Erica Cuscina, BSN, RN, CATP
Erica Cuscina is an adolescent psychiatric Registered Nurse. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing with a minor in Psychology in 2015, became a Certified Child & Adolescent Trauma Professional in 2017, completed her postgraduate certificate in LGBT Health Policy & Practice in 2018 and is currently pursuing a degree in American Sign Language Interpreting. She works primarily with children and adolescents ages four through seventeen with a variety of mental health issues including depression, psychosis, suicidal ideation, addiction and self-harming behavior. In addition to her work in the medical field, Erica is also a nationally ranked performance poet who leads workshops for youth and adult audiences. Erica's work focuses on mental health, surviving violence, and queerness.
For her Capstone project, Erica co-authored a book of poetry with a fellow queer Houston poet, Ryan McMasters. Their book, From The Outside Looking In, follows the life of a queer youth that ultimately completes suicide from the perspective of the inanimate objects around her. Statistics regarding mental health and suicidality among LGBTQ youth as well as resources for struggling youth and their families are included throughout the book. A portion of all proceeds from book sales is donated directly to The Trevor Project. The purpose of this book is to raise awareness and provide support for LGBTQ youth that struggle with mental health issues at disparate rates from their cisgender and heterosexual counterparts.
Received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing with a minor in Psychology from The College of New Rochelle, New Rochelle NY. Completed GW's LGBT Health Policy and Practice Certificate Program. Currently pursuing an Associate of Applied Science degree in American Sign Language Interpreting at Houston Community College.