Understanding people, patterns, and complexity – across individuals, communities, and cultures.
Hi! I’m Stephanie Tolentino, or Steph for short. I’m a mental health practitioner and advocate working across mental health, community and social work, professional development, and cross-cultural contexts.
My work spans individuals, teams, and communities navigating complexity – from personal struggles and periods of transition to the broader social and organisational environments that shape people’s lives. I’m interested in how people make sense of their experiences, how they navigate challenges and change, and how we can strengthen the relationships, communities, and systems that support individual and collective wellbeing.
I’m deeply curious about how people understand themselves and the world around them – how we relate to one another, make sense of adversity, and grow through our experiences. Much of my work has involved individuals and communities facing adversity, shaping my understanding of resilience, dignity, and the importance of supportive systems. I believe that greater awareness of ourselves, others, and the structures we live within can open up more thoughtful and intentional ways of living, relating, and building societies.
Growing up across different countries and cultures has shaped much of how I see the world. It sparked a lasting curiosity about human behaviour, culture, and the ways people navigate life in different contexts. I’m particularly interested in the intersections of mental health, culture, and social issues, including how traditions, beliefs, histories, and social conditions shape the ways individuals and communities understand themselves and their world.
This website is a space for reflection and exploration across mental health, culture, and social issues. Here, I share insights, research, and observations on experiences and questions that touch many of our lives, yet often remain unspoken or poorly understood.
Through my professional work, writing, and conversations, I hope to contribute, in small but meaningful ways, to greater understanding across different experiences and perspectives and to more compassionate, reflective, and inclusive societies.
For collaborations, partnerships, or conversations around this work, feel free to reach out at steph@oncmh.com.
If any of this resonates with you, I’d be glad to connect. Thank you for being here.
Stay curious,
Steph Tolentino
Areas of Work and Focus
With more than a decade of experience, my work spans practice and systems-level engagement, including clinical and therapeutic work, programme design and management, stakeholder engagement, capacity building, and advocacy. Across these areas, I am interested in how evidence, lived experience, and community perspectives can inform practice, strengthen systems, and support individual and collective wellbeing.
Programmes, Systems & Community Work
- Programme design and management in mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS)
- Gender-based violence (GBV) and broader protection concerns
- Community-based MHPSS and protection approaches
- Work with refugees, migrants, and at-risk populations
- Monitoring, evaluation, and learning
- Training and capacity building for practitioners, organisations and communities
- Policy advocacy, systems strengthening, and evidence-informed approaches to mental health, protection, and social wellbeing
Clinical & Therapeutic Work
- Individual and group counselling and psychotherapy
- Trauma-informed and trauma-focused practice, including work with survivors of violence and adversity
- Multicultural and psycho-spiritual counselling
- Case management and client advocacy
Areas of Interest
- Cross-cultural psychology and multicultural approaches to mental health and wellbeing
- The intersections of mental health, culture, and social issues
- How social systems, environments, and lived experiences shape individual and collective wellbeing
- Evidence-informed practice, research, and learning
How I Work
My work is grounded in curiosity, critical reflection, and a deep respect for people’s lived experiences. I value thoughtful and collaborative approaches that make room for complexity, different perspectives, and a deeper understanding of the experiences and circumstances that shape our lives.
I pay attention not only to individual experiences, but also to the relationships, social conditions, systems, and cultural contexts in which they unfold. I am interested in how personal experiences connect to broader patterns, and how greater awareness can inform more thoughtful, responsive, and meaningful approaches to practice and change.
Whether working with individuals, teams, or communities, I aim to bring thoughtfulness, openness, and care to the process – creating opportunities for difficult conversations, shared learning, and more considered ways of understanding and responding to the challenges we face.
I enjoy learning languages and primarily work in English and Arabic.
