Neurodiversity

My own journey in this area has helped me to identify much more quickly when a client's neurotype diverges from the typical. I really delight in helping autistic and ADHD clients grow the self-knowledge that enables self-acceptance-- which has often taken such a hit through a lifetime of rejection and shame for our differences.

I believe that neurodivergence is a difference, not a disorder, but that the lack of support we face is disabling. I love helping neurodiverse clients find customized strategies for living lives of decreasing stress and increasing pleasure.

Race

My experiences as a person of color and my personal antiracist work shape the way I work with BIPOC clients. We explore ways in which difficulties stem from oppressive systems, which often brings more clarity and loyalty to self. We'll find ways to build the kind of care and support into your life that bring more peace, joy, and rest.
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Being Multiracial, I'm also sensitive to the lifelong loneliness that can come from not feeling a full sense of belonging within any of the racial communities in one's mix. It is an honor to be part of the transformative work of helping clients of Mixed Race anchor into a firmer sense of racial identity and belonging.

Gender

It's a privilege to walk alongside trans, nonbinary, and gender fluid clients and collaborate to increase gender-congruent euphoria. I enthusiastically support clients who pursue medical and surgical transition, and hold space for you to explore and identify the paths you want to take to feel congruence with your identity.

It moves me to help clients with the ways that transitioning is or is not accepted by loved ones, to find and access affirming community, and to support you as you navigate changing relationship dynamics.

Talk Therapy

I work empathically to deeply understand what you share about yourself and your experiences so that you can exhale, feeling witnessed and known.

We’ll make sense of your story together. As your self-understanding grows, we’ll find the precise “pressure points” in your life to bring relief, so that you can spend less effort for more peace and pleasure. This allows you to soften toward yourself without things falling apart.

Liberation

I bring awareness of the oppressive systems that impact our lives on every level. I depart from the Western psychology model that views our difficulties as individual problems and failures.

I help my clients identify the ways that systems are affecting them so that we can find ways to bring in more safety and ease.

Areas of particular focus include neurodiversity, race, and gender.

Attachment

I've received advanced training in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), a research-validated model for developing security and connection in relationships, and learning how to get back to safety and connection when they are disrupted.

I bring this knowledge to coaching, where I guide clients in applying strategies to give and receive the care they need in their relationships.

Trauma Therapy

I guide therapy clients in keeping pace with their body so that trauma can be healed at the nervous system level.

As we explore the stories you hold about what your experiences say about you, we often find more accurate stories that free you from shame and guilt.

Archetypal

Carl Jung introduced the idea of the Shadow-- the parts of us as individuals, and of us collectively, that cause such discomfort that they have been exiled, pushed away, and rejected from our conscious awareness.

I come to therapy prepared to love what's in Shadow. I believe that as we bring compassion to these parts of ourselves and welcome them back, we we reignite our vitality and wholeness.

Dream Work

I facilitate dream work from an approach that experiences the figures that visit us in our dreams as bearing potent medicine for our struggles.

As we come into relationship with these figures through imagination, we learn to apply that medicine to our daily life.

Somatics

Our bodies are the seat of an instinctual intelligence that I welcome with respect and love into therapy and coaching. For Jung, the 'soul' was synonymous with the unconscious, that repository of surpessed wisdom and clarity.

I'm happy to guide you in turning to the messages of your soul, held in the body, for guidance.

SoulCollage

SoulCollage is a simple practice that opens an extraordinary door. Our unconscious wisdom steps forward as we intuitively paste images together. Then, we use prompts to read the cards, conciously receiving that wisdom and its medicine.

The SoulCollage card deck you create can be used like tarot or oracle cards, with the difference that each card was made by you!

Typology

I've deeply studied Jung's typology, which was the foundation for the Myers-Briggs personality type system.

When there is interest, this can be an additional path for understanding yourself and your needs better.

© 2025 by Joy Malek