Shining a light on community-focused care, Pamuela Halliwell’s mix of therapy, research and storytelling is winning awards and changing lives in San Diego , here’s what she’s doing and why it matters for LGBTQ+ mental health locally.

Essential Takeaways

  • Award-winning leadership: Halliwell won the Julia Legaspi Trans Leadership Award again, recognised for tangible impact on LGBTQ+ mental health services.
  • Hands-on clinician: She’s a practising therapist who also directs behavioural health services at The San Diego LGBT Community Center, offering an affirming, practical approach.
  • Research and outreach: Halliwell partners on UC San Diego projects and community programmes that target violence and health disparities affecting Black and brown trans people.
  • Creative advocacy: Her fantasy series, Grieving Still, uses fiction to explore grief, racism and transphobia , an inventive route to healing and connection.
  • Community impact: She helped create suicide-prevention campaigns and led San Diego Black Pride efforts, signalling both grassroots and systemic change.

A clear-eyed clinician who still listens like a neighbour

Pamuela Halliwell’s work reads as steady and human , the sort of presence you notice in a busy waiting room because people relax around her. According to The San Diego LGBT Community Center, she runs the behavioural health team there while keeping a caseload, which gives her direct insight into what clients need. That dual role means policies are informed by real-life practice, and that practical feel shows in programmes like Rise Above the Stigma, launched during National Suicide Prevention Month. If you’re choosing a therapist, it helps to know your clinician has both frontline experience and managerial reach.

From personal struggle to public service

Halliwell’s path into mental-health work is personal. Growing up transgender in San Diego, she faced bullying and limited family support, and once attempted suicide , an experience she says fuelled her determination to help others find a way forward. That backstory colours her approach: she focuses not only on symptoms but on the social systems that shape them. It’s a reminder that effective care for LGBTQ+ people often means addressing stigma, violence and isolation as part of therapy.

Research and programmes that target racial and gendered harms

Beyond the clinic, Halliwell’s involvement in UC San Diego research projects brings academic muscle to community needs, especially for Black and brown trans people facing disproportionate violence and health risks. The Centre praises her for publishing research on violence against Black trans women and for strengthening substance-use support and LGBTQ-affirming care locally. Funders and policymakers pay attention when clinical leaders bridge research and practice; that’s how pilot programmes scale up and become standard practice.

Using story and fantasy to process grief and injustice

Not all healing happens in an office. During the pandemic Halliwell began the Grieving Still fantasy series, which imagines characters unlocking magic as they navigate loss, racism and transphobia. It’s a smart move: fiction and art create safe distance to process trauma and invite wider audiences into difficult conversations. Expect readers to find the books quietly powerful , your empathy gets a nudge from a plot twist rather than a lecture.

Why the Stonewall Award and local rallies matter

The Stonewall Award, presented at the Spirit of Stonewall Rally at the Brass Rail, highlights leadership by and for trans people and cements Halliwell’s role as both a community builder and a clinician. Public recognition like this does more than honour one person; it draws attention to local services, encourages community trust and can help with fundraising. If you care about accessible, culturally attuned mental-health care in San Diego, supporting The Centre and attending local Pride events are practical ways to sustain work like Halliwell’s.

It's a small change that can make every support system a little more life-affirming.

Source Reference Map

Story idea inspired by: [1]

Sources by paragraph: