specialties
LGBTIQA+ Adults
Whether you have known you were LGBTQIA+ since childhood, or just figuring out what letters of the alphabet apply to you- you deserve affirming therapy. As a queer provider myself, I know how exhausting it can feel to have to educate your therapist on LGBTQIA+ terminology, identities, and experiences. I have specialized training in providing therapy to LGBTQIA+ adults and focused my doctoral research on the mental health of plurisexual populations (e.g. bisexual, pansexual, etc.). I also have provided trainings and workshops to other mental healthcare providers on working with clients who are transgender, nonbinary, and/or a sexual minority.
As a clinical psychologist, I aim to minimize my role as a gatekeeper in the lives of transgender, nonbinary, and gender diverse folks. This means I trust and value your own understanding of who you are and what you want to do. I support clients through individual therapy and additionally by writing gender affirming care letters for clients and non-client adults that want them.
Body Liberation &
Unlearning Diet Culture
Many of the clients I work with have a history of disordered eating behaviors or were chronic dieters and are now wanting a different kind of relationship to food and their body. Whether you are new to learning about diet culture or fatphobia, or have been deconstructing these concepts for years, therapy can support you wherever you’re at.
Diet culture is a cultural system of belief that equates thinness to moral value, sees weight loss as a status gain, and oppresses people for not fitting within their definition of “healthy”. Diet culture can be insidious or outright and has been found to contribute to disordered eating behavior, fatphobia, as well as weight stigma. Many therapists reinforce these systems of oppression and stigmatization and as a result can cause harm to their clients. These effects are often magnified when working with fat or larger-bodied clients. As a clinician I am committed to supporting clients in healing their relationship with their body from a Health at Every Size (HAES) framework that emphasizes weight neutrality and body liberation. You deserve to have a relationship to your body that isn’t rooted in hatred and puts the shame we’ve been taught to feel about our bodies into context!
Former Members of Cults or High Demand Religions and Religious Trauma
While they are not the same thing, cults and high demand religions or groups have many overlapping qualities.
*The overlaps include: community or leader that requires obedience; discouragement from questioning its rules, principles, and practices; expects subservience and loyalty; discourages trusting relationships outside the group; perpetuates the notion that those within the group are right and superior to those outside of it; promotes extreme or polarizing beliefs; and expects its members to suppress their authentic selves in exchange for the sense of belonging and security the group offers [*Adapted from Psychotherapy Networker]
Regardless if you were born in the group or joined as an adult and whether you have just left a high-control group or left years ago, you are deserving of a safe space to process your experiences. I understand the many challenges faced by former members of cults or high-demand groups and will support you in the healing process.
Neurodivergence & ADHD
Many of the clients I work with identify as neurodivergent or resonate with neurodivergence. Neurodivergent is an umbrella term that describes “someone whose brain processes information in a way that is not typical of most individuals” and includes things like ADHD, Autism, and OCD (UW, Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology [DO-IT], 2023). While some individuals may pursue formal diagnostic assessment, self-diagnosis can be empowering and validating for others.
Historically, the field of psychology has actively harmed neurodivergent folks by attempting to ignore or suppress the different ways neurodivergent people process information and behave in the world. A growing number of therapists aim to offer explicitly affirming therapy to neurodivergent people and this can include discussing sensory needs, encourage use of stimming behaviors or items, and much more. It involves acknowledging the unique ways that a neurodivergent brain may work, and tailoring therapy to work with rather than against it. Whether you want help for your time-blindness at work, tools to help with task completion, or just to understand how ADHD or Autism may impact you or your relationships, therapy can help.