Licensed to practice in Florida and accepts 9 insurances. Specializes in ADHD, Self Esteem, Emotional Regulation and 10 more.
(he/they)
New to Grow
I'm Kayden Rodriguez, LCSW (he/him or they/them), and I specialize in supporting LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent individuals, while welcoming anyone who has felt marginalized or misunderstood. My practice works to be trauma-informed, anti-racist, and affirming of kink/BDSM, sex work, and polyamory. The goal is no judgment, no having to "prove" yourself. At the end of the day, I want this to be a space where you feel safe, seen, and actually empowered, not just heard.
In our first session, you'll get a clear picture of how I work and what to expect from therapy with me, so there are no surprises going forward. We'll spend time building rapport, because I want you to feel like this is a space where you can actually be yourself. From there, we'll start talking through what you want to get out of therapy and set some initial goals together. We'll also do a biopsychosocial intake, which just means getting a fuller picture of your history and what's brought you in, so I can understand you as a whole person and not just the presenting issue. And before you leave, based on that intake, I'll give you a few tools or takeaways you can start using right away, so you're not just walking out with a summary of what we talked about.
A lot of it comes down to who I am outside the therapy room, not just what I learned in school. I've lived a good chunk of what my clients are working through, so I'm not coming at this from a textbook only. I'm pretty direct; I won't dance around something just to keep a session comfortable, but I'll always be warm about it. I also don't stick to one method because it's familiar; I'll pull from CBT, DBT, IFS- whatever actually fits what you're dealing with that week.
My ideal client is someone who is curious about themselves and open to the process, even when it's uncomfortable. You don't need to have it all figured out before you walk in the door. You just need to be willing to show up and do the work with me. I work with a wide range of people and concerns, and I especially love working with LGBTQ+ folks, including those navigating gender identity and exploring what affirming care looks like for them, as well as neurodivergent clients who are tired of feeling like they have to mask or explain themselves. If you've ever left a therapy appointment feeling unseen or like you had to educate your provider on the basics, I want to be a different experience for you. Whether you're dealing with anxiety, life transitions, identity exploration, or something else entirely, I'm glad to have you here.
I use CBT through a trauma informed lens, which means we're never just pushing thoughts around without paying attention to why they're there in the first place. I'm mindful of how CBT can tip into self-gaslighting if it's not done carefully, telling yourself your feelings are "wrong" or trying to think your way out of something real. So instead, we focus on building tools and perspectives that actually work for your life, rather than arguing you out of your own reality. It's less about correcting you and more about giving you options when old patterns aren't serving you anymore.
DBT is one of my primary go-tos for emotional regulation. I've completed several certificate trainings in it, and I pull from those skills often, things like distress tolerance, mindfulness, and interpersonal effectiveness, depending on what you're working through. I don't do DBT in a rigid, by-the-book way, it's more about handing you practical tools you can actually use when things feel like too much, so you leave sessions with something concrete alongside the deeper work we're doing.
Gender affirming therapy isn't just clinical training for me, it's personal. As a trans man, I bring over ten years of community involvement and volunteer work alongside three years of clinical experience to this work. I understand the both the lived experience and the therapeutic side of navigating identity, transition, and the systems you have to move through along the way. My goal is to give you a space where you don't have to explain the basics or justify who you are, we can just get to the actual work of supporting you through whatever you're navigating.
IFS is probably a favored framework of mine. I love how it helps separate trauma responses from your core self, so instead of feeling like you are your anxiety, your anger, or your shutdown response, we can start to see those as parts of you that developed for a reason. It gives us a way to build understanding and compassion for those parts instead of fighting them, while still getting you closer to your true self underneath it all. It's some of the most effective work I do around trauma specifically.
This is really the foundation everything else sits on top of. I believe you're the expert on your own life, so my role isn't to tell you who to be or what to want, it's to offer a space where you feel genuinely heard, accepted, and respected as you figure that out. No matter what other tools we're using in a given session, this is the lens that shapes how I show up with you, unconditional positive regard, empathy, and trust that you're capable of growth when you have the right support around you.