About Me
Hello!
My passion is helping people be comfortable in their own skin.
Whether you have not felt safe to be yourself or you don’t even know who you are, I am happy to be on the journey with you of discovery and exploration.
Why choose to work with me?
Many of us do not have a safe or consistent place to call “home,” whether we lack a physical space, have a strained relationship with our parents or lack family all together, or you face rejection from society or culture.
I have a variety of experience working with people who have been marginalized or live on the outskirts of society. It is difficult code-switching, masking, and changing who you are in order to fit in, especially if society, your culture, or your family continues to reject you or the people you care about.
I offer an inclusive and warm space for you to identify your needs and find the best path forward to reach your goals, most importantly, the ability to create a space to call “home” and a group to call “family”.
Also, this is Titan! He is part of my family. He is a Great Dane, and he is training to be a therapy dog. He does not yet join me in sessions, but when ready, he loves to comfort people when they are feeling big emotions. He is always ready to put a smile on your face with his goofy self.
be easy.
take your time.
you are coming
home.
to yourself.
— the becoming
nayyirah waheed
My Story
I was adopted from Kolkata, India, as an infant by a white American family. I grew up a Baptist pastor’s granddaughter, daughter, and sister between Virginia and Ohio. I moved to Los Angeles as a new adult, and I spent most of my adult life in Southern California. I moved to Indiana in 2018, and I have been serving communities in the Midwest ever since.
When in California, I originally pursued a doctorate in history, and I wanted to be a professor teaching about the British empire and its long-term affect on our current world, particularly in India, what is now Pakistan and Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. However, life had different plans for me, and I learned that my desire to help people no longer included the classroom. Rather, I wanted to help people, particularly those with childhood trauma, be able to work through what happened to them; to process their anger, pain, and disappointment; and to create a life for themselves on their own terms, much like I had to do for myself. I was also interested in helping people with alternative life paths learn to feel comfortable and confident in their life course while society may be sending them other messages and pressures.
My story includes religious trauma, parental loss through adoption and death, family estrangement, sexual trauma, racism, and disappointment that life does not turn out as expected. I think it is important for a therapist to be able to translate their lived experience to better understand our clients. I also think it is important for therapists to have undergone the same therapeutic processes that they use with their clients. What I have to offer those working with me is a background full of lived experience, and while I don’t wish this lived experience on anyone, it is part of what helps me relate with my clients who have a similar background. You are not alone, and you deserve to be heard and understood.
Professional Background
Master of Social Work from Indiana State University
Licensed Social Worker in Indiana and under clinical supervision
Generalist/Clinical Intern and Therapist in addictions at an Indiana community mental health center in Greencastle, Indiana
Brainspotting Phase I and 2 trained
Populations served: adolescent and adult adoptees, including transracial and intercountry; persons in substance use recovery; persons with religious trauma; persons with sexual trauma; dual diagnosis; LGBTQIPA+; polyamorous or ethically nonmonogamous communities; kink/BDSM communities; racial, ethnic, and religious minorities.
