About Me

Lito Libres has more than a decade of experience in the mental health field in various settings: a school, a non-profit, a correctional centre, a clinic, and in the community. He has lived and worked for almost a decade as a clinical therapist in remote Inuit communities in Labrador, Canada. Lito has a Master’s degree in Counselling Psychology with an emphasis on marriage and family therapy, along with two master’s level certificates in Expressive Arts and in Transpersonal Studies from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology at Sofia University in Palo Alto, California. He has been a clinical member of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA) since 2012. Recently, he received certification in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) as an EMDR Certified Therapist by the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA, USA). During his earlier career, Lito attended intensive training at the Mental Research Institute (MRI) in Palo Alto, California, The Gottman Institute in New York, and with Bessel van der Kolk in Florence, Italy. He attended attachment and trauma congress conferences by the Istituto di Scienze Cognitive from 2015 to 2019 in Rome and London, England where he met world experts in complex trauma, attachment, and psychotherapy. He continues to attend yearly training and conferences in the US and Europe on EMDR Research and Practice. In 2021 at the peak of COVID-19 pandemic, Lito and his Inuit colleagues presented at the virtual World Congress on Intergenerational Trauma by the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD). He was a primary presenter on “Effective Practice & Service Delivery for Inuit: Understanding Historical Trauma.” Lito is focusing his clinical work as a traveling EMDR therapist from one Inuit community to another, using EMDR as a primary modality in treating complex trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder, acute and prolonged grief disorders, anxiety, panic attack disorder, depression, and crisis-related situations. Lito provides an immediate response when crises such as suicide happen in the community. He also mentors new graduate colleagues in the field. Lito receives monthly individual and group EMDR consultations by Dr. Andrew Leeds, a leading clinical and research expert in EMDR Therapy. He also regularly connects with his Jungian Analyst as he continues to work in isolated communities with deep historical and intergenerational complex trauma. During his travels, Lito has visited many ancient Christian Holy sites for pilgrimages in Israel, Spain, Italy, Greece, Cappadocia (Turkey), and he has stayed in monasteries in Palestine, Mt. Sinai (Egypt), Mt. Athos (Greece), Spain, and in the US. Lito was born in the Philippines and was raised in a family with limited resources. He finished high school and university in the Philippines as an academic scholar and a working scholar, respectively. His first language is Filipino, and his first degree was in Accounting. After working several years in finance and accounting in the head office of one of the big banks in Canada, he discovered his vocation (calling) to serve others. He left his corporate finance job and went to school to do graduate studies in Palo Alto, California. As Filipinos have strong values in family and community life, Lito resonated with the graduate program he attended that emphasizes working with the system, which is the family. Lito has a gentle demeanour, an ability to quickly establish rapport, is insightful, and compassionate. You can visit his website: www.litolibres.com.