Shaé Smith

Know that you're working with a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) and certified perinatal mental health specialist (PMH-C) who centers healing justice, meaning your mental health is understood in the context of your relationships, community, and lineage, not just your individual symptoms. Trust that this space is built specifically for Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities, and for anyone navigating family planning, pregnancy, postpartum, or parenthood. Bring your full story, including the parts shaped by intergenerational trauma, intimate partner violence, or grief that doesn't follow a clean timeline. Expect a decolonial, trauma-informed, and somatic lens, one that draws on narrative, expressive arts, and culturally aligned practices rather than a one-size-fits-all clinical script.

Approach every session as a collaboration rooted in your ancestry, culture, and lived relationships, not a diagnosis to fix. Draw on trauma-focused, relational, and somatic methods alongside narrative and expressive arts work, adapting the blend to what your nervous system and story actually need. Hold space for the systemic realities, including racism, gender-based violence, and reproductive injustice, that shape distress, rather than treating pain as purely internal. Use a strength-based, culturally sensitive frame that honors healing traditions specific to Black, Indigenous, and QTBIPOC experience. Move at the pace that feels authentic to you, working toward reclaiming your story and building a life that feels connected and whole.

Expect a warm, unhurried conversation focused on understanding what brought you to therapy and what safety and trust look like for you. Share your story at your own pace, since nothing needs to be disclosed all at once. Discuss your history, current stressors, and what's shaped your identity and relationships, including any experience with intimate partner violence, reproductive trauma, or ancestral and family patterns you want to address. Ask questions about the healing justice approach, telehealth logistics, and what ongoing sessions will look like. Leave with a shared sense of direction and a clinician who sees your context, not just your symptoms.