Tolaya Geredine

LCPC

Success can look a myriad of ways. It looks different for everyone. I think this is a great question though, because it allows space for accepting that. For some, it may look like clarity on a decision that needs to be made, it may look like self-love and setting better boundaries, it may look like symptoms completely disappearing. It could also look like symptoms remaining, and you handling them differently, or the symptoms happening less frequently. This answer will look so different for everyone.

Some of the unique issues faced by clients in my specialization can be stigma. It is particularly stigmatized to see a therapist among people of color, although I believe this is improving. Add on multiple identities, maybe a person of color, who is a part of the LGBTQIA population. They may find it difficult to find a therapist who can understand these intersectional identities. Or take a black person in their postpartum period, struggling and afraid to seek care in systems that have previously harmed them. The issues faced are so interwoven and get further complicated the more marginalized identities that one identifies with. I seek to bridge these gaps, and be that provider that is culturally competent and able to care for a person with intersectional identities where therapy may be a very new idea. I think breaking negative generational patterns is essential work and I take it very seriously. I hope to be a bridge over any barriers.

I was originally positive that I was going to be a journalist, or a writer of some sort because I love to write. In high school, I took a course on human behavior as an elective, and I was profoundly fascinated. When I went off to college, I did not declare a major until my junior year, after taking a plethora of classes, many of them creative writing courses, and psychology, I realized that I truly felt passionate about human behavior and wanted to make waves in the profession. I did not know how, and did not know that I would be a therapist one day, but that is where it all began. Fast forward several years, I was trying to further establish a career and I went all around the mulberry bush, similar to Denise from the Cosby Show. I had the idea that becoming a therapist was somehow out of my reach. Once I l actually learned what it would take, I was immediately intrigued, began the process by applying to grad school and got on a ride that I never want to get off. I love this job, I am so gratified, joining people on their journey to self-awareness, clarity, and healing