Areas of specialization
I provide mental health care for a variety of conditions. Here are some of the specialty areas I am particularly passionate about.
Culturally-informed therapy for depression and anxiety
Your cultural identity is everything that makes you you — your background, abilities and disabilities, relationship to spirituality, profession, sexual and gender identity, personal interests, and so much more!
Stress can impact everyone’s emotional state. Yet, moods like depression and anxiety can look different across cultures. For example, your upbringing can influence how you express emotion and cope with stress. In culturally-informed depression and anxiety therapy, I consider your unique context to understand what is making you feel unsettled.
Here are some examples of when I have used a social justice and culturally-centered approach to affirm identity and address mood in therapy:
- Providing social anxiety treatment that incorporates unique stressors related to fears of judgment or nonacceptance in social settings based on minority backgrounds. My dissertation research focused on virtual reality treatment for social anxiety.
- Navigating high-conflict family dynamics in multi-racial and immigrant households
- Overcoming microaggressions related to race, gender, sexuality, and age in the workplace, healthcare systems, and social settings that lead to depressed mood
- Healing internalized shame to destigmatize sex work
- Integrating Indigenous clients’ spiritual beliefs for grief processing
Therapy for trauma and PTSD
Experiencing a traumatic event can turn your life upside down. It is common for people to have a hard time trusting others and feeling safe. You may also work hard to stop yourself from thinking about what happened.
There are many approaches in therapy that are highly effective in bringing back peace, balance, and vitality to your life. Trauma affects everyone differently, so we would tailor the approach to fit the context of your life and needs.
Trauma is not always a solely individual experience — collective trauma and intergenerational trauma can each also have a profound impact on how you move through the world. I provide compassionate support and space for healing, which includes consideration for the lived experiences of Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and LGBTQIA+ communities.
Couples therapy and relationship counseling
Even the strongest of relationships face challenges. Sometimes these are caused by stress from transitional periods in life, such as:
- Transition into parenthood or other caregiver roles
- Financial uncertainty and disrupted routines following job loss
- Changes in sexual desire
- Grief over the loss of a loved one
Other times, partners gradually grow apart from one another. Relationship partners may seek therapy to address unhelpful communication patterns, rebuild trust, or proactively build strong coping skills.
I provide relationship therapy in a supportive space to explore and strengthen the relationship, effectively express needs and feelings, and hear one another without getting stuck in a cycle of conflict.
I am committed to care that is inclusive of diverse identities and relationship orientations, including LGTBQIA+ relationships, polyamory, and ethical non-monogamy. With my South Asian heritage, I also bring to my practice a deep understanding of the relationship nuances embedded across cultures.
Managing stress, sleep, pain, and chronic health conditions
Your mind and body are intricately connected. That is why your emotions, thoughts, and coping behaviors can affect your physical health, and vice versa. Building strong mental health can meaningfully improve your overall health, especially if you are struggling with any of the following:
- Poor sleep
- Chronic pain, including headaches
- Weight management from a Health at Every Size lens
- Stress management
- Chronic health conditions
Often, managing these conditions requires sustained behavioral change. Health psychology can address the underlying issues that make this change hard to achieve. The tools you will learn at Sunao Therapy can also be used towards preventative efforts when managing your health.
If you choose to participate in Sunao’s workshops focused on health psychology, you can also connect with valuable social support from others who may be experiencing similar challenges.
Support for reproductive health
Your mental and emotional health is an important component of reproductive wellness. Therapy can help with:
- Coping with mood shifts, depression, and anxiety caused by hormonal changes during menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause
- Developing a compassionate and accepting relationship with body image
- Improving connection and communication with loved ones during challenges with infertility, perinatal loss, or other reproductive health issues
I provide a compassionate and non-judgmental place to process the emotional experiences around sex, family planning, and transitioning into new phases of life.
It is important that you are connected to additional healthcare providers to address the multiple components of reproductive health. I would be honored to be a partner and an advocate in your care team to ensure you are receiving high-quality, wraparound support.
