Multicultural Identities
Culturally competent therapy is essential because it recognizes and respects the diversity of human experiences, backgrounds, and identities. It is a framework for providing mental health services that takes into account the cultural, social, and historical factors that influence an individual's well-being and mental health.
At Self Space, providing therapy that meets the multicultural needs of clients involves recognizing and respecting the diverse cultural backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences of each individual, and creating a safe space where all aspects of oneself are welcome.
Here are some reasons why culturally competent therapy is necessary and the issues it can help treat:
Respect for Diversity: People come from various cultural backgrounds, ethnicities, religions, genders, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic statuses. Culturally competent therapy acknowledges and values these differences, promoting a more inclusive and respectful therapeutic relationship.
Improved Communication: Effective communication between the therapist and the client is crucial for therapy to be successful. Understanding cultural nuances and communication styles can help bridge potential language and cultural barriers, ensuring that clients feel heard and understood.
Addressing Stigma and Discrimination: Many cultural groups face stigma, discrimination, and microaggressions based on their identities. Culturally competent therapy can help individuals cope with the emotional impact of discrimination and provide strategies for resilience and empowerment.
Identity Exploration: Clients from marginalized or diverse backgrounds may grapple with issues related to identity, belonging, and self-acceptance. Culturally competent therapy can create a safe space for exploring these issues and finding ways to navigate them.
Family and Community Dynamics: Cultural competence also involves understanding family and community dynamics, which can play a significant role in an individual's mental health. Therapists can help clients navigate family and community expectations and relationships.
Trauma and Historical Context: Historical traumas, such as colonization, slavery, or genocide, can have intergenerational effects on mental health. Culturally competent therapy acknowledges and explores these traumas while helping individuals heal.
Culturally competent therapy is necessary to provide effective and equitable mental health care and acknowledges the importance of culture in shaping mental health and well-being. Within a culturally sensitive framework, people can address a wide range of issues related to identity, discrimination, and trauma - and find healing and a deep sense of well-being.
Multicultural Therapists
Susan works with caregivers and individuals struggling in the process of life transitions. She invites clients to look inward with curiosity and compassion, and works collaboratively with clients as they bring their actions and choices into alignment with their personal values.
Mohamed works with individuals dealing with trauma, anxiety, depression, loss of religion/culture, loss of a relationship, yearning for meaning and purpose, and feelings of being stuck or unfulfilled. As a meaning-based therapist, he will emphasize your agency and empowerment, helping you utilize your strengths to align your life with your values.
Brian supports individual adults who find themselves wondering who they are outside of their productivity or performance. He specializes in treating career exhaustion, anxiety, depression, and the intersecting pressures of parenting and living multiculturally. Through a collaborative lens, Brian helps clients slow down, clarify what actually matters to them, and take steps toward meaningful, sustainable change.
Charlotte’s approach is collaborative and strengths-based. She strives to create a warm, accepting space where couples, families, children, and adults can be authentically themselves while exploring and working towards the life they want to live.
My approach is grounded in authentic curiosity, transparency, and mindfulness. I'm heavily influenced by somatic, relational, and meaning-centered therapies - which means we pay attention not just to what you're thinking, but to what you're carrying in your body, your relationships, and your sense of purpose. I believe therapy provides a window into the soul and the human experiences we carry.
I work with adults navigating stress, change, identity questions, and the feeling that something in their life is not quite lining up. I have a particular interest in working with people in fast-paced, high-stress environments, as well as parents raising neurodivergent kids with more complex emotional needs.
Therapy with me is deeply relational. I show up as a real person: curious, warm, and willing to go to the hard places with you. The approach draws on Emotionally Focused Therapy, mindfulness-based practices, and narrative therapy. The focus is never only on what feels broken - your innate resilience and what's already working matter too.
Elise is a counseling intern currently completing her Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Seattle University. As a Korean immigrant who has lived between cultures, Elise brings warmth and cultural sensitivity to her work with clients navigating burnout, life transitions, grief, and identity questions.
Mark helps couples and individuals communicate effectively and become better connected to themselves and their romantic partner(s). He has a passion for working with multiracial couples and men of color. He has a particular interest in challenges associated with identity and worldview, life transitions, and self-esteem/confidence.
Sam works with individuals—especially LGBTQ+, Neurodivergent, and abuse survivors—dealing with trauma, loss, shame, self-esteem issues, and identity struggles. His focus often lies in helping clients understand and accept themselves, while fostering deeper connections with others.
Ahreum believes therapy is a collaborative process where you can work to uncover the strengths and resources you already possess. She works with individuals and couples who are navigating life's transitions and challenges, whether managing anxiety, coping with depression, or seeking to improve relationships.
Nicole works with children, teens, adults, and families who are experiencing anxiety, depression, life transitions, interpersonal challenges, grief and loss, trauma, and women's issues. She enjoys helping individuals understand themselves better and navigate life with more compassion and empowerment.
Tychelle works with individuals and couples who are looking to explore who they are and how they can make sense of the world around them more clearly. Folks who may be experiencing anxiety and depression, or even trying to figure out if that is what they should call it. In my work with couples I look to support and facilitate health communication and individual and collective understanding.
Amisha works with individuals, couples, families and adolescents to address life's challenges. She specializes in relational issues, self-esteem, and has a passion for working with women of color. She also works with those struggling with anxiety, depression and issues arising from divorce and other relational challenges.
Kayla works with individuals living with past and present trauma, who often experience the most profound impact of this trauma in anxiety, depression, grief, and isolation. She works particularly well with people in helping professions or in caretaking roles in their relationships.
Erin specializes in working with people who feel stuck in negative beliefs about themselves, live with high levels of shame, or have experienced abuse. Erin believes that whatever suffering you experience is valid, and there is no expiration date to start the healing process.
Kristen sees her clients as experts on their own lives and writers of their own stories. She has experience working with people who are experiencing anxiety, depression, life transitions, aging, grief and loss, eating disorders, trauma, and women’s issues.
Dan works with individuals and couples who are experiencing anxiety, depression, and ambiguity or apathy in decision-making or roadblocks in intimacy. He has a particular interest in grief and loss, high-functioning anxiety, perfectionism, and men’s issues and masculinity.