About TODOS Therapy

What does TODOS mean?

T.O.D.O.S Therapy is the private practice brainchild of a marriage and family therapist named Stephanie Olano; that’s me in the photo.

The acronym T.O.D.O.S stands for Together Overcoming and Demystifying the Others’ Struggles.

What is “the other”?

The other or to be othered is a person who doesn’t fit the social norms. Or it’s someone who is treated as different or an outsider.

Maybe people give you a hard time for “caring too much” about climate change. Perhaps you listen to music that no one understands. Perhaps you like to dye your hair to match your mood. Or perhaps you have a sense of humor that makes people feel awkward. In a few words, you just don’t fit in.

What is “otherness?” What does being “othered” even look like?

“Otherness” takes on many forms. You can be othered for race, religion, and/or creed. It’s also more insidious than that. You can have that feeling in your school, with your best friend, even in your own family. The best way to summarize this is that you feel like a stranger in your community and there are even times you don’t recognize yourself.

Adolescence and early adulthood are the developmental years you start to ask some tough questions about yourself. For example; What am I about in this world? What should I do with my life? What do I stand for? These questions are pivotal but also scary. I try to understand how these questions impact my clients and do my best to help them achieve their goals. I work to do this in a way that won’t compromise their authentic self.

What does the TODOS Therapy logo mean?

I tried to pay homage to a crucial time in life through my logo. In my youth, I would cope with feelings by looking out the window and listening to music on my headphones. The person in the logo, which I call The Listener, symbolizes the therapeutic process.

Therapy involves a delicate balance between the brain (logic) and the heart (feelings) and how both two sides need a bridge to communicate with each other. Headphones (i.e., therapy) can be that bridge. In a world that’s so maddening and scary, all that can go away when you put on those headphones. I wanted the colors to capture that moment the listener can feel those endorphins, that sense of control, those waves of calm they really need for those 3 minutes or however long that song will last.

There is a line through the heart because sometimes a client comes to therapy with a broken heart, but if you look closer, the line could also represent the stitch work or repair my client has attempted. The shaded-in heart is whatever the client brings into therapy; their experiences, memories, and symptoms. The empty side of the heart symbolizes the growth and progress everyone is capable of achieving, we just have to find ways to make that happen.

The word psychology is derived from the Greek psykhē "breath, spirit, soul" (see psyche) + logia "study of" (see -logy), so psychology can offer more than just talking about your problems. It’s really the lifelong study of the soul and how to take care of it. Sometimes the best way to do that is to address and alleviate the issues living in the mind, body, and heart. In the places where some people believe, the soul resides.

Why does TODOS therapy care about this kind of work?

For most of my teenage years, I was considered a shy, emo kid. No one understood my interests or hobbies. In the early 2000s, not too many people were interested in listening to EDM and reading Shakespeare. My appearance also made me a target to being othered. As much as I wanted to be accepted,  I also wanted to feel connected, and to choose a path and own it. I wanted to live an unapologetically authentic life. So when I started my private practice, I made sure the mission statement, core values, and name involved embracing the others.