About me

Activist Lilla Watson expressed: “If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” This vision inspires my approach to therapy: one that is collaborative, open, and exploratory, kindled by mutual feelings of trust and safety. It also reflects my philosophy toward the healing process as one that is relational, non-linear and rooted in both individual growth and collective care. 

I am a queer, White, nonbinary licensed clinical social worker associate. I am passionate about working with individuals for one-on-one therapy, offering support through the exploration of sexuality and gender, neurodivergence, transitional life periods, trauma processing, navigating relationships, anxiety, and meaning-making. In addition to therapy, I offer autism and ADHD assessments.

Prior to my work as a therapist, I’ve supported individuals and families through conception, pregnancy, and the postpartum period as a doula, while engaging in community organizing to expand access to care. My training with Postpartum Support International has given me tools to support individuals and couples in psychotherapy with family planning, fertility/infertility, pregnancy, the postpartum period, and grief and bereavement. Having conducted research related to hormonally-driven mood disorders, I work with women and femmes across the lifespan to process shifts in identity, relationship to body, changes in relationships, hormone-related mood effects, sleep shifts, and encounters with the medical system. 

Additionally, I offer creative, active, and nurturing support to tweens and teens. Through such a dynamic time of self-discovery and change, I bring playfulness and curiosity toward helping adolescents build healthy coping skills by creating space to explore self-concept and identities, set healthy boundaries, navigate roles and relationships, express feelings, and identify helpful accommodations. I have specialization in working with neurodivergent, trans, and gender non-conforming adolescents to navigate personal identity. I also offer gender consults with parents who are interested in learning more about their child’s gender and exploring ways to supportive and navigate systems of care.

My foundation in this work is informed by the Reproductive Justice organizing principles of Black and Brown, Indigenous, and trans women and femmes, honoring bodily autonomy and addressing the political aspects of healing. As an active student of Disability and Healing Justice, I value the significance of intersectionality, leadership of the most impacted, interdependence, sustainability, and collective liberation. I believe therapy is a space in which one’s identities and experiences can be explored in new ways by identifying past patterns and recognizing possibilities for transformation. I offer care from a position of anti-racism, anti-ableism, sex and kink positivity, harm reduction, and the “Health at Every Size” framework. 

Outside of work, I love spending time with my cats and parakeet, woodworking, playing the synthesizer, and dancing with loved ones. Originally from the Southern California desert, I am so grateful to now call Durham home. I enjoy taking frequent trips to the mountains and coast to explore and connect with the flora, fauna, oddities, and wonders of North Carolina.

Areas of focus

• Neurodivergence (ADHD, Autism)
• Trauma
• Anxiety
• Depression
• LGBTQIA+ affirming care
• Sexuality/gender exploration, development, and transitioning
• Transitional life periods (birth, death, etc.)
• Transitional hormonal periods (puberty, menopause, gender-affirming care, etc.)
• Reproductive-related experiences and transitions, including family planning, fertility/infertility, pregnancy, postpartum
• Bereavement and grief
• Substance use
• Relationship work, including non-monogamy and polyamory, codependency, coupling/conscious uncoupling, and parenting

Modalities

• Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART)
• Emotions-Focused Therapy (EFT)
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR)
• Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
• Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
• Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
• Attachment-based
• Narrative Therapy
• Somatic
• Art Therapy
• Music Therapy

Certifications

• Postpartum Support International’s (PSI) Perinatal Mental Health Counselor (PMH-C)-  in-progress
• Institute for the Development of Human Arts’s (IDHA) Transformative Mental Health Core Curriculum- in-progress

Contact

liv@newriverwellnesscollective.com

Pronouns:

they/them

Licensed in:

North Carolina

Works with:

Kids/Tweens (11+)

Teens

Adults

Relationships

Evaluations