Culturally Sensitive Therapy

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.

For someone who holds an identity that is a cultural other, it is important that therapy is a space that is protected from further cultural othering. Culturally sensitive or Culturally humble therapy is a space that prioritizes and centers someone's cultural experience. Meaning, you don't have to defend why your family was the way it was - rather, you can experience acceptance for your cultural parts and process healing in therapy together.

For someone who holds an identity that is a cultural other, it is important that therapy is a space that is protected from further cultural othering. Culturally sensitive or Culturally humble therapy is a space that prioritizes and centers someone's cultural experience. Meaning, you don't have to defend why your family was the way it was - rather, you can experience acceptance for your cultural parts and process healing in therapy together.

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.

Your cultural identity is unique. Culturally sensitive therapy means I make no assumptions about you. Instead, you inform your unique cultural identity. Culture is not the same as ethnicity; ethnicity may inform parts of a person’s cultural perspective, but these are not interchangeable concepts. Culture can also include: spirituality and religious beliefs, having lived in different countries or regions of the US, and perspectives from employment institutions or educational background.

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.

Much of my graduate school training was in cross-cultural psychology, including understanding how culture is important in helping clients who struggle with various mental health problems. I use a cultural lens to view each of my clients and consider how culture has shaped them over time.

I was raised in a family that were open minded. Throughout my life I have sought to be involved in social justice activities. I acquired a minor in ethnic studies and surround myself with people different from myself to continue to grow. I seek opportunities for additional training in cultural competency. The most important thing that makes me an expert in this area is knowing that I am not an expert in others' lives and learning never ends, it is ongoing.

My graduate training program specially focused on social justice and providing culturally sensitive therapy. I have been trained by racially diverse mentors and have experience with many different cultural groups including clients who identify with various races, religions, ethnic backgrounds, national origins, ability statuses, genders, sexual orientations, and immigration statuses.

My work as a therapist and assessor is to see each patient in the context of our communities and their many identities. I aim to be culturally aware of possible difference while making space for each individual's self expression. Cultural responsivity is a life long journey. I aspire to continually learn about myself and the communities around me.

My background working with diverse individuals has been some of the most humbling and rewarding work I've done because it pushes me to examine the biases and assumptions I've accumulated over the years living in the US majority culture. I work from a broad definition of diversity that encompasses not only racial/ethnic identity but also ability status, faith background, family make up, political ideology, and more. I value your uniqueness and building trust with you is my top priority.

Incorporating each clients individual cultural background is fundamental in understanding a clients experience in the world. Who we are, what we believe, our cultural norms, our gender, age, generation- all of these details define how we see, and are seen in the world. Having an understanding of the world through the clients perspective is crucial in therapy.

As a white clinician, I strongly believe it is my job to orient my work around acknowledging systems of oppression, because I know the therapy room exists in the world, not in a vacuum. I believe therapy can be a liberation tool against oppression because the more we can feel, grieve and talk about these systems, the more fortified we are to resist them. Your ancestral roots, intersecting identities, and cultural practices are an honor for me to make space for in our work together.

In a culturally responsive and humble approach, I work to bring all aspects of your identity as strengths in the counseling environment. I believe that when we are in touch with all aspects of our identity, we are better able to proactively address the challenges that are facing us.

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.

In order to heal, you must be accurately seen and accepted! I see therapy as an opportunity for you to be seen in your wholeness, while we unpack the systemic and structural oppression you combat and survive every day. I utilize careful attunement in session to understand you as the incredible, unique, expansive person you are. Outside of session, I remain active in my own education to better understand various identities you may hold that are different from my own.

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.