Therapy with Sasha
queer & embodied support
I'm Sasha
(and he's Rocky!)
I am skilled in facilitating a deeper trust in yourself and your own body's wisdom.
I offer body-led, liberation-centered, somatic psychotherapy. I believe my role as a therapist is to provide an anchored, spacious container in which we can explore the terrain of your life, expand your capacity, and discover your aliveness.
My work is process-oriented, which means that I do not set overly specific goals or timelines, because I believe that sustainable change happens when we approach ourselves and each other with presence, patience, and consistency. I've been a practicing therapist since 2017, and started my somatic studies in 2020.
I spent much of my childhood and early twenties in a deep freeze - unable to access joy, presence, or deep connection. It took ten years of training in psychology and social work, and several more years of self-exploration, to find the roadmaps that helped me to access my body, my self, and (most unexpectedly) my spirituality.
My work is deeply rooted in my queer identities. My queerness includes the practice of curiosity, of dissolving binaries, of questioning perceptions, of allowing seemingly solid structures and identities to crumble, of loving earth deeply, and of working towards liberation for all. I am invested in unlearning the oppressive structures which weave their way into our bodies and minds. bell hooks said it best when she described queerness “as being about the self that is at odds with everything around it and that has to invent and create and find a place to speak and to thrive and to live.”
DO YOU LONG FOR...
...the ability to feel your emotions more deeply and to understand their messages?
...more presence with yourself, in your relationships, and with the world?
...a deeper understanding of how to live in an animal body?
...more insight into your specific needs, desires, and values?
...a more grounded and centered responsiveness to life’s challenges?
...the capacity to more fully experience the poignant, terrible beauty of being alive right now?
I want to guide you towards your innate resilience, sensitivity, tenacity, softness, grit, and buoyancy...
here's why it's so challenging...
Most of us were never taught how to live in a body.
Instead, we’ve learned to misuse our powerful minds to override our bodies for the sake of near-constant production and consumption.
We are sold an unattainable image of “health” and are pathologized when we exhibit symptoms, or when we experience and express “unreasonable” emotions.
We’ve learned to disconnect from each other and from earth, which has impaired our access to resource and right relationship.
The truth is...
We are living in times of systemic and global collapse, and we are feeling the effects of this collapse within ourselves, in our relationships, and in our communities. So many of us are experiencing:
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an inability to respond to the moment,
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struggling to make sense of the world,
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relational injuries,
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confusion,
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isolation,
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disorientation,
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a constant sense of urgency,
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terror,
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shut down,
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disconnection,
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consistent ambiguous grief,
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and numbness.
The acceleration of the climate crisis - combined with generations of living within oppressive systems that extract, exploit, control, and manipulate us - is pushing our sensitive animal bodies into survival physiology that cannot be sustained long term without incredible cost.
I wish I could say that therapy is the solution. It isn’t.
Therapy alone cannot solve our large-scale dilemmas, and therapy cannot (and should not) attempt to “fix” your body’s reasonable responses within such calamity.
However...
A therapeutic relationship can be an incredibly powerful layer of support. Receiving consistent and aligned support has the potential to shift our relationships with ourselves and the world around us, which can have ripple effects far beyond what we might imagine.
In these times, I believe that it is important to shift away from diagnosing, problematizing, and sectioning off aspects of ourselves to be “cured” or “solved”.
I believe that we need to question why we’ve been taught that our pain, grief, confusion, fear, and rage ought to be eradicated. Our bodies’ varied responses to collapse are all reasonable and necessary.
With layers of support, we can learn to lean into our humanity instead of away from it.
if you choose to work with me, you will likely experience...
feeling accompanied within seemingly impossible conditions
increased inner and outer congruence, choicefulness, coherence, and flow
the sense that you are acting in closer alignment with what matters most to you
more access to compassion, humor, and playfulness towards yourself and others
feeling less alone in your loneliness
expanded curiosity about what it means to be human and alive right now
a greater sense of belonging and trust
openness to mystery and the unknown
the ability to traverse your inner world with more ease and less fear, and
a better understanding of how to live in, and care for, your body.
MY THERAPEUTIC FRAMEWORK
the 5 S's
Through my years of being a therapist and a human, I have developed a potent framework to help navigate life's challenges...
SLOWNESS
moving at the pace of trust. dropping below the speedy realm of thought and daily life to engage with the inherent aliveness available in every moment. widening access to feelings of resonance and deeper connection. intimacy with complexity, and the ability to hold the various perspectives available in any given moment. a more deeply rooted state of awareness.
SYSTEMS
letting go of the illusion of isolation and separateness, which is perpetuated by oppressive systems put in place to extract, exploit, and control. awareness of how these systems try to suppress diversity of thought, expression, behavior, and bodies. sensing that you’re not alone, and that the way you feel is a reasonable response to current conditions. recognition of the generations of deep relational injuries with each other and the animate world.
SHADOW
re-membering the forgotten and repressed and frozen parts of ourselves, including our most joyful, powerful, creative, and alive aspects of self. learning to appreciate and possibly even enjoy the aspects of ourselves that we perceive as shameful.
SHAMEWORK
peeling off the stories that separate us from ourselves, others, and our collective grief. letting go of the illusion of false safety; shedding the belief that we have to think and behave in a particular way in order to be loved. unconditional belonging + welcome.
SOMATICS
reconnection of mind and body. opening pathways to unconscious information about needs, desires, and who we are. relearning and remembering how to trust. learning how to nurture and appreciate the wisdom of our animal bodies.
EXPERIENCE:
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Queer/non-straight/LGB
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Trans/GNC
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Consensual non-monogamy/polyamory
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Kink/BDSM
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Sex workers
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Relationship concerns
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Boundary setting
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Depression
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Anxiety
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Trauma
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Grief
MY EDUCATION:
Bodywork for Trauma Resolution & Embodiment of Spirit,
Modules 1-14, 2022-2025, 210+ hours
Hakomi Mindful Somatic Psychotherapy: An Experiential Introduction
February 2024, 12 hours
Level 1 Trained, 2023, 80+ hours
TEAM-CBT,
Level 2 Certified Clinician
New York University Silver School of Social Work,
Licensed Clinical Social Worker, #090518
Bard College,
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology