Natalie Baker
My name is Natalie Baker, and I use she/they pronouns. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in New Jersey and have been working in the mental health field for more than 25 years. I believe that people make sense when we understand their context and history. My job is not to tell you who you should be or how you should feel. I want to understand how you experience the world, how your brain and nervous system work, and what you have learned to do to navigate your life.
I use a neurodivergent-affirming, gender-affirming, non-pathologizing therapy lens within a racial justice framework.
Therapy with me is collaborative, curious, and sometimes a little unconventional. I will ask questions, notice patterns, and help us slow down enough to understand what is happening rather than immediately assuming it needs to be fixed. I want therapy to be a place where you can truly be seen and where all of you can be acknowledged, including the parts of yourself you may have learned to hide, judge, or wish were different. I bring many years of clinical experience to our work, and you bring the expertise on you. Good therapy makes room for both.
First session
In our first session, we’ll work together to identify what brings you to therapy and what you hope will be different. We’ll develop collaborative goals that give our work direction while leaving room for those goals to evolve as we learn more about what you need. My approach is collaborative, client-led, and grounded in respect for your individual needs, values, and lived experience. I integrate a range of evidence-based and compassionate approaches, including Internal Family Systems (IFS), EMDR, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Person-Centered Therapy, Compassionate Inquiry, somatic approaches, and mindfulness practices. Rather than assuming one approach works for everyone, we’ll pay attention to what works for you and adapt our work accordingly. At the heart of my work is the belief that everyone has inherent worth. My role is to help you approach yourself and your experiences with greater curiosity and compassion, better understand how your mind and nervous system work, and strengthen your connection to your own inner wisdom.
Strengths
I bring both lived experience and many years of clinical experience to my work. I am neurodivergent, an immigrant, fat, disabled, and queer. These experiences inform the way I understand difference, belonging, accessibility, and what it can be like to move through systems that were not necessarily designed with you in mind. My work is neurodivergent-affirming, gender-affirming, non-pathologizing, and grounded in a racial justice framework. I am curious, open, and comfortable with complexity. I don't need you to make your experience neat or easy to explain. If something doesn't make sense yet, we can get curious about it together. One of my strengths as a therapist is noticing patterns and connections while staying open to being wrong. I bring my clinical knowledge and experience, but I won't assume that I understand your experience better than you do. I believe people have an inherent capacity for healing. My role is to help create the conditions where you can better understand yourself, develop a different relationship with the parts of you that have worked hard to protect you, and discover what actually works for your brain, your nervous system, and your life.
Ideal clients
Many of the people I work best with have spent a long time feeling different, misunderstood, or as though the usual advice about how they “should” think, feel, or function just doesn’t quite work for them. I specialize in working with neurodivergent and LGBTQ+ adults, therapists, and people carrying the impact of trauma. You don’t need to come to therapy already knowing exactly what is wrong or what you need. In fact, a lot of our work may begin with curiosity: What is happening here? Why does this make sense? What is making this so hard? What does your brain or nervous system need that it isn’t getting? My ideal client is willing to get curious about themselves rather than treating themselves as a problem to be fixed. Together, we can understand the patterns, parts, and experiences that have helped you survive and figure out which ones still serve you, which ones may need something different now, and what actually works for you. The work is about understanding yourself more deeply and having more capacity when life gets hard.
Treatment methods
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
I have been using internal family systems since 2020. All parts are welcome. it is through seeing all of us (our parts) and making them feel safe that we heal.
EMDR
I use EMDR with IFS and person-centered therapy to address trauma
Location
Virtual sessions
Identifies as
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Serves
Doesn't specialize in
Licensed in
- FloridaLicense TPMC6491
- New JerseyLicense 37PC00329800