The Ruby Institute for Healing and Belonging is a story about coming home to oneself and dwelling well.
A ruby invites us to consider adornment as both an act of resistance and an act of refusal.
Resistance emerges through the alchemical process of returning to ourselves, of healing, reclaiming, and remembering who we are beneath the wounds we have inherited and endured. Refusal is the practice of honoring our own lived experiences, truths, and self-determined expression rather than accepting the narratives projected onto us that distort our sense of self and worth.
Throughout history, rubies have been worn close to the heart by healers, travelers, and those seeking refuge from persecution. They were never merely decorative. To adorn oneself is to insist that the body is already whole, already worthy of beauty, care, dignity, and visibility.
The ruby carries this enduring symbolism: love, fire, courage, and the heart(h), the place within ourselves where we find our way home.
How we came to be Ruby.
The Ruby Institute for Healing & Belonging grew from a vision: a place where healing, education, supervision, and belonging live under one roof, grounded in the five pillars of counselor education.
Early-career clinicians often leave graduate school with strong clinical curiosity but little support for the realities of independent practice: leadership, supervision, advocacy, teaching. Many feel isolated right as their most formative professional years begin.
At the same time, therapists are increasingly asked to hold trauma work without developmentally scaffolded training in trauma therapy. Without mentorship, embodied practice, and sustained community, clinicians face real risk of burnout, vicarious trauma, and disconnection from the values that drew them to this work.
The Ruby Institute exists to meet these gaps, but outside academia's structural limits. By combining community-based clinical services, intensive supervision, relational training, and leadership development, we nurture not just competent clinicians, but connected, courageous practitioners. Supported therapists are better equipped to cultivate healing and justice in the communities they serve.
The Team
Who We Are
Phoenix Rosewood, Ph.D., LMHC
Founder, Director & CEO
Phoenix Rosewood, Ph.D., LMHC
(they/them/theirs)
Dr. Phoenix Rosewood is a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC), supervisor and counselor educator who lives in the hills of the Connecticut River Valley. Dr. Rosewood actively researches and writes about identity -based conflict (microaggressions) and conflict transformation, shame's role in professional multicultural training gaps and Transgender, nonbinary and gender expansive reproductive healthcare access.
Read more about Phoenix here.
Associate Clinical Mental Health Counselor
Primary Clinician
New Counselor bio coming Soon!
Al Rosewood, M.A.
Director of Operations
Al serves as the Director of Operations at the Ruby Institute. They bring years of operations experience from national organizations advancing transgender justice and equity and local reproductive justice work in Western Massachusetts. A local to the area, Al is passionate about supporting their community and enjoys spending time on outdoor projects and playing pickleball.
Work with us!
Our practice is in the first phase of building a larger ecosystem of community counseling, clinical training, advocacy, applied research, and professional development. We are committed to providing high-quality, trauma-informed services while cultivating the next generation of clinicians through meaningful mentorship and community engagement.
Working with others
Collaborative Environment
Why work with us?
Our commitment to inclusivity, belonging, and working alongside complex constellations of power is at the heart of what we do. We believe that every individual has the right to self-determination, agency, and dignity.
We approach all our endeavors from trauma-aware, relational and developmental frameworks to listen, provide expertise, guidance, and work with you to take concrete action to reach your goals.
Expertise & Depth
Professional Guidance
Accessibility
Access and Support for All
Our services are designed to be accessible and adaptable, providing support that meets the unique needs of each individual or group.
We love this work because it's deeply relational. One-on-one clinical work is just one piece — supporting supervisees, students, and participants in their growth is an equal joy. We bring respect, curiosity, clear communication, and collaborative leadership to every relationship, building a map that moves you toward your vision as directly as possible.
Counselor Education Training Approach
Doctoral-level training in counseling, supervision, teaching, research, consulting, and leadership.
Becoming a counselor educator, requires cultivation of metacognitive abilities. A PhD in Counselor Education means being a relational and systems cartographer for people and places. In order to do this effectively and ethically, we have adept skills at identifying interpersonal and relational patterns, potential challenges, transparent evaluative tools, efficient values-based process and possible outcomes. While training counselors, attention to relational-oriented and trauma-informed pedagogical praxis is always front-and-center. Learning how to give developmentally appropriate feedback, attuned observations, and meaningful challenges when needed requires emotional intelligence, grounded intuition and discernment: qualities that add depth and invitations for transformation when offered.
With over 15 years of clinical, supervisory, and teaching experience, plus ongoing advanced training, the Ruby Institute brings both depth and breadth to the work we do.