Austin Montgomery
Hello! My name is Austin. My goal is to work alongside individuals who feel disconnected or overwhelmed by the relentless demands of modern life. My approach explores how your unique personal history intersects with broader societal pressures. By examining these together, I hope to create a compassionate space to address deep-seated anxieties, integrate your past with your present and break free from exhausting external expectations.
First session
Our first session will focus on allowing me to have an opportunity to learn about you and your story, how you view the difficulties and struggles you have experienced and are experiencing, and how I can best support you.
Strengths
In session, I strive to provide a safe, non-judgmental environment where we can work together to find the meaning behind any symptoms you may be experiencing, often by integrating an understanding of past experiences and how these have shaped how we answer deeper, existential questions. My clinical experience ranges from supporting undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students navigating intense pressures to achieve, to my ongoing work with incarcerated youth within the juvenile justice system. This work has made me deeply attentive to the ways in which societal systems dictate what, and who, is considered valuable, and how those external metrics of success influence our internal sense of self.
Ideal clients
My ideal client is someone open to navigating deep questions about who they were, who they are, who they are becoming and who they want to be. I believe therapy should go beyond coping with challenges; it is an active space for lifelong change, personal agency and growth. I am especially passionate about collaborating with adolescents, young adults and individuals going through major life transitions as they deconstruct external expectations and design their own paths.
Treatment methods
Existential
My practice centers on what makes us human, including our desire for purpose, identity and connection. We all have to deal with such basic feelings as anxiety, loneliness and grief, and it can be easy to begin to feel stuck. Together, we can explore the possibilities of moving beyond coping with symptoms towards genuine, long-term growth.
Psychodynamic
We aren't always aware of why we do the things that we do, and it can be easy to find ourselves trapped in repeating patterns of behaviors. Often, these behaviors are connected to our past experiences, early relationships and trauma history. Engaging with these experiences provides insight into how your past influences your present difficulties, allowing you to move forward with clarity.
Gender-affirming therapy
I provide a gender-affirming space that rejects the pressure to limit, explain or commodify who you are as a person in exchange for comfort in a demanding world. Navigating who we are, including questions of transition and bodily autonomy, can bring up deep, existential questions, especially in a society that attempts to standardize, regulate and profit from who we are. Instead of setting a path for you, I find joy in helping enable your own sense of autonomy and agency.
Location
Virtual sessions