About Uche
Clinician, Educator, and Founder of The Returning Place
LCSW CA #100810
LICSW MA #123186
LCSW TX #118920
Uche Okolie, LCSW, is a clinical social worker in private practice in Los Angeles, organizational consultant, and writer. Her work sits at the intersection of structured trauma treatment, organizational consulting, and embodied practice.
Licensed in California (LCSW #100180), Massachusetts (LICSW #123186), and Texas (LCSW # 118920), Uche provides virtual therapy across all three states. She brings over a decade of experience in clinical practice and program design with training across the field’s established evidence based protocols and substantive expertise in body based and mind body practice.
Uche trained clinically at the Home Base Program at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Red Sox Foundation, working with veterans, special forces personnel, and military families. Through the Returning Place, she has developed and led trauma informed training, resilience workshops, and organizational consulting agreements for institutions including the California Conservation Corps, healthcare systems, universities, domestic violence agencies, and community organizations across California and Massachusetts.
Her clinical training includes Prolonged Exposure (PE), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Complicated Grief Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-i) and Brief Behavioral Treatment for Insomnia (BBT-i), and the Resilient Warrior Program through the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. She has been trained as a certified trauma professional and is trained in trauma informed yoga and substance use treatment.
Whether supporting individuals in private therapy, guiding groups through sound, or teaching on trauma and belonging, Uche’s work centers a simple truth: healing is about more than symptoms — it’s about returning to yourself. Her mission: to restore safety to the body and voice to the self.
Services
Who I Work With
I work with individuals and institutions navigating trauma, operating in demanding and mission driven contexts, and those coping with the impact of stress.
Past and Ongoing Collaborations
Creatives, Service First Professionals
Healthcare systems
Universities and training institutions
Nonprofit and humanitarian organizations
HR & Workforce development programs
Leadership teams and change makers
Collaborations & Partnerships
I am particularly interested in collaborating with organizations and initiatives focused on:
Global Mental Health
Workforce Development
Trauma Informed Education and Leadership
Community Resilience and Organizational Wellbeing
Partnership interests include consulting, training, research, or collaborative program development.
Speaking & Conferences
I speak at conferences and professional events on topics related to trauma, mental health informed leadership and organizational practices, workforce resilience, organizational systems, and trauma across systems.
Talks focus on translating research into practical strategies individuals and organizations can implement.
Testimonials
“Having Uche as my therapist has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. She helped me process some pretty scary trauma, holding my hand the entire way. Thanks to Uche, I’ve gone from surviving to living, something I never thought was possible.”
— GM“We’re used to emotional guardrails because they keep us safe. Therapy gave me the understanding that these emotional guardrails don’t secure us, but limit us. Carrying the weight of yesterday’s troubles in your life, emotionally, can be incredibly difficult, but Uche Okolie does everything possible to not have you carry that alone. In her practice, we exercise how to let go of yesterday and move forward to the life you want to have. Removing the emotional guardrails, and healthily moving freely in the space of all that you want to be.”
— Anonymous“I cannot recommend Uche enough. One of the most caring and attentive therapists I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Extremely knowledgeable and compassionate about so many approaches to dealing with trauma. The difference in my life is immeasurable.”
— Shea O.