WALKENS PETIT-FREREDSW, LCSWCLINICIAN · AUTHOR · EDUCATOR
I’m Dr. Walkens Petit-Frere. My work brings psychotherapy, writing, relational inquiry, and lived experience into conversation—to explore how we heal, relate, and grow.
I am a Haitian-born clinician and scholar-practitioner whose work is grounded in the relationship between identity, experience, and belonging.
Moving from Haiti to the United States as a teenager shaped my attention to the ways we navigate change, encounter difference, and come to understand ourselves through others.
Today, I bring that perspective to psychotherapy, clinical education, and the development of Dynamic Object Relational Reflection Theory (DORRT). Across these areas, I make space for the inner world of the individual and the cultural, relational, and social contexts that shape it.
My approach centers curiosity, somatic awareness, and a commitment to justice and anti-racist practice.
Clinical practice, theory, and education inform one another—each offering a different entry point into the work of understanding people.
PSYCHOTHERAPY
Through WPF Integrative Psychotherapy LCSW PLLC, I work with individuals and couples, drawing on IFS, EMDR, AEDP, CBT, and somatic approaches. My specialties also include ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP), with attention to preparation and integration.
Explore WPF Psychotherapy ↗THEORY & RELATIONAL INQUIRY
DORRT explores the dynamic relationship between self-image, our perceptions of others, and the environments we inhabit together.
Discover the DORRT perspective ↓TEACHING & CONSULTING
Supervision, clinical learning, and consulting connect reflective inquiry with the everyday realities of therapeutic and organizational work.
Discuss a collaboration ↗Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) is a specialty within my integrative clinical work, with an emphasis on therapeutic preparation, presence, and meaning-making.
KAP brings psychotherapy into a treatment process involving prescribed ketamine. My role centers on the psychotherapy: exploring intentions, supporting reflection, and helping clients connect their experiences to everyday life.
Medical eligibility, prescribing, and medication monitoring require a qualified medical provider. A consultation can clarify the therapeutic process and whether further assessment is appropriate.
Explore intentions, questions, and expectations. Build grounding resources and a shared understanding of the therapeutic work.
Make room for emotional experience with a collaborative, relational approach tailored to the agreed treatment plan.
Reflect on what emerged, connect insights to personal patterns, and explore practical steps within ongoing therapy.
DYNAMIC OBJECT RELATIONAL REFLECTION THEORY
What might our perceptions of others reveal about our relationship with ourselves?
DORRT is a developing theoretical framework that extends object-relational inquiry toward the dynamic reflections between self, others, and environment. Its focus reaches beyond pathology to examine meaning, identity, and possibilities for growth.
Rather than treating a relationship as an isolated encounter, this perspective considers how multiple people and contexts shape—and are shaped by—our understanding of self.
Visit the DORRT Institute ↗
MEMORY · RHYTHM · RESISTANCE
Poetry as a space for remembrance, resistance, and imagining freedom.
Slaveship Basement Parties: Spoken Sound Waves of the Digital Railroad explores ancestral memory and survival through spoken-word poetics, sonic metaphor, and Afrofuturist storytelling.
In this work, I bring rhythm, grief, and cultural imagination into dialogue—considering how the echoes of history travel through contemporary life.
Alongside my clinical and theoretical work, this book offers a creative exploration of identity, collective memory, and liberation.
View the book on Amazon ↗Invite a reading or conversation →A space for developing ideas and bringing them into dialogue with clinicians, communities, and organizations.
BOOK PROJECT · IN DEVELOPMENT
A developing book project exploring DORRT and the interplay between self-perception, relationships, and the worlds we create together.
CLINICAL EDUCATION
Learning centered on the client’s internal system, therapeutic relationships, embodied awareness, and the integration of clinical approaches.
SPEAKING & CONSULTING
Conversations about culture, anti-racist practice, and the relationships that shape how we live, learn, and work.
05 / START A CONVERSATION
For professional collaborations, speaking, teaching, or inquiries about my work, I’d welcome the conversation.
drpetit@wpfpsychotherapy.com ↗For therapy inquiries, visit WPF Psychotherapy. Please avoid including sensitive clinical information in email.