Culturally Sensitive Therapy

Sociocultural and identity factors (gender, race, sexuality, etc. ) shape how we experience the world and how the world interacts with us. My training emphasizes the importance of understanding how these factors impact our mental health.

I am deeply committed to offering culturally sensitive therapy to individuals and families from diverse backgrounds. I have extensive training in working with marginalized communities. My approach is rooted in understanding the impact of culture, identity, and systemic barriers on mental health. I tailor my therapeutic interventions to honor each client’s unique cultural experiences, ensuring they feel seen, respected, and understood.

I have studied at the Multicultural Family Institute, the Ackerman Institute for the family, and the Eikenberg Academy for Social Justice following the teachings of leaders in culturallly sensitive therapy such as Kenneth V. Hardy, Monica McGoldrick, Nydia Garcia Prieto, thandiwe Dee Watts Jones, and Resmaa Menakem. I continue to develop and deepen my ability to practice culturally sensitive therapy through ongoing practice, supervision and training.

Completed multiple trainings in providing culturally responsive treatment across a variety of settings to include children, adults, adolescents of multiple ethnicities.

Culturally sensitive therapy emphasizes the therapist's understanding of a client’s background, ethnicity, and belief system. Therapists can incorporate cultural sensitivity into their work to accommodate and respect differences in opinions, values, and attitudes of various cultures and different types of people.

My life is immersed in alternative and marginalized communities, and I seek regular trainings in cultural sensitivity.

Based upon your unique pieces of diversity (e.g., age, gender, race, class, etc.) I work to uncover how to view these from a place of agency and strength; in your home, work and social spheres. Each of us have aspects of our identity which we aren't nurturing to the fullest of our ability.

As a second-generation Arab American and child of immigrants, I understand the richness and beauty that being part of a collectivistic culture can provide. Yet I am also aware of the issues that can arise in trying to forge your own identity and create fulfilling relationships while embracing the most meaningful aspects of your culture. I love working with children of immigrants trying to navigate intergenerational family dynamics or cultural conflicts in a way that feels best for you.

Well-researched treatments aren't enough. Your therapist requires the right attitude for diversity-affirmative care. I make an effort to practice cultural humility, which is a lifelong commitment to learning and respecting clients' identities and experiences. Labels don't help here - I try to neither over-inflate nor under-estimate the role of your identity in your life. I work to foster safety, trust, transparency, collaboration, and empowerment.

I am a woman of color, who is open and available to speak about racial injustice and disparity in the United States and globally. I am a 3rd generation (Mexican) American-Latinx

My training as a counseling psychologist is steeped in a holistic view of humanity: strengths-based, developmental, contextual, multiculturally-sensitive with a focus on social justice. I have taught many courses on on CST, but more importantly, I continue to engage in a personal ongoing practice of cultural self-exploration, including awareness of the privilege I hold. CST means that we can explore all aspects of your identity and the ways they influence and contextualize your experiences.

Sharing some of the most vulnerable parts of ourselves can feel high-risk, especially if you've experienced dismissal and shame for those experiences. Cultural sensitivity, therefore, is a must so that therapy feels safe and conducive to healing. Recognizing and respecting your unique histories, values, and cultural and familial norms validates and affirms your lived experience. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, therapy is highly tailored and modified to be inclusive.

I believe that we all see the world through our own cultural lens. Being allowed to learn about a client's world and belief systems is a truly humbling experience. With my experience as a former diversity coordinator coupled with being aware of the various cultural stipulations that exist in society allows me to provide you with the necessary and relevant interventions that would not only be respectful to your beliefs but also catered towards the system we are a part of.

As a multicultural person, providing a space that is not only trauma-informed, but culturally sensitive is vital to me as a mental health professional. I believe therapy not only should be culturally-sensitive, but creative in the ways we reach clients to make therapy accessible, meaningful, and impactful. While providing this space and expertise, I keep in mind I am not an expert on everyone's culture, while building a connective relationship where the full you can show up at your pace.

I am intersectionally oriented and strive to understand each aspect of a client's context and identity and intersectional layers which exist, specifically for marginalized or oppressed communities. To promote holistic healing and to engage in an authentic therapeutic space, we work collaboratively, to identify each unique intersectional experiences as valid and legitimate.

It is important for me to be culturally sensitive in my work as I have worked and will continue to work with people from different cultural backgrounds, values and traditions. Learning, respecting and implementing this into the therapeutic relationship is most important for clients to receive the highest benefit of services and feel seen, heard and understood. I am not an expert on all cultures but I am sensitive to cultural differences that will be welcomed and discussed as needed.

I believe that understanding how sociocultural, systemic, and institutional forces influence the ways that you traverse this world. Examining such contexts can facilitate the harnessing of your internal wisdom as well as become more connected to your collective and ancestral experiences.

Culture informs how we view and understand our values and others around us. It's important to integrate that into therapy, as well as for your therapist to respect and understand your perspective.