The norms and assumptions that we were raised with and encounter all throughout our lives aren’t right for all of us. My liberatory model for therapy is grounded in queer writing, conversations, and my experiences as a trans person. We will use this perspective to sort out what’s yours and what’s been put upon you, and help you ground in your sense of self. A liberatory model helps center LGBTQIA+ experiences and perspectives, and it’s helpful for anyone.

A feminist perspective empowers us to challenge the traditional model for therapy, which is built around a man, his ego, and his anatomy. Instead we will be curious about how relationships and systems influence, for better and worse, our development and expression. Oppression, power dynamics, and assigned roles are all very real, active pressures. Using feminist perspectives, together, we will create a room of your own to sort through your thoughts, feelings, and experiences in a way that respects your personhood. As a therapist, I have prioritized classes, literature, and learning from mentors who are women, femmes, faeries, and witches. A feminist perspective is beneficial in therapy for people who identify as, or with, women, and is helpful for everyone.

The word “intersectionality” was coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, and her book, “On Intersectionality,” is a great place to start, or to further explore the concept. Intersectionality helps us organize and understand how our experiences are informed by the different aspects of our identity, and by combinations of identities, as we navigate similarities and differences with other people. Intersectionality is a helpful concept for anyone to apply to themself.

A decolonial lens helps us examine the systematic and historical pressures that have acted on you on multiple levels, and to challenge Euro-centric narratives and assumptions that cherish whiteness. We are all people who are part of families, communities, countries, and generations. What our ancestors went through for us to be here affects us in the present. This approach helps us explore your growth and your roots. A decolonial lens is especially beneficial for people of the global majority, and is helpful for everyone. While it’s written for mental health practioners, “Decolonizing Therapy” by Dr. Jennifer Mullan is a lovely text to dive deeper into these concepts.

The views of traditional psychotherapy can be unkind to queerness. As examples, a gay person was seen as having a sexual disorder. Even today, trans people are viewed this way by the classical therapeutic perspective, practicing therapists, and insurers. I ground myself in queer analysis instead—we will not be fixing you, because you are not broken; we will be building you up, supporting you, and celebrating you.

A narrative approach in therapy involves the language that we use to organize our emotional world, and the stories we tell ourselves based on how we feel about our experiences. Narrative therapy can be especially helpful if you struggle with unkind thought loops, or experience difficulty finding the words for your thoughts or feelings.

Parts work, also called Internal Family Systems, acknowledges that we are all a collection of many selves or facets, and that it can be helpful to get to know our parts. For example, you might find that you act differently in certain situations or around specific people; parts work can help explore what parts of you are active in different contexts.

Somatic techniques acknowledge that your mind and body are connected. What happens in your mind affects your body, and the experience of your body affects your mind. Somatic experiencing helps us identify where we carry our stress, where our emotions sit, and how our reactions to our experiences affect our body and mind. When we’re exploring what is going on with your mind and your body, we’ll explore it from every possible angle, and take a holistic approach.

There is a good chance that you are already employing plenty of mindfulness techniques in your life, whether intentionally or not. Establishing a regular rhythm of breath, taking a moment to meditate, scribbling an affirmation on a scrap of paper, journaling, drawing, fidgeting—these are all examples of utilizing mindfulness to relax and promote soothing. In therapy, we can encourage these helpful little actions to become sustainable, intentional practices.

When pains are too much, our mind-body systems do their best to get us through as best they can. Even still, we are often left with wounds that can be hard to understand, especially wounds of the mind. Trauma can fragment our memory, change our emotional landscape, and affect our relationships with others. Exploring trauma in therapy can be slow, soulful work, and it is work that I am passionate about. I will use all my skills to help you understand your pain, hold you, and create a space for you to heal—without pressure, judgement, or preconceived notions about what your healing should look like.