Alicia Santiago

I’m Alicia, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and founder of Just Beyond Yourself Therapy. I work with adults and folx navigating trauma, including PTSD and complex trauma (C-PTSD), overwhelming stress, anxiety, or difficulty managing strong emotions, challenges in relationships and life transitions. I am certified in EMDR and Internal Family Systems (IFS)-informed, with additional training in mindfulness-based therapies and a background in Buddhist psychology. My approach is trauma-informed, relational, and grounded in mindfulness and compassion, creating a safe, non-judgmental space to explore your inner world, process difficult experiences, and develop tools for emotional regulation, self-compassion, and resilience. I cannot do the work for you, but I can help you navigate it with kindness and curiosity.

I believe that each person possesses an internal source of wisdom that can be cultivated through psychotherapy, meditation, yoga, and other integrative practices, including connection to nature and culturally rooted healing traditions. My therapeutic approach is grounded in mindfulness, compassion, curiosity, and respect. Drawing from both contemplative traditions and clinical training, I support healing and integration within a collaborative, relational framework.

I am certified in EMDR, an evidence-based approach for working with trauma, which supports processing and integration of distressing experiences. I am also deeply informed by Internal Family Systems (IFS), a model that supports gentle and curious exploration of internal “parts” to promote insight and healing. I pay close attention to the impact of social, cultural, and environmental contexts, including systems of oppression, on mental health and wellbeing.

My approach is warm, trauma-informed, strengths-based, and collaborative.

In our first session together, we'll start with brief introductions, and I'll share some housekeeping odds and ends. Then we'll dive into the specific challenges you're coming to therapy for, and I'll learn more about who you are and how you grew up--whatever you are comfortable sharing that will help us moving forward. This will help me create a tailored plan for us to work through in follow-up sessions.