Culturally Sensitive Therapy

I continuously educate myself on culturally sensitive skills I can apply to my therapeutic approach. I educate myself on the different cultural backgrounds of my clients. After all, it's my job to educate myself, not my client's job to educate me.

As a therapist I not only welcome but celebrate all the “stuff” that comes with my clients’ identities and I will work within my professional role and in my personal life to advocate for the needs of my clients living in marginalized communities. Which is why I operate from a fat positive, sex positive, social justice, anti-oppression, and allyship framework.

As a Black gay male therapist, I feel I understand people's needs who come from diverse cultural backgrounds. As a person who endeavors to be culturally humble, I encourage exploration in the areas of Age, Developmental disabilities, Indigenous heritage, National origin, Racial identity, Ethnic identity, Gender, Socioeconomic Status, and sexual orientation.

Societal oppression and discrimination so influence our mental health. Isolation from the pandemic even more so. When we're discriminated on the basis of race, gender identity, sexuality, health, etc., we learn to silence our voice and take up less space. We learn to hold the shame of our identity &that takes a toll. I hold a grad certificate in gender, women's, sexuality studies and my passions are fueled by empowering the voices of those who have been marginalized, silenced, and/or erased.

Diversity is intersectional and culture is so much more than simply race or ethnicity. I take into account the whole person and their experiences, beliefs, and worldview and let them educate me in their culture without making assumptions based on how they present.

All of us are conditioned by our surroundings — our families, communities, societies, culture — without exceptions. No matter your creed, gender, colour, etc., we carry experiences from our past, tinted by the world around us. Understanding who we are requires understanding these influences; otherwise, we cannot tease out who we are at our "core," from what we've been taught. Even if there is overlap, there is also a difference! I look forward to sifting through the layers with you.

I have experience working with individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds and their families, and I am always eager to learn more about others.

Operating from a culturally sensitive model is important in creating a save space for client expression. I seek to understand your specific cultural needs as they appear in the therapy space, politically, socially, and within the family of origin cultural system. I welcome clients from any diverse background, and will strive to ensure my work is culturally informed and sensitive. I specialize in LGBTQIA+, non-monogamous, and kink orientations.

Many of the clients who see me experience identity issues or trauma symptoms related to racially based or intergenerational traumas. My professional training and experience as an activist and advocate spanning decades underlies much of my focus on racial and social justice. I'm particularly attuned to issues of "difference" among those whose experiences do not reflect dominant thinking regardless of whether that experience reflects marginalization: Mixed-race, interracial and multicultural.

I am a member of several lesser represented populations: African American/Black, female, plus size to name a few. I understand how it feels to be picked on and ridiculed for just being me. My acceptance is high and my life experiences have placed me in the "friendly/aware" status for alternative lifestyles and types of loving/living and LGBTQIA+ communities.

Culturally Sensitive Therapy

Operating from a culturally sensitive model is important in creating a safe space. I seek to understand your specific cultural needs as they appear in therapy, politically, socially, and within the family system. I welcome clients from all diverse backgrounds. I specialize in LGBTQIA+, non-monogamous, marginalized, and kink orientations.

Dr. Schiffner has focused on cultural issues throughout her career. She is an AfroLatinx licensed psychologist who has experience working with clients from various cultural, racial, and economic backgrounds. Her goal is to provide anti-oppressive, inclusive, and culturally-responsive services from a lens of cultural humility knowing that she can never understand every facet of cultural diversity yet striving to remain open, self-reflective and current in diversity knowledge.

One size does NOT fit all in therapy and culture plays a HUGE role in that. With each therapy intervention that we collaboratively work on, your culture and values are at the forefront and will be honored in our therapeutic relationship.

I take seriously the sociocultural contexts in which we live our lives. Our experiences of marginalization, oppression, and privilege shape our experiences in the world and thus, our understanding of ourselves and others. I see psychotherapy as a place to explore and uncover the often hidden ways the structures and cultures in which we live impact psychological health. Therapy also can help us feel whole and grounded in all of the identities we carry.

A culturally sensitive therapist is one who is intentionally and mindfully curious about all ways of being human and all ways of healing. For the therapist, this takes work and deep listening, a willingness to be moved, disturbed, and humbled. Cultural sensitivity is understanding that there are experiences and feelings that you can never fully know or understand because you will never experience these things yourself (humility). It means staying vigilant for signs of implicit bias within.

Each person on staff receives training in this area multiple times a year. Culture sensitivity is also part of our mission.

I believe strongly that our culture(s) play a huge role in our happiness as well as our dysfunction. I take social, cultural, family, and systems level factors into account when working with clients and believe that healing our relationships to our cultures is a major part of overall mental health.

I am a queer, feminist therapist and coming from a systems background, believe that the environments and systems we are surviving within impact our sense of safety and our sense of self. I work hard to deconstruct and unpack the ways our shitty cultural norms negatively impact my clients and connect them back to an internalized sense of self-worth, self-esteem, self-validation, and safety.