Affirmative Therapy
As a Queer woman of color, I believe in celebrating all LGBTQ+ identities in all shapes and forms. Our community has a rich and diverse history full of advocacy, strength, and resiliency. My role as your therapist is to witness and celebrate your journey as you explore what is most authentic for your life. I will come alongside you as we negotiate the difficulties that come up as you write your own story. It is my honor to be your cheerleader all the way.
Trauma Work
Trauma impacts us, whether we are conscious of it or not. We can experience painful events at any time in our lives; those events may cause us to act out and hurt others or hurt ourselves. Sometimes we get stuck in our past hurt, which prevents us from fully enjoying our present. Trauma work is sacred, painful, and incredibly freeing.
My goal is to individualize your treatment to reflect your personality and needs. For some clients, talk therapy is most helpful; others need to express themselves through art or play. At the same time, some want to experience movement and connect with their bodies through yoga, mindfulness, and grounding techniques.
Interpersonal Relationships & Intrapersonal Intelligence
How do you show up when you are in a relationship with others? Do you find yourself merging and losing yourself? Do you create distance because closeness is intimidating? These are the types of questions we can unpack together in session. The way you engage in sessions will help us understand how you behave in relationships and support your ability to create meaningful, long-lasting relationships. We will increase your emotional capacity to enhance and strengthen your relationships.
Intrapersonal Intelligence refers to the ability to explore your inner world, thoughts, and feelings. This type of self-exploration supports you in developing a strong sense of self while identifying the values and beliefs necessary to you. Doing this inner work allows you to show up in a fully present way with others. It supports your cultivation of resiliency, hope, and optimism.
Children & Families
For the past twenty years, I have worked with children in a variety of organizations and roles. I have worked as a teacher’s assistant, camp counselor, residential counselor, teacher, and now a therapist. I approach my work with children and adolescents with creativity and humor. My goal is to support your child in developing a strong sense of self that builds confidence and supports authentic connections with others.
I believe it is important to include parents in treatment and offer collateral calls weekly. I support you as parents in identifying and understanding what comes up for you when you are parenting your child. We will explore your parenting style and how it impacts your relationship with your child. I assist parents in creating a safe emotional container so that your child feels comfortable and secure in coming to you for the most challenging topics. I focus on the parent-child relationship first and then on behaviors.
Intersecting Identities
We all hold multiple social, political, and cultural identities that place us in positions of privilege and oppression. What does that mean for you as a person? What does that mean for you in relation to the world around you? This exploration is a cornerstone in my clinical work. I believe that our intersecting identities are critical to explore in therapy because we can explore different positions of empowerment and advocacy we occupy in our privilege and access places of connection and compassion in our oppression. I believe that understanding our layered identities is a way to celebrate differences and build bridges with the world.
Through this work on intersecting identities, we learn the skills to appropriately and effectively challenge the status quo as we fight for and alongside others. I will support you in challenging negative and problematic internalized narratives so that we can construct new stories grounded in anti-racist, inclusive, and socially conscious values.