(Eye-eeks-uh Don-ez)

Have you ever felt so overwhelmed by emotion that you couldn’t even find the words, only tears or panic instead? Do you often revisit the past, wishing you could go back and navigate those moments with the wisdom you have now? Or maybe you’ve felt invalidated by others because expressing yourself feels difficult or even unsafe.  As a person of color, I deeply understand what it’s like to be taught to hide your emotions for the sake of family, and to live under silent, suffocating expectations. Together, we’ll talk about how those rules have shaped you and begin learning how to voice emotions that once felt impossible to express.  

When we first meet, I don’t approach you as a clinician with all the answers - I come to you as a human first. My approach is relational and grounded in authenticity. I see therapy as a collaborative process, and I use “we” intentionally: we are co-pilots in this process, not a driver and passenger. I’m not here to tell you what to do, I’m here to walk alongside you as we sit with discomfort, explore your values, and make choices that align with the life you want to lead.  My goal is to create a space where you feel seen, heard, and genuinely comfortable. I speak in a casual, down-to-earth way because I believe therapy shouldn’t feel clinical or distant. Each session is an opportunity to explore the hard stuff while feeling supported and grounded.  

I specialize in working with emerging and young adults, particularly those who are BIPOC, LGBTQ+, neurodivergent, or navigating layered and intersecting identities. My work often centers on processing family trauma through a cultural lens—helping clients unlearn ingrained, unhealthy behaviors, reclaim autonomy, and understand how codependency and power dynamics have shaped their relationships and sense of self. I support clients in rebuilding self-esteem, setting boundaries, regulating emotions, and navigating key life transitions such as college and early adulthood. This includes processing trauma, healing inner child wounds, and developing healthier, more intentional relationships with family, partners, and themselves.

As a trauma-focused, strengths-based therapist, I draw from DBT, CBT, ACT, and shadow work. I guide clients in connecting with the parts of themselves that may have been silenced - whether it’s the inner child, inner teenager, or emerging adult - and help them create space for healing, clarity, and choice.  If this resonates with you, I’d be honored to walk with you on your journey toward healing and self-empowerment. You don’t have to do this alone - we’ve got this, together.

Experience

What does being a “trauma-focused therapist” mean? It means that I work with you to recognize and process how traumatic experiences throughout your life have impacted your mental, emotional, behavioral, physical, and spiritual well-being. This is rooted in the understanding of how these traumatic experiences have forged and influenced our emotional and behavioral responses. Our goal is to create healthier responses and relationships towards ourselves. I understand the shame and confusion that occurs when you experience such symptoms with zero guidance or support to help ease them. 

Utilizing strengths-based methods, I work with clients to explore their inner child, inner teenager, and emerging adult to give space and speak to these traumas that we were never allowed or felt safe enough to do. Perhaps you have felt that quiet pressure from the cultural/tradition of the household that are “expected to move on, and be the bigger person.” As the second oldest/middle child of Puerto Rican parents, I have the awareness and empathetic understanding of the impact of the Silent Rules, Silent Expectations, and pressure to please your elders at the cost of your autonomy. This creates a co-dependency behavior with not only the family but with other relationships in our lives to maintain the identity our culture/family has created. 

My experience is geared towards emerging and young adults who are BIPOC-LGBTQ+ and ranges from anxiety/depression to navigating relationships, family dynamics, life transitions/life changes, and codependency. As a strengths-based therapist, I utilize Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Shadow Work. My goals with my clients are to create a space where we can feel safe to verbalize our emotions and develop skills to both manage our emotions as well as feel and name them. During our time together, we will strive to interrupt generation trauma, unhealthy behaviors, and patterns, find autonomy in ourselves as the “adult-child” of a Black or Brown parent, relationship exploration, and codependency/cultural codependency experiences. 

If you resonate with this, I would be honored to be part of this journey with you. You won’t have to be alone in this anymore. We got this together.

BONUS:

To break some of the ice, I would love to know a fun fact about you or something you love to do! This can be something you love to do as self-care, a favorite TV show or movie, a hobby you have, or a book/series. My self-care involves painting in traditional and digital mediums, going to the gym (after years of avoiding it - big win!), and shopping. My favorite TV show is Arcane at the moment, my favorite underrated anime is Revolutionary Girl Utena, and I love metal and bachata music. Also, pineapple does not belong on pizza but feel free to convince me otherwise. I look forward to learning more about you!

Licensure

As a Clinical Fellow, I am gaining the necessary experience and supervision to obtain my clinical license (LCPC). I am working under the supervision of Brooke Blankenship, LCPC.