LGBTQIA+ Affirming Therapy in Washington
Therapy where your gender, sexuality, and relationships don't need to be justified, explained, or treated as problems to solve.
I offer LGBTQIA+ affirming counseling and art therapy for adults and teens via telehealth throughout Washington State.
You might be looking for therapy specifically because of something related to your identity—or you might simply want a therapist who understands that your identity is part of the context of your life without making it the focus of every session.
Both are welcome here.
You Shouldn't Have to Teach Your Therapist the Basics
Finding a therapist as an LGBTQIA+ person can involve an extra layer of questions.
Will they understand my identity? Will I have to explain terminology? Will they make assumptions about my relationships? Will they say they're “affirming” but become uncomfortable when gender or sexuality actually comes up?
LGBTQIA+ affirming therapy involves more than simply being accepting.
In my practice, I aim to create space where you can talk openly about gender, sexuality, relationships, family, sex, identity, or anything else that's relevant to you—without assuming that being LGBTQIA+ is inherently the source of whatever brought you to therapy.
What Can We Work On?
There isn't a particular issue you need to have in order to seek LGBTQIA+ affirming therapy.
We might work together around:
Anxiety and overwhelm
Burnout
Identity exploration
Gender and sexuality
Coming out—or choosing not to
Relationships and communication
Family relationships
Boundaries and people-pleasing
Self-criticism and perfectionism
Life transitions
Experiences of discrimination or minority stress
Building a life that feels more aligned with your values
Or we might spend very little time talking about your LGBTQIA+ identity at all.
The important part is that you don't have to wonder whether that part of you will be understood or respected when it does matter.
My Approach to LGBTQIA+ Affirming Therapy
I approach therapy from a feminist, anti-oppressive, anti-carceral, and trauma-informed perspective.
That means I'm interested not only in what's happening inside you, but also in the environments and systems you're navigating. Sometimes distress is something we can approach by developing new skills or changing our relationship with difficult thoughts and emotions. Other times, distress makes a great deal of sense in the context of discrimination, ableism, transphobia, homophobia, social expectations, or environments that weren't designed with you in mind.
Therapy shouldn't automatically turn understandable survival responses to those real experiences into individual problems to fix.
My work also draws from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), art therapy, and other creative approaches. Together, we can explore what matters to you and find ways of moving toward a life that feels more authentically yours.
When Queerness and Neurodivergence Intersect
For many people, gender, sexuality, and neurodivergence aren't neatly separable parts of identity.
Questions about masking, social expectations, sensory needs, relationships, gender expression, belonging, and what it means to live authentically can overlap in complicated ways.
If you're both LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent—or wondering whether you might be—you don't need to decide which part of yourself belongs in therapy.
Creative and Art-Based Therapy
You don't always have to find exactly the right words.
As an art therapist, I can incorporate drawing, painting, collage, creative writing, and other forms of creative expression into our work when they're useful to you.
Art can give us another way to explore identity, emotions, relationships, and experiences that may feel difficult to explain through conversation alone.
No artistic experience is necessary, and making art is always optional.
LGBTQIA+ Affirming Therapy Throughout Washington State
I provide individual telehealth counseling and art therapy for LGBTQIA+ teens and adults throughout Washington State.
You don't need to arrive at therapy with everything figured out. If you're looking for a therapist who will meet you with curiosity, respect, and room to be complicated, we can start with a free 15-minute consultation to see whether working together feels like a good fit.