“You are more powerful than you know. You are beautiful just as you are.”
Affirmative Psychotherapy
As a happily married lesbian and therapist with a specialized master’s degree in LGBTQIA+ Affirmative Theory and Practice, please know I celebrate and honor the personhood and spirit of your unique gender identity and sexual orientation.
A Strength-Based Approach
In our work together, I will provide a positive, strength-based approach for you to work through challenges that are informed by familial, societal, cultural, institutional, and religious LGBTQIA+ phobias, stigmas, and discriminations. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), LGBTQ adults, as compared to heterosexual adults, are twice as likely to experience mental health conditions. I place huge importance on understanding forces such as the impact of shame, caused by external sources, which result in negative self-concept and harmful behavioral patterns, and ways to heal from these forces. I’ll help you to recognize and start believing all your wonderful qualities so your amazing LGBTQIA+ self can flourish despite tough circumstances which can’t always be changed. Your gender identity and sexual orientation are a beautiful part of you. Let’s work together so you can really rock your rainbow and shine!
Services Offered
Affirmative Psychotherapy for LGBTQIA+ Individuals
This therapy is tailored to your own experiences and struggles as an LGBTQIA+ individual and will support you on your journey of self-discovery, self-acceptance, self-love, and empowerment.
Intimate Relationship Counseling
If you’re in any type of LGBTQIA+ intimate relationship, you may have experienced negative stereotyping, othering, lack of mirroring, or ridicule. I provide a safe space for partners to navigate everything internally and externally that affects their intimate bond, to understand attachment styles which play a key role in relationships, and to create the change that’s needed to build a strong connection.
Minority Stress and Anxiety Reduction
Living in a heteronormative/heterocentric society creates unique stressors and anxieties. Sexual minorities and underrepresented gender identifications are at higher risk for the effects of stress. I offer effective strategies to manage these pressures and improve your overall well-being.
Overcoming Internalized Shame
Together, we’ll address and heal the internalized shame and phobias that may have been instilled beginning in your family of origin and later reinforced by societal attitudes, promoting a healthier self-concept.
Coming Out Support as I call it “Coming into yourself”
Your gender identification and sexual orientation are an integral part of you. Coming into yourself and/or inviting others in can be a transformative and emotional process. You have the right to decide whom, if anyone, you want to invite in— including when and how to do it. It’s a deeply personal decision in which I’ll support and guide as you navigate this significant aspect of your life. If you have been outed before you wanted to invite someone in or outed to anyone you didn’t want to invite in, I’ll support you through this unjust, emotionally assaultive experience.
Coping with Systemic Oppression, Discrimination, and Stigma
Dealing with systemic oppression, discrimination, and stigma can take a toll on your mental health. I’m here to help you build resilience and cope effectively.
Cultivating Healthy Relationships
Developing and maintaining healthy relationships is an essential part of life which you may not find easy. I offer tools and techniques to foster connection and combat alienation.
Contact Me
Ready to begin healing and growing? Reach out to schedule a confidential appointment. You deserve to lead a life that is authentic, joyful, and fulfilling.
Let’s work together so change can start being a reality for you rather than a hope. Remember, you are worthy, you are valid, and you deserve all the happiness in the world! Together, we’ll make your journey one of understanding, transformation, and empowerment.
