Elizabeth Hawkins (They/them)

I love working with folx who are exploring gender identity and journeying with them as they claim the identity/identities that are their most authentic expression. I am happy to provide supportive documentation needed for social or medical transition, and strive to minimize challenges related to navigating insurance and medical systems. If you are needing documentation from a therapist and concerned about cost, please reach out to me so we can figure out how to best support you!

Proud to say I am kink-positive and knowledgeable, LGBTQIA2S+ inclusive, experienced in supporting HIV+ folx, sex worker positive, and genuinely enjoy challenging shame and stigma surrounding sexually expansive folx.

In 2009, I started my journey to become a therapist because of my desire to address the shame and stigma surrounding sexuality in American culture. My goal is to provide folx with accurate and objective information and journey with them as they use this information to examine the unhelpful or harmful cultural messaging received around sexuality and create their own understanding of what a thriving sex life means for them.

I focus primarily on building my relationship with my clients and then sharing therapeutic tools as they become relevant. Studies have shown that the biggest indicator of positive change for clients is the quality of relationship they feel they have with their therapist, so this is my anchor. The principles of building relationship that I strive to embody are authenticity, compassion, and creation of a collaborative relationship that focuses on the client needs.

Much of my lens is founded in exploring the relational coping mechanisms developed in childhood, and how they live on and impact relationships today. The better we are able to understand the ways we have been unconsciously trying to protect ourselves and how these actions impact others, the more empowered we are to shift to emotional processing and communication tools that help support the relationships and lives we strive for.

Understanding the interplay between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors creates opportunity to invite consciousness to the ways our minds and bodies respond to different triggers, and then change reactions that may seem automatic but actually follow a well-worn pattern in our brains. CBT is helpful in reframing areas that you may have felt stuck previously, and changing patterns that were assumed to be permanently embedded.

When working with couples, I utilize an attachment lens and focus on building a strong sense of attunement to one another AND yourself. We use somatic interventions to build self-regulation and increase tolerance for discomfort, which is necessary for being present and connected with your partner(s) during conflict. I particularly enjoy working with couples who have high conflict, are opening up their relationship, or who are navigating sexual challenges.

I am trained in Somatic Attachment Therapy interventions, which are focused on supporting you building a more secure attachment to yourself (which can support management of anxiety and depression) and others (which supports cultivation of deeper and more fulfilling relationships). We will assess different attachment patterns you may have with different people in your life, and use techniques based in embodied exploration to better attune to your inner experiences.

EMDR is an intervention to reprocess neural pathways that are built around unhelpful narratives based in experiences that we have difficulty integrating. This can include trauma experiences, early childhood experiences, or cultural narratives that have impacted our sense of self in the world. EMDR is known as the "nonverbal therapy" because it does not require re-hashing of traumatic experiences, and allows your brain to reorganize by using eye movements, tapping, or other bilatural stimulation.