LGBTQ+ Affirming Therapists in Grand Lake, Oakland, CA

During unsteady times, we can become consumed and overwhelmed by our own pain and suffering. We may hide from the world and even from ourselves. The idea of being seen may evoke shame, fear, and anxiety that can keep us stuck. I am an inner wilderness guide, gentle shadowdiver, and explorer of unknowns. In our work together, we will practice navigating the crashing waves of life, diving below what seems to be true, and connecting with something larger than ourselves.

I am a queer Afro-Latinx (Dominican-American) spiritual activist, former pre-school teacher with experience working with children, adolescents, adults and families. I am bilingual in Spanish and English. I am excited to support BIPOC, LGBTQAI+, children and youth healing from dissociation, feeling disconnected to self and recovering from childhood and recent traumas. I love supporting people of all ages to deepen their relationship to self as a spiritual practice. When appropriate clients and I explore how family, society, identities and individual perceptions affect their current situation.

Hello and welcome! I offer therapy to adults, teens and couples. I believe therapy is a collaborative process; you can think of me as a companion as we travel down the roads of your growth together. If you have been thinking about starting therapy, I invite you to contact me. You deserve to heal and grow towards your best life. I have helped many clients with issues such as anxiety, depression and life changes. I am committed to helping my clients become the most authentic version of themselves. I love working with issues around sex, body image, gender & with members of the LGBTQIA2+ community. Take a look at my website for more.

Are you wanting to feel better once and for all? Maybe you can't move on from the past or you're worried about your future. If anxiety, panic, or even depression is stealing your joy, I get it. If traditional talk therapy hasn't helped you feel better, it's time to try a new approach to heal at the source of your pain. For 12 years I have refined my approach through professional training and experience in Relational-gestalt therapy and Brainspotting (derived from EMDR) while centering social justice and trauma-informed care.

Your relationship with yourself is key to how happy you are at home, at work, and beyond. I collaborate one-on-one with clients to cultivate self-compassion and heal from old wounds so they can move from surviving to thriving. I act as a guide and sounding board, with a commitment to respecting each individual as the expert on their own experience. As a queer , genderfluid therapist and activist, I support partners in monogamous and consensual nonmonogamous relationships, and I’m committed to honoring and uplifting the lived experiences of people from underrepresented racial backgrounds, abilities, genders, and sexualities.

Navigating through our human journey can be daunting, and everyone can benefit from support along the way. My role as a therapist is to help you gain more insight into the nature of your inner world and a greater perspective of your outer circumstances so that you can become empowered to create the intentional and meaningful life that you truly desire. With compassion and deep presence, we will identify unconscious patterns that are limiting you so that you can gain the awareness and tools needed to create effective changes for yourself.

Closed for new clients, currently full up! - In couples therapy with me, I help by teaching you communication strategies to help lessen defensiveness and increase empathy and warmth in your relationship. I intervene to stop or change interactions that are keeping you from getting the connection you want. I provide mediation and structure for difficult conversations. And by teaching in-the-moment self-regulation and co-regulation techniques, I help you and your partner to speak from and listen with your best selves.

Often times in life we have experiences that cause us to disconnect from our true selves. This can lead to and come from fear, shame, and uncertainty that impacts our relationships to others and ourselves. Reconnecting to our innate wisdom and remembering who we are can be a challenging process and my goal is to work with you to journey back to yourself. Drawing on depth work, art therapy, mindfulness, dream work, and emotional and somatic processing, I will work at your pace to navigate what is most meaningful for you as we find ways for you to authentically reconnect to yourself and others.

Do you struggle with anxiety, or low self-esteem? Are you tired of feeling like there's something wrong with you or that you're not good enough? Through a mindfulness-based, somatic, and trauma-sensitive approach, I support you in exploring your experience with curiosity and compassion, so that you can let go of limiting beliefs about yourself, feel at home in your own skin, and be free to live the life you want. After working with me, my clients report feeling more grounded and confident, and are better able to navigate relationships, life transitions, and daily stressors.

I view therapy as a collaborative relationship, seeking to form a partnership to explore your struggles, moving towards growth and healing. I am experienced in working with anxiety, depression, substance issues, grief/loss, relationship difficulties, trauma, oppression, chronic medical conditions, sexuality, eating disorders, and adoption issues. In addition to individual therapy, I work with couples, and relationships of all configurations.

Tired of feeling down, anxious, or simply not your best? Ready to do more than just talk about it? If so, body oriented therapy may be for you. With body oriented therapy, we will explore not only your thoughts and emotions, but also the physical sensations, postures, and gestures that come with them. This is important because tuning into your body can help you understand your feelings, thoughts, and life experiences more deeply. This understanding can support you in being the person you want to be and creating the life you want to have.

CURRENTLY NOT ACCEPTING NEW CLIENTS Individual, Couples/Relationship, Teen Counseling. LGBTQIA +, Poly, Sex-Positive, & Kink friendly. Folks tend to come to me when they are feeling stuck around their anxiety or depression. They usually are holding questions around their sexuality/identity, life transitions, and processing grief or loss. They know that they have the wisdom to resolve these feelings inside, but they are feeling stuck on how to access them. Everything feels a little garbled, and I help them clear the way to access the answers to the questions they are holding.

Folks come to therapy for a variety of reasons that all boil down to change, whether they're struggling to handle it or make it. Many of my clients' lives don't align with societal norms, either intentionally coloring outside the lines or struggling to fit in. Folks may find themselves overwhelmed, dealing with big emotions, the effects of complex or single-event trauma, complex medical issues, or chronic pain. I am passionate about working with the LGBTQ + - including trans kids and their families, disabled, and neurodiverse populations. I like to work with individuals, couples, polycules, and families of all shapes and sizes.

Building relationships to last a lifetime! I work with * Individuals from all walks of life * Couples of all kinds - married, co-habitating, dating, divorced * Families of all sorts * Gay , lesbian , bisexual , and transgender people and their partners and families * People who are part of the kink community, or who participate in BDSM in their personal lives * People in open, non-monogamous, polyamorous, or other non-traditional relationships * Cross-cultural couples and families * Genderqueer folks * Current or former workers in the sex industry * People with body image and self-acceptance issues * People with all kinds of mental and physical health problems

The people who come to me are curious to get to know themselves in a deeper away. I work with people to help them heal from trauma, embrace their true selves, set healthier boundaries in relationships, interrupt unhelpful patterns, loosen the grip of perfectionism, mindfully manage anxiety, and live more authentically. Together, we can work toward both short-term and long-term change.

Hi and welcome! I combine traditional and holistic therapeutic approaches to support and facilitate client curiosity, exploration, and growth. My therapy practice is oriented as anti-oppression, anti-racist, community oriented, feminist, wherein I view therapy as social justice work. I am dedicated to maintaining a strength-based, compassionate, light-hearted space to support clients in strengthening their self-awareness, self-advocacy and connecting them with the wisdom that is already there. My goal is to meet my clients 'where' they are and maintain unconditional positive regard for clients, and their loved ones.

I believe that experiencing loving, nurturing relationships is the best part of being alive. I also recognize that for many of us, creating and maintaining such relationships can be incredibly hard. I view psychotherapy as a means to explore whatever is currently blocking our path to healthy, fulfilling and supportive connections--both to others and to ourselves. Sometimes that means building skills we never learned in the first place. Other times that means examining challenging past experiences. Whatever the circumstances, I am here to support your journey toward growth, fulfillment, and ultimately, greater joy.

I am honored to work with you/your loved ones and provide support wherever you find yourself in life. I will be right by your side as a fellow human being. If you are looking to build your toolbox and develop your sense of empowerment to navigate this world, then we can work on that together. We will work together to build a therapeutic relationship. Relationships are where healing can happen. Together, we can carry your traumas, fears, and anxieties in holistic and traditional approaches. If you’d like to take a step, contact me today for a consultation.

Couples/Relationship Counseling. LGBTQ , Poly, & Kink friendly. Clients that like my style seek therapy mostly for anxiety or depression that comes from the feeling that life lacks purpose, feels stuck, or stale; especially during times of heartache, misunderstanding, break-ups, or even death. Many useful moments, crucial moments, can arise at the end of something - unresolved past hurts, spiritual dilemmas, a sudden urgency and passion for figuring out "why we're here" - understanding them and integrating them is what I offer. Closing the old stuff up well means new, exciting beginnings are possible...often in the same relationship!

Finding the right therapist can be daunting, and for some, it can be the most difficult step. I offer a free 15 minute phone consultation so that you can assess if we are the right fit. I work with teens and adults presenting with concerns such as depression, anxiety, trauma, grief/ loss, chronic health concerns, relationship issues, and life transitions. In our work together we will explore your strengths and root you in them. We will define your values and explore how to live your life in harmony with them. We will also create space for the areas in your life where you want change and navigate the path to get you there.