at Camphill School Aberdeen. While there, I provided full support and care to residential students with significant additional needs such as Level 3 autism, fetal alcohol syndrome, and reactive attachment disorder. These students, aged 9-18, have been given the chance to live as “normal” of a life as possible and I am glad and appreciative I could be there for a part of their journey. I partook in therapy sessions with my students that were specifically designed to help them express their emotional needs. Among the other volunteers, I was the second oldest and found myself mentoring the younger volunteers, fostering a sense of family and trust between our team.
Words cannot express how appreciative I am to be on the Trauma Healing Team here at GCCS as an Intake Specialist to start my career within the mental health industry!