Racial Identity

Sarah's research and clinical experiences revolve around exploring racial identity, particularly among children, adolescents, and young adults.

I facilitate healing and growth, acknowledging the intersectionality of identities through earned wisdom and lived experience as an Asian American. I navigate sensitive issues, fostering trust and empowerment using cultural healing and incorporating decolonized approaches to therapy. My practice integrates evidence-based techniques with cultural sensitivity, ensuring clients receive affirming and effective support on their journey towards self-discovery and resilience.

Much of my graduate level research and training has been in understanding the complex racial identity development of people of color and White individuals. My dissertation research included examining how Black clients responded to White therapists who overtly broach cross-racial differences in the therapy session.

As a black man in America i first hand understand and have the lived experience of what it is like being black in this country. As a first generation African American, i also have the lived experience of being raised in two different cultures and navigating the different cultural dynamics.

Nicole offers a supportive, affirming space for clients exploring racial identity and its impact on mental health. She understands the challenges of navigating cultural expectations, discrimination, and internalized narratives. Using a trauma-informed, strengths-based approach, she helps clients process experiences, build resilience, and embrace their authentic selves. Her work is rooted in cultural humility, ensuring clients feel seen, valued, and empowered in their unique identities.

I use a mixture of lived experience and clinical knowledge to support my clients in exploring and feeling empowered within their racial identities. It can be a complex and vulnerable thing to explore what your racial identity means to you. Having a therapist that can guide and support that exploration and self-understanding without judging or having any kind of feels about it can be liberating! I love creating that space for BIPOC folks to exist and explore themselves without judgement.

Race influences and shows up in so many aspects of our lives, from microaggressions in the workplace to larger systemic issues like structural racism and implicit bias. It often affects how we navigate the world and how freely we show up as our true selves. We’ll take time to unpack and reframe your experiences with race and ethnicity, helping you step into your power and embrace your full identity, both in personal and social spaces.

I am mixed-race Chicanx and racial identity is something that I have been navigating since early childhood. In that way, much of my relationship with racial identity and mental health is informed by the concept of belongingness and thwarted belongingness as well as systemic oppression.

I am Half-Korean and Half-Italian, and my parents are 1st and 2nd generation immigrants to the US. Therapy has historically been a "white" thing to do, and has not always been a safe experience for people of color. I enjoy working with people of all intersecting identities, and work to remain culturally humble as a person and clinician. Therapy can be a helpful place to address issues related to racial identity, racial trauma, or navigating multiple cultures.

As a multiracial person myself, I understand the complexity of race and culture and it impacts our sense of identity, self and belonging. In order to develop a positive sense of self, it is imperative that we be allowed to explore and connect to these aspects of ourselves. It is my passion and pleasure to be able to provide this space to my clients of all backgrounds and experiences, and especially to those who are trans or interracially adopted or those from multiracial homes.

Feeling caught between cultures or questioning your identity can be both confusing and isolating. I provide a supportive space to help you explore your values, make sense of your experiences, and feel more grounded, confident, and authentic in who you are.

Feeling caught between cultures or questioning your identity can be both confusing and isolating. I provide a supportive space to help you explore your values, make sense of your experiences, and feel more grounded, confident, and authentic in who you are.

My expertise is in helping people with multicultural backgrounds integrate their various cultural and racial identities in order to resolve their internal multicultural dissonances.

I am Hispanic so in this country I’m considered a “minority.” I’ve had to learn how to live as a minority in many different cities & countries. I’ve also studied race & ethnicity. I put this awareness & perspective to work –with people & families who are grappling with the reality of what it means to be a person of color in this country, visibly different, visibly other. On my “time off” I work to foster social justice, to help create awareness & change around inequity & oppression of all sorts.

I entered the field of therapy because I noticed there is a lack of support and structure for those who are racial minorities. Our world is filled with rhetoric of what it means to be a racial minority now and my goal is to ensure that you belong.

Exploring topics of racial, cultural, and ethnic background as it relates to one’s family origins and personal identity.

Our aim is to facilitate discussions on fostering and promoting positive racial identity, racial consciousness, and addressing internalized biases. Through multicultural counseling techniques and identity exploration, we empower clients to navigate the complexities of race and racial identity with confidence and authenticity.

As a Black therapist, I will give you the space to process your identity and racial trauma, as well as, any challenges that come with navigating a white supremacy society.