Holding Space for Healing: Inside Mitchelle Seymore’s Work at HCN

Ma’at Child and Family Therapist | Homeless Children’s Network

For Black children and families navigating mental health systems that have historically treated them as problems to be managed rather than people to be seen, trust in a clinician is not a given. It has to be built, slowly and deliberately, by someone who understands both the care and the stakes involved, and who shows up to that work with consistency and genuine investment in the families they serve.

As a Ma’at Child and Family Therapist at Homeless Children’s Network, Mitchelle Seymore holds that commitment at the center of her practice every day. Her role centers on the emotional and relational wellbeing of Black children and their families through care that is culturally grounded, trauma-informed, and rooted in a genuine belief in each family’s capacity to heal.

A typical day for Mitchelle might include individual therapy sessions with children, caregiver consultations, collaboration with schools or community partners, documentation, and peer consultation, though no two days in the Ma’at program look exactly alike. Good clinical practice also requires ongoing reflection, and she builds that into how she approaches her caseload, regularly thinking through the most effective ways to support the families she serves alongside her colleagues.

Healing in the Ma’at model is understood as something that happens within relationships and communities, not in isolation, and that orientation shapes how Mitchelle approaches every family she comes across.. For every young person clinicians have a therapeutic relationship with, they interact with an average of nine other community members who support that young person, including teachers and classmates, school support staff, siblings, parents, and extended family, and health providers. Her work is designed with that whole network in mind, strengthening the relationships and systems that surround each child alongside the child themselves.

The Case for Culturally Grounded Care

The Ma’at Program was built on a recognition that San Francisco’s Black community has been underserved by mental health systems and that the systems expected to serve pathologize rather than affirm community members. Almost half of homeless adults with children in San Francisco are Black or African American, though Black residents make up just five percent of the city’s population. The program’s Afri-centric model addresses that disparity directly by matching clinicians and program staff with children and families who share lived experience, race and ethnicity, language, and more so that children, youth, and families feel seen, understood, and echoed, within a framework that centers their lived experiences and affirms their identities from the outset.

HCN’s commitment to culturally responsive care, and its practice of pairing Black children and families with Black clinicians, reflects values Mitchelle carries as both a clinician and a person, and it is part of what drew her to the organization. She came to child and family therapy because of how profoundly early experiences shape identity, relationships, and long-term wellbeing, and she found in HCN an organizational home where that belief translates directly into how care is structured and delivered.

“Culturally grounded, identity affirming care is essential because mental health is shaped by our lived experiences. For Black children and families, having support that reflects their identity helps build trust, reduces stigma, and affirms their lived experiences. It also allows healing to happen in ways that feel relevant, respectful, and empowering.”

Children and youth who participate in Ma’at services for more than six months are significantly more likely to report loving themselves, feeling proud to be Black, and believing that nothing is wrong with them because of who they are, findings that our external program evaluators have consistently documented over the past four years. Caregivers show marked shifts as well: greater self-forgiveness, increased pride in their Blackness, and greater comfort seeking mental health support for themselves. These outcomes are built into the Ma’at model by design, and they reflect what becomes possible when care is offered from within the community rather than from outside it.

What Children and Families Are Carrying

The children Mitchelle works with are navigating a wide range of challenges: some need support building the internal tools to manage emotional dysregulation and big feelings, while others are working through questions of identity, particularly around what it means to grow up Black in a city where their community has been steadily displaced. Caregivers, meanwhile, are often managing their own stress while also trying to build the capacity to support their children’s emotional lives.

“Children may need support with emotional regulation, identity development, and coping with experiences of racism or marginalization. Caregivers often benefit from support in strengthening communication, managing stress, and building tools to support their children’s emotional needs.”

The Ma’at program also serves Black LGBTQ+ children, youth, and families, and evaluation data shows that program participants are able to explore the full complexity of their identities, including what it means to be Black and queer, Black and undocumented, Black and living with a disability, within a space that does not require them to set any part of themselves aside.

Trauma-Informed Care in Practice

Mitchelle describes trauma-informed, culturally responsive care as a way of being present with someone that shapes every dimension of the clinical relationship: creating a space where clients feel safe, seen, and heard without judgment, while remaining attentive to how trauma shows up and taking care not to replicate or amplify it in the therapeutic process.

“While being mindful of the different power dynamics, I aim to prioritize collaboration by combining cultural values and traditions into the therapeutic process, as well as recognizing signs of trauma, avoiding retraumatization, and meeting clients where they are.”

Within that relational space, the therapeutic relationship itself becomes a vehicle for change. When a child sits across from a Black clinician who shows up consistently, listens without judgment, and affirms who that child is, the shift that follows tends to be both personal and relational. Reducing the stigma around mental health care is one of the Ma’at program’s most consistently documented outcomes, and Mitchelle’s practice reflects how that shift takes root, one family at a time, through sustained and genuine connection.

What Makes HCN Different

When Mitchelle talks about what sets HCN’s approach apart, she returns to the organization’s commitment to care that adapts to the family in front of the clinician, rather than requiring families to adapt themselves to a fixed framework. HCN clinicians work to understand each family’s specific strengths, challenges, and context, and that orientation shapes how services are designed and delivered at every level.

“Rather than taking a ‘one size fits all’ approach, HCN prioritizes care that is adaptable, relational, and rooted in the strengths of each family.”

Alongside that relational flexibility, the program is built to reach families where they are. Ma’at is a community-based model, which means services go to the street, to community centers, to schools. Families have never been required to come to care on terms that were not designed with them in mind. That commitment to accessibility has been central to how the program builds and sustains trust within the Black community in San Francisco.

Outside of work, Mitchelle recharges through travel, time with family and friends, and the particular kind of presence that her nieces and nephews invite her into. Being with them offers a different pace and a different way of seeing, one she says she carries back into her practice.

“Some of my favorite moments are with my nieces and nephews. Being with them reminds me to slow down, embrace joy in the little things, and see the world through a playful, curious lens. These experiences help me come back to my work feeling refreshed and grounded.”

Homeless Children’s Network has served San Francisco’s most vulnerable children, youth, and families since 1992. Through the Ma’at Program and its constellation of culturally affirming services, HCN provides Afri-centric, trauma-informed mental health care at no cost to the families who need it most.