Marsinah Ramirez Buchan, MA (She/Her)

Marsinah Ramirez Buchan launched her second career as a psychotherapist after a 20-year track record in
business as a strategic communications executive trained in journalism and public relations.

While serving in the public relations profession, Buchan was one of the first women and only minority to
pierce the glass ceiling and take a leadership position in the C-Suite at several companies. She ended her
career in business after working for years as vice president of corporate communications for a national
occupational health consulting firm, ranked now 6th in the nation.
In mid-life, Buchan experienced an existential calling to help others. She subsequently jumped off the
corporate mothership and obtained her master’s degree in clinical psychology at Pepperdine University.
As Buchan left the ivory tower of business, she experienced a jarring awakening that cemented her niche
in advocacy work.

“I experienced the underbelly of mental health, the stuff they don’t teach you in grad school,” she
explained. “I witnessed how ethnic minorities or underprivileged people faced disproportionate inequities
or disparities when receiving mental health services.”

These first-hand experiences Buchan encountered at various community mental health agencies
compelled her to advocate for her clients. She helped clients learn how to navigate roadblocks in the
mental health system and empower themselves, leading her to receive a $20,000 grant as one of the first
award recipients of the California Recovery Model for accomplishments in client advocacy. Subsequently,
she and her classmates founded and launched Pepperdine’s Social Justice Collaborative, conceived by
Pepperdine Psychology Professor Dr. Amy Tuttle in 2008.

Before establishing her private practice, Buchan gained broad and diverse experience in clinical
psychotherapy, working in the forensics fields for years at Camp Owen Probation Detention Facility,
Correctional Behavioral Health at Lerdo Detention Facility, and CPS. She also worked extensively with
teens at Olive Crest in Los Angeles and treated chronic pain patients at a physician-owned treatment
center in Pomona, California.

Her client advocacy work has continued throughout her career, with significant energy devoted to helping
the youth at Camp Erwin Owen. In addition, she was named a newspaper columnist at the Kern River
Courier in which she wrote articles that illuminated mental health issues and advocated for systemic
reform.

As a self-described “recovering corporate escapee,” Buchan is now a full-time licensed psychotherapist.
In 2015, she launched her private practice in the Kern River Valley. Buchan became the first solo
practitioner in the region to offer online mental health services to an underserved population in a rural
mountain community.

Buchan works with individuals, adolescents, and families suffering from depression, anxiety, trauma, or
panic episodes or who face distress due to work or relationship issues. She is certified in exposure
response therapy, trauma-focused CBT, cultural competency, and anger management.

Her specialty is helping business professionals balance unhealthy productivity demands and working with
clients experiencing mental health symptoms associated with discrimination or oppression due to race,
sexual orientation, or gender.