What are your favorite clients to work with (populations of special interest)?
I seek to support the QTBIPOC population and people of diverse marginalized identities. Racial and cultural identity development theories do not talk to each other well, but both inform my work as a counseling intern and mental health professional, and can be transformative when they are in dialogue and work collaboratively. I also feel passionate about supporting the neurodivergent population. I offer a combination of psychodynamic and somatic therapies in working with clients coming in with developmental trauma and/or PTSD, religious abuse, and moral injury. Spirituality may be integrated into the therapy as well, depending on the client’s needs.
What are one or two interventions that you enjoy using and have found to be supportive to clients?
I primarily work from a foundation of psychodynamic therapy, where clients are welcome to talk about what is on their mind (images, emotions, thoughts) without judgment or censorship. Lacanian Psychoanalysis allows the client to connect to their unconscious desires. When we listen to ourselves, we realize we have multiple and sometimes conflicting desires at the same time, and we also learn how many of our desires are socially and culturally constructed. We listen to the spoken, the unspoken, and the unspeakable, without judgment. I draw inspiration from Ignacio Martín-Baró, who talks about how critical consciousness leads to a deeper understanding of reality. These theories are important because we hold the power to transform our reality. To be fully human, I believe, only happens through relationships with others. Therapy becomes a unique kind of meeting between persons that creates the opportunity for change and transformation of reality.
What have you learned from your work/collaboration as a therapist working with individuals and communities?
There can be stigma related to seeking therapy, and it takes so much courage to seek counseling. If you are seeking or already in therapy, I want to affirm your courage and strength in your pursuit. Each person has innate knowledge and power to deal with the great waves life brings. The body has an innate ability to heal – even during a traumatic experience, so I believe that therapy work is collaborative in nature, and holistic work. The survival responses fight, flight, or flee enable you to protect yourself; however, they can cause problems when we lose the ability to distinguish between safety and danger. We sometimes need a safe enough space to slow down, reflect, and work on ourselves. Even in the midst of pain and suffering, I observe strength, creativity, hope, wisdom, and perseverance emerging in the lives of people. Liberation, or human flourishing, may look different depending on your social-cultural context, which I deeply respect, and I feel honored and grateful to be in this endeavor.