Chris Perry (he/him/his)

LGBTQ+ folks are the mainstay of my practice and are a group that I feel very comfortable with. I find this a challenging question to answer because the issues that we face as LGBTQ+ individuals are so diverse that they cannot be summarized into one category. Nonetheless, I have worked with people on many walks of life, facing a multitude of challenges, and at the core of this work is empowerment, liberation, safety, authenticity, and justice.

I have found that the counseling resources available for folks who orient toward poly relationships are fairly sparse, so this is work that I have found a passion for. Whether it be navigating this for yourself for the first time, to identifying issues within pre-existing relationships, I am confident that we can find what fits best for you.

Anxiety often underlies the work that I do as a therapist and I have found it to stem from many different areas. I utilize a wide variety of tools to help you feel more comfortable, both in terms of short-term stabilization and longer-term coping. It is one of the most challenging emotions that comes up in us, thus I welcome a discussion about your anxieties so that we can move through them and into the deep work that psychotherapy has to offer.

I strongly believe that each person in the relationship is a rich source of information, and it is well known that within us all are innate neurological systems that signal to us safety or danger within relationships. Attuning to these systems, in ourselves, in one another, and within the relationship, often elicits lasting healing. Thus, you will find me watching what is happening between us quite closely as a means toward therapeutic intervention and change.

This is where my formal training is - existential phenomenology. I realize that every human faces huge questions: life, death, relationship, meaning. The anxiety that moves us toward or away from finding meaning can be a great gift when harnessed, but can also paralyze us and lead toward a feeling of stagnancy. I do not consider existentialism as an intervention, necessarily, but it is a frame that underlies all of the work that we do together.

This is the mainstay of what I do. We are born into relationship and these attachments that we find ourselves within can shape us as beings for many years to come. Often this means that we find discomfort within relationships later in life, yet we do not know why beyond perhaps a vague feeling that something isn't right. This, in turn, can lead to many of the issues that present within therapy. Thus, learning to be in new ways within relationships can be profoundly healing.

EMDR operates with the assumption that innate to each individual is the capacity for adaptation and growth, but that trauma blocks us from being able to move toward healing. This modality enables me to approach trauma using tools and techniques born from a large evidence base that are profoundly healing. By looking at how trauma shaped your world and instilled beliefs within your body that now inform how you approach the world we are able to then create movement toward peace and comfort.

I believe in celebrating neurodiversity and fostering an inclusive environment for all individuals, which includes celebrating each neurotype (including autistic, ADHD, or AuDHD). My approach to working with clients with autism and ADHD is rooted in respect, understanding, and empowerment. I do not view these traits as disorders, deficits, or pathologies, but rather as unique aspects of human diversity that should be embraced and valued.