LCSW, 7 years of experience
New to Grow
Hey there! I'm Helen Garcia, an LCSW and the owner of Sincere Practice. As a first-generation Filipina American, my background really informs how I approach our sessions. I love creating a safe, non-judgmental spot, especially for creative people. Maybe you're stuck in a creative rut, recovering from narcissistic abuse or grief, wrestling with faith-based questions, or just need support around Asian American mental health—I'm here to truly see and get you. When I'm not in therapy sessions, I host the Sincere Practice Podcast, where we chat about mental wellness and the ups and downs of the creative journey!
The first session is primarily an Intake Session—a foundational step to ensure our work together is tailored precisely to your needs and goals. This is a time for mutual understanding and setting the stage for sincere, effective practice. What you can expect: - Reviewing Background and History: We will spend time discussing your current concerns, what brings you to therapy now, and gathering a comprehensive background history. This includes your family, cultural, relational, and professional life, as well as any previous experiences with counseling. - Exploring Your Goals: We'll clearly define what you hope to achieve through therapy. Whether it's overcoming a creative block, navigating complex grief, healing from past trauma, or integrating your faith more sincerely into your life, having clear goals helps us chart our course. - Mutual Understanding: I'll answer any questions you have about my approach, process, or what therapy looks like with me. We will work toward a mutual understanding of how I can best serve you, ensuring that you feel seen, safe, and truly understood from the very start. - Creating a Roadmap: While we won't solve everything in the first hour, we will begin to identify key themes and establish an initial roadmap for our subsequent sessions. Ultimately, the goal of this initial session is for you to leave feeling a sense of clarity, connection, and confidence in the therapeutic journey we are about to begin together.
My therapeutic approach stands out because it's not just about fixing problems—it's about helping you build a whole, connected, and vibrant life. I don't just treat your symptoms; I focus on the root cause of your struggles. Here are the three key things that make my work unique: I Specialize in Creatives and Culture: I provide a truly supportive space for artists and other creative individuals. I see your creative block (or slump) not just as a work issue, but as a sign of something deeper—an underlying wound, trauma, or identity issue. Plus, as a first-generation Filipina American, I bring a unique cultural understanding, especially for those navigating complex family dynamics and the healing from trauma like narcissistic abuse. It's Holistic and Integrative: We don't compartmentalize your life. We look at everything together: your emotional health, your creative life, your cultural background, and your spirituality (through faith-based counseling). This means the healing is deeper and more complete. The Goal is Thriving, Not Just Surviving: My ultimate goal is to move you from merely getting by to truly flourishing. By helping you connect with your "true self" and integrating all these parts, we achieve results that lead to meaningful relationships, purpose, and a renewed joy for life.
We'll be a great fit if you're a creative soul, a deep feeler, and a courageous survivor who is totally ready to stop just surviving and finally start thriving. You're the kind of person who wants to move beyond the sting of a creative block, the whispers of old trauma (especially the crazy-making confusion of narcissistic abuse), the heavy burden of grief, or the tough challenge of reconciling your faith and who you really are. You're committed to looking honestly at yourself, you crave deep, meaningful connection, and you're ready to use your inner world—your spirituality, your creativity, your unique background—as the powerful foundation for building a life that feels truly whole and fulfilling.
My specialization in culturally sensitive therapy is driven by a deep commitment to acknowledging and integrating the diverse backgrounds, values, and experiences of each individual into the therapeutic process. I recognize that culture profoundly shapes mental health, coping mechanisms, and treatment expectations. By adopting a culturally sensitive approach, I ensure that therapy is not only respectful and affirming of a client's identity—including race, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation—but also maximally effective. My goal is to move beyond a one-size-fits-all model, co-creating a healing space where clients feel truly seen, understood, and validated in the context of their unique cultural framework.
Attachment-Based Treatment (ABT) serves as a cornerstone of my therapeutic practice, providing a robust framework for understanding and addressing deep-seated emotional and relational patterns. By focusing on the client's internal working models—the unconscious blueprints of relationships formed in early life—ABT helps to illuminate how past attachment experiences influence present-day relational distress and emotional regulation.
IFS (Internal Family Systems) is integrated into my practice to gently guide clients toward recognizing and understanding their psyche as comprised of various "parts"—each with positive intent. This model allows clients to differentiate from extreme or burdened parts, accessing the core Self, which is inherently compassionate, calm, and clear. By operating from the Self, clients can heal wounded parts (Exiles) and harmonize protective parts (Managers and Firefighters). The primary therapeutic goal is to foster internal cohesion, self-leadership, and self-compassion, transforming internal conflict into collaboration. Ultimately, IFS empowers clients to establish a secure, compassionate relationship with their whole internal system, leading to sustainable emotional regulation and authentic self-expression in the world.
In my practice, I utilize the Gottman Method to provide couples with a concrete, evidence-based roadmap for relational health, often called the "Sound Relationship House." This involves teaching practical skills such as using Softened Start-ups for raising issues and developing effective Repair Attempts to de-escalate conflicts before they become destructive. By focusing on conflict management alongside building fondness, admiration, and shared meaning, the Gottman Method helps couples actively replace the "Four Horsemen" (Criticism, Contempt, Defensiveness, and Stonewalling) with positive emotional deposits. This skill-based approach moves couples beyond symptom management, leading to profound, lasting improvements in communication, trust, and intimacy. Ultimately, the method empowers couples to build a deeper, more resilient sense of "we-ness" that endures daily challenges.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an evidence-based approach centered on developing psychological flexibility by changing a client's relationship with difficult internal experiences. My practice integrates ACT's six core processes—Acceptance, Defusion, Being Present, Self-as-Context, Values, and Committed Action—to help clients navigate struggles while pursuing a rich life. A foundational element is clarifying personal values, which serve as a compass for setting goals and taking value-consistent actions. Ultimately, ACT moves beyond symptom reduction to increase resilience, reduce emotional suffering, and enable clients to actively build a life of meaning. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a practical, science-backed approach that helps you stop fighting difficult thoughts and feelings. Instead, we work on changing how you react to them, building "psychological flexibility." In my practice, I use ACT's core tools to help you navigate life's struggles while actively building a rich, meaningful life. A key part of this is figuring out what truly matters to you (your personal values). These values act as your inner compass, guiding you to set goals and take actions that align with the life you want to live. Ultimately, ACT is about more than just reducing symptoms; it's about increasing your resilience, reducing emotional pain, and empowering you to actively create a life full of purpose.