Hi everyone! Sorry I’ve been MIA on here. Being sick over the holidays and hitting the 3 month mark at my practice has been rough! Going to make more of an effort to post here in 2025. I hope you all had a great holiday!

95 more days until spring

I knew the SCI Huntington guys would take care of him ❤️

I’m late but Jail Oversight Board Meeting time Bigley started off hot by tabling the vote on the incarcerated individual monthly stipend because she “needs more information” She’s had 12 months. #JailOversightBoard #pittsburgh

Big mans

Me with a full caseload and a waiting list after being told by other therapists that my message needed to be more “moderate” when it came to Palestine 🇵🇸

I have 30 notes and claims to file and the case I’m supposed to testify on tomorrow was just continued for a 6th time, but at least I got my haircut! Social work win

Deciding to cut contact with a toxic person who you deeply cared for definitely hurts at first, but you will feel so much better when you do. It doesn’t need to blow up into this huge thing and you don’t even tell them. You just decide one day to let them have the last word and you stop responding.

In 2025, the abolitionists are taking over, especially in mental health. Cancel your NASW membership, donate to organizations like the upEND Movement, be loud as hell about Palestine, and connect with us

To my abolitionist social work crew, Whenever the larger system tries to stop you, read this quote, find that can of gasoline inside you, and remember why we do what we do. ❤️, Maria

Shout out to John Fetterman for going on Fox News and admitting that Israel is the one who refused to agree to a ceasefire. Lol you dingbat. I hope the ICC puts out a warrant for his arrest because it would be a nice Christmas present

My dog wants everyone to see something

90s track of the day.

The Abolitionist social work co-op gets bigger by the day! We want to get some zoom meetings going, so add your name to the list. It’s our time!!!! Abolitionist social work and liberation psychology is the ONLY WAY FORWARD

Selfies with my girls at the club

My sister is having Thanksgiving dinner at her house and she told me that I’m not allowed to ask my family who they voted for in the Fat Bear Week finals.

John Fetterman be like “chat is it really genocide if you murder tens of thousands of people in order to colonize their land?”

On this day in 1996, Foxy Brown, one of the most important feminist theorists in history, released her debut album. #90shiphop

Nike Dunks are a therapeutic intervention and you should be able to write them off on taxes. You have no idea how quickly you can build a rapport with a kid if you have better kicks than they do. If I can write off a bubble blower machine and spray paint, I should be able to write off shoes.

Lady Pink (1981) 📸 by Martha Cooper

If you advocate for kids in the juvenile justice system, you must pay attention to judicial races in your local area. States are attempting to reverse the "Raise The Age" legislation we worked so hard to implement. Want to "resist" again? Here is your chance.

There are only a handful of men in Pittsburgh who can make a Yinzer accent sexy, and it only really happens when they say the word “nephs” or are yelling at the Steelers on tv. #HereWeGo

Shout out to the 🍉 misfits #radicalgraffiti ✊🔥🇵🇸🇨🇩 🇸🇩

If I didn’t follow you back and we were mutuals on twitter and you see this let me know. Probably gonna disappoint you at some point but that’s the risks you take in life.

Historic wins in juvenile justice. 3 years ago Henry Montgomery became a free man. He was given life without the possibility of parole at 17 years old. Henry became a “model prisoner”, mentoring younger men in the prison, and actually coached a boxing team. 🧵

Starting a therapy practice with an abolitionist framework has been one of the most challenging things I have ever had to do. It’s been a rough couple of months, but the support I have is unreal 🥹

Up early playing with my inner child. Where are my bluesky #drumandbass people

Palestine will be free

The Mona Lisa Vito of juvenile injustice 🥰

Moment of zen

A bunch of my friends are psyched that Twitter is dying and they totally called me out on becoming terminally online over the last 4 years and isolating from my previous life. I literally had no clue.

When he asks if I want to stay the weekend

The best part about working with attorneys for the last decade is the free consultation. That’s how your pro bono work pays off. If you put in work and take care of lawyers, they take care of you. I love my people, and we gonna be alright ❤️

Pittsburgh! Thursday is your chance to come through and share your ideas!

As if I needed another reason to protest

My bluesky account is probably going to be boring for some of my old twitter mutuals so apologies in advance. I’ll still post music and pictures of bears, but I’m going into this new era where I’m taking care of myself and focusing on loved ones, which means less doom scrolling.

The worst part of working with kids in the system is that you will lose some of them to the environment you tried so hard to get them out of. I got one of those calls today and I’m devastated. That’s all

I might argue with juvenile probation all the time, but a lot of these officers love me because they know I have the kids best interest at heart. They know I’m always going to be what I call “firm, but loving”, and I’m glad some of the system can see that ❤️

“The U.S. is the only reason Israel has been able to sustain its genocidal practices for 13 months.”

Hi bluesky! My name is Maria. Born and raised in the greatest city ever (Pittsburgh). I’m an abolitionist social worker in private practice with an expertise in developmental trauma and complex PTSD and I like talking about juvenile injustice, family policing, and the troubled teen industry.

My 3 sons

Lycoming County DA is reaching out to Elon Musk to fund a new juvenile detention center in Pennsylvania. I’m going to need a wellness check.

Season 2 of the upEND Podcast is out now! In the first episode, we discuss how the movement to abolish family policing is intrinsically linked to struggles for freedom in Palestine and Sudan. Solidarity unites us and makes our movements stronger. LISTEN: upendmovement.org/podcast/epis...

FYI for Pittsburghers before they start visiting the Barnes & Noble that's going up in East Liberty! If you're at that B&N, you're only .5-3 miles away from at least six other used and new indie bookstores that are worth your time and cash

Check out what these dingbats in Lycoming County are trying to do. We dont need another detention center in Pennsylvania www.aol.com/juvenile-reh...

Looking for my leftist twitter people! Abolitionists, therapists, shit posters, etc.

Your favorite yinzer abolitionist social work chick has officially joined bluesky