Unfurl. Untangle. Thrive.
Healing is finding safety and belonging as your whole self without perfection.
You are the expert of your own life, and I am here to walk alongside you as a collaborator to build a shared path toward healing. As a queer, neurodivergent clinician, my approach is deeply humanistic, feminist, and trauma-informed, offering a safe space where you don’t have to mask. I help clients blend practical coping skills with deep emotional processing to navigate life’s toughest moments. I believe that showing up for therapy is brave, vulnerable work, which is why we prioritize progress over perfection.
Growing up in a conservative Midwestern suburb, where the binary was the norm, it took me a long time to understand my own identity and find where I belonged. Connecting with queer communities finally gave me the permission to explore who I am and what authenticity means for me. Immersing myself in community has been an incredible gift, allowing me to recognize my own privileges while learning from the diverse lived experiences of the people around me.
Queer liberation is a lifelong, active practice of resistance, requiring immense courage to show up authentically when systems of power push back time and time again. Therapy is an inherently political act, where marginalized people of all identities can process and grow in a collaborative space to defy the patriarchal, binary, and systemic expectations that society demands we accept. My goal is to help you exist beyond the frameworks that confine us, anchoring your healing in the radical freedom to choose your own body, values, identity, and future.
My favorite grounding practice is TIPP – Temperature, Intense exercise, Paced breathing & Progressive muscle relaxation. TIPP is a distress tolerance skill that engages the vagus nerve and activates the parasympathetic system for moments of high anxiety or panic. An example is an ice pack from the freezer coupled with mindful muscle relaxation.
Queer joy is rooted in laughter, self-expression, and a deep, sustaining love for community. While choosing to live authentically can be terrifying, deciding to have fun and thrive anyway is a profound act of resistance. This joy isn’t just a byproduct of survival; it is the pillar of how we reclaim our lives and our futures.
If something in you is reaching for care, that’s enough. Let’s talk and see if it feels like a fit.
We are a team, gathered by choice and commitment. Each of us brings our own story, lineage, and embodied knowing. At Velvet & Vine, we honor the multiplicity of becoming, and we believe that healing happens in relationship.
