Feminist Therapy

I believe societal pressures and constructs impact every individual, and therefore, every relationship. Feminist therapy and feminist family therapy acknowledge how societal expectations, gender constructs, and personal biases can influence an individual's ability to connect with others and prescribe how they do so. As a feminist therapist, I can help you understand and examine how expectations from those around us influence our sense of self and how we show up in our relationships and lives.

I work to stay open to and educated on a diverse array of approaches to gender and sexuality, I won’t shame you for the way you have sex or gaslight you about an experience that was non-consensual. It’s important to me to be LGBTQ+ Affirmative and a BIPOC Ally. I work with sex positive feminists of all genders, but my practice is focused on supporting women.

I approach my work from a social justice lens, always considering the importance of intersectional oppression in psychological distress.

My therapy is always sensitive to issues of power, privilege, and oppression along many dimensions, not just gender. I approach feminism from an intersectional perspective, and am mindful of my own privileged identities as well. I take a collaborative, curious approach with all clients and recognize clients' expertise on their own lives.

As a feminist therapist I strive for therapy relationships that are as egalitarian as possible while still acknowledging power differences inherent in therapy. We will pay attention to your unique identity while working to understand how oppression you have experienced has affected your thoughts, feelings and ideas about yourself. Feminist therapy is for everyone -- people of any gender, race, sexual orientation, age, or religion.

My approach to feminist therapy involves integrating my own identity with the realities of living in society as a woman. I am passionate about working through the discrimination that women face, as well as exploring the intersectional identities that oftentimes compound the discrimination. I value social justice as a therapist, and actively incorporate it in all of my sessions.

I was there at the beginning of the feminist therapy movement in the 1970's in Berkeley, CA. I remember working with other women to discover what a feminist approach to crisis/rape counseling might involve. My doctoral dissertation was a feminist analysis of women who attempt suicide. This was at a time when there was almost no research on why women made more attempts than men. The personal is political!

I utilize feminist therapy in the ways that I support clients in exploring how the broader social-cultural context impacts mental health and overall wellness. This can include gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and more. I view this as a crucial part of therapy because our systems and structures directly impact us as individuals, and without including this perspective, I find that it can be more challenging to holistically address what's happening in our lives.

I practice from an anti-oppressive and fat positive framework. I recognize how systems at multiple levels intersect and can impact someone's ability to thrive, or even survive.

What forms of gender expression feel safest, most comfortable, or fun for you? Which forms feel unsafe or unavailable to you? Gender-based expectations and norms impact people of all genders, and may be holding you back from being yourself and feeling empowered. We will explore the ways that your gender impacts your life, including your values and any limiting beliefs that you may be internalizing from your upbringing, environment, or culture about yourself or others.

Everything I see I view through the lens of being a lesbian woman in a changing but still extremely sexist society. It impacts the dynamics of everyone's lives. I see empowering women as my purpose for this practice as well as my soul's mission for being here at this time on the planet. Feminist therapy for me has always been about fighting all the "isms" we face. It won't do to be progressive about women but not recognize race, class, gender identity, disability or immigration status.

I highly prioritize the equal value of all people, which means no one is more important or more valuable than anyone else. However, when experience has influenced your sense of self, you may struggle to live out that sense of worth. Therapy with me intentionally makes space to evaluate how you see yourself vs how you want to, so we can navigate a path forward together.

Feminism is going through growth spurts. As the therapist and nutritionist to women and femmes, I am constantly reading and educating myself on how to best, and most respectfully honor the multitude of identities that each person inevitably carries as well as attend trainings than emphasize social justice and activism. Anne Balay is credited as saying, “If your feminism isn’t intersectional, then it isn’t feminism.” Our work together will help you liberate not only your body, also your mind.

I am rooted in anti-oppression as the lens through which we can make sense of many of our struggles. I believe in depathologizing mental illness by correctly identifying external sources of distress rather than seeing your pain as a personal problem. I have and continue to educate myself on systemic and interpersonal oppression in order to better understand the experiences of marginalized clients and to prevent harming my clients through my ignorance.

I promote an egalitarian relationship with my clients, acknowledging they are the experts of their lives. I work with all clients, regardless of gender or sexual identity, on identifying areas of their life they experience oppression, and how it impacts their overall wellbeing. One of my greatest joys as a counselor is witnessing individuals become empowered to make choices and take actions that promote wellbeing, regardless of whether those choices are congruent with societal norms.

When treating mental health issues, we must also consider the disempowering societal, cultural, and political forces which impact our individual wellbeing. Doing therapy through a feminist theory lens can help us remember that the personal is political, and put our individual issues into a larger context of systemic oppression.

In my philosophical counseling practice, I rely heavily on feminist wisdom about the problematic social expectations and gendered "scripts" placed upon women that reduce our personhood, freedom, and ability to pursue our own authentic lives. Together with my clients, I work to dismantle the assumption that these cultural scripts are somehow "the way of nature," shed light on the inequities that they create, and free up our thinking for new self-perceptions and aspirations.

The Feminist perspective in counseling focuses on the importance of empowerment, and awareness of systems of oppression that impact people of all genders. What you can expect here is to be treated with respect and to have the whole person that you are, all your identities and lived experience validated and welcomed in counseling. You can expect that we can talk about the differences between our identities and lived experiences in a safe and productive way.