Cultural Identity
Cultural Identity Counseling in Denver
Are you struggling with integrating aspects of your cultural identity, and the impact on your mental health?
Do you ever feel “in-between” or “othered” when it comes to aspects of your identity? Maybe you feel misunderstood or judged by different groups of people in your life, or never real feel “seen”. You feel anxious from the pressure to assimilate and exhausted from compartmentalizing different aspects of who you are. Your family expects you to live by one set of values, which might be totally at odds with your own. Maybe it has been hard for you to open up to therapists in the past who didn’t really get this part of your life experience. You sometimes wonder, “Who are my people? Where do I belong?”
All you want is to really, for once, feel fully seen and understood.
You don’t live with this sense of confusion and isolation. Cultural identity counseling can help.
What is Cultural Identity Counseling?
Cultural identity counseling is counseling that takes a multicultural perspective to consider different aspects of your cultural identity and how they impact your experience of the world. Navigating the different aspects of cultural identity can sometimes lead to overwhelming pressures from yourself or others in your life, feelings of loneliness or isolation, confusion or self-doubt, and struggles with feelings of trust and safety. I come from a multicultural and multiracial background, and am a second-generation American. I understand these pressures, and it is important to me to support and empower others with this life experience through culturally sensitive counseling. My practice is racial justice allied and I provide culturally sensitive therapy. When the pressure, confusion or feelings of alienation start to become too much, cultural identity counseling can help.
Cultural Identity Counseling May be Right For You if You Experience:
Feelings of confusion or difficulty navigating how your race or ethnicity may intersect with other identities such as gender, class or sexual orientation
Difficulty balancing how different cultural identities present in different spheres of your life
Feeling misunderstood, judged or discriminated against by people in your life who identify differently
Feelings of pressure from your family of origin to attain a certain level of success based on the norms in their culture
Difficulty dealing with conflicting values and expectations in your family of origin’s culture vs western culture
Pressure to meet the all the expectations that various groups put on you and feelings of failure if you are unable
Feelings of stress or fear about joining a family of a different culture, religion or race
Pressure to “code switch” or compartmentalize different aspects of your identity in different social situations
Constantly feeling “othered” or misunderstood
Feelings of loneliness or alienation
Feeling angry or burdened by microaggressions, discrimination or stereotyping
A desire to further explore how you identify racially, ethnically or culturally
A desire to further connect to or explore the stories and experiences of your parents or ancestors
Cultural Identity Counseling Can Help
It’s not your fault that you feel this way - the world that we live in often puts pressure on us to be fully in one camp or the other, check this box or that one. Integrating different aspects of your life experience to connect to your own unique sense of identity is possible, and cultural identity counseling can help. In therapy together, we will:
Utilize culturally competent practices to provide a safe and judgment-free zone to process work through your experience, where YOU are the expert
Find ways to set boundaries and communicate in a way that feels true to your personal values while respecting the norms of your culture
Help you find ways to celebrate your various cultural identities and experiences
Utilize concepts from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) to experience less overthinking and build confidence to feel more comfortable taking up space with who you are
Utilize mindfulness-based techniques to learn to sit with uncertainty and learn to be kinder and more accepting of yourself as you are
Help you develop learn relaxation strategies to utilize when you are feeling stressed by various pressures
Suggest relevant books, articles and tools that can help you to gain a deeper understanding of your experience
Through cultural identity counseling, I will help you connect to a sense of authenticity and self-acceptance. I will help you feel freer from pressure, guilt and shame. I will help you build relationships with others in your life that feel balanced and true to your own values. I will help you feel connected to your roots in a way that feels genuine to you. I will help you find a sense of pride in your own unique identity.
You don’t have to live with feeling confused, alienated or misunderstood. You can feel seen and learn to better understand yourself. You can heal from these pressures and connect to the strengths that these aspects of your identity have allowed you. You can finally feel like enough, just being you.
My Denver-based therapy practice specializes in treating high-achieving women dealing with anxiety, perfectionism and people-pleasing. To start your counseling journey, follow these simple steps
Step 1
Contact Victoria
Step 2
Meet with Victoria for an intake session
Step 3
Get started on your journey towards self acceptance!
