Licensed to practice in California. Specializes in LGBTQ, Life Transitions, Trauma and PTSD and 8 more.
(they/them)
New to Grow
My practice, Raíz Psychotherapy, is deeply grounded in the understanding of how systemic issues of the world we live in play major roles in our mental health. By acknowledging the systemic, I take a liberatory approach as we dive deeper in our work together to explore the factors influencing your day-to-day life to better support you in meeting your therapeutic goals. I love to work with people who are motivated to engage in therapy, and that can look many different ways. Sometimes motivation manifests as curiosity to look at certain patterns or areas of your life in new ways, it can also look like knowing exactly what changes you want to make in your life and knowing it's time to start that work, and or others being motivated looks like finally taking the big step to ask for support. Regardless of how motivation looks for you, if this resonates with you, we can do great work together to get to the root of your experience and create change. Past clients have described me as collaborative, understanding, trustworthy, authentic, and supportive.
Our first session will be focused on getting to know one another. We will go over your goals for our time together and can talk through how you might want to feel in the future, any actions you feel motivated to take, or areas of your life you want to explore in therapy. Together, we will set goals or intentions for our work together. I may ask you about previous experiences in therapy and will always leave ample time for you to ask any questions that might be important for you to know about your therapist.
I have worked in the mental health field for the last ten years of my life; the last six years my work has been in the capacity of a therapist. Before that I worked as a classroom counselor, an advocate for survivor of sexual and domestic violence, and a case manager in community mental health settings. I have worked with people of all ages in a wide range of setting including classrooms, emergency rooms, hotlines, LGBTQ+ Centers, and both virtual and in-person therapy offices. My lived experiences and pre-graduate education together with my career in community mental health have given me a decolonial and systems-aware perspective that strongly informs the way I support others through therapy. In order to deeply understand someone, it is important to get a holistic view of their life experiences and their own perspective on the ways that they are impacted by the systems of oppressions in this day and age. Acknowledging the reality of the times we are living in ensures that in the therapy room, you can feel more at ease to explore mental health in a way that feels authentic and free of judgement.
LGBTQ+ identified individuals wanting support with issues including but not limited to relational issues with family, romantic partners, or platonic relationships, figuring out how to stay individuated while in romantic connections, kink/BDSM, gender, sexuality, processing childhood, complex, or systemic traumatic experiences People who identify as Latine/a/o and BIPoC who want specialized, culturally-sensitive support around issues including but not limited to intergenerational trauma, first generation family issues, the impacts of immigration and acculturation across generations, and other complex, systemic traumatic experiences Relational Constellations including, people on non-monogamous relationships, polycules, Monogamous couples, friends, and adults wanting to improve their relationships with their parents who need support to resolve issues that are affecting the relationship(s) Individuals seeking psychedelic and/or spiritual integration. Have you had an experience in an altered state of consciousness that you're still not quite sure what to make of? Therapy can be a great place to process these experiences. Altered states of consciousness can include states influenced by: substances, spiritual awakenings, or near-death-experiences. Specializing in integration for Ketamine Assisted Therapy (KAT), this is a great option if you are already connected to a prescriber for your medicine. Please note that for appointments centered around integration, the use of any substances is not allowed during session, this is simply a space to process these experiences. If you have questions about KAT, please contact me via the contact page (bold is a hyperlink to the contact form)
Other specialties
I identify as
Eclectic
My eclectic therapeutic style draws from a variety of modalities. I draw from a lot of different theories and modalities to create an individualized experience for each of my clients. If you're curious about specifics: I was trained in psychodynamic theory and incorporate somatic techniques learned through my training in Somatic Experiencing. I also draw a lot from attachment theory and emotionally-focused therapy (EFT). My work in community health has also trained me in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) interventions. When incorporating techniques from these last three modalities, I like to combine the evidence-based interventions with client-centered and holistic methods to ensure that each client's individual set of strengths and experiences is honored as we work together towards their goals.
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
I completed training for Emotionally-Focused Therapy with Couples and am excited to work with couples using this particular modality. EFT is based on attachment theory and supports individuals, couples, and families in improving communication and increasing understanding, reconnecting, repairing relationships, and working together to build more secure attachment to the people they love. I love EFT because it is non-pathologizing and works to get to the root of relational issues.
Trauma Informed Care
My decade of experience in community mental health as well as 6 years of working as a therapist with people who have experienced complex trauma in childhood, adolescence, or adulthood makes it impossible for me to work in a way that is not trauma informed. To me, providing trauma-informed care means being aware of all of the many external factors that can influence how we shape or thoughts, beliefs, behaviors, and relationships. Sometimes providing trauma-informed care means going slower in sessions, not requiring you to disclose details of your trauma to successfully help guide you in healing from the effects of your experience, or being real about how messed up the world feels in this moment and sitting with you in that pain.
Gender-affirming therapy
Both my personal and professional life make providing gender-affirming therapy absolutely necessary to my practice. I value co-creating a therapeutic relationship where my clients can feel comfortable expressing and exploring themselves authentically. I have been working with trans and non-binary folks for the entirety of my career in the field of mental health. I have experience providing trainings to largely cisgender and heterosexual audiences about creating more gender-affirming environments in schools, workplaces, and in their lives as a whole. It really matters to me that everyone's authentic self expression is honored, through all of its iterations.
Culturally Sensitive Therapy
Another core value of my practice is involving culturally sensitive therapy to every client I have the joy of working with. I really love working with other BIPoC to process the effects of racism, classism, sexism, colorism, xenophobia, transphobia and homophobia in a way that holds the complexities of every individual's unique cultural context. I have experience providing therapy services in Spanish and hope to get a chance to do that more often.