Van (they / elle) is a queer, non binary, trans, socialized as female, POC (Person of Color), who is autistic and has dynamic disabilities amongst many more historically excluded identities. They are dually licensed as a Marriage & Family Therapist and a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, Van is passionate about holding space for all intersections of one’s identity(ies). Van is dedicated to social justice & believes it is vital to cultivate an awareness of our own internal strengths, specifically our resilience as we continue to grow and discover ourselves. Van believes it is important to trust and validate our experience(s) & journey(s). Van focuses on engaging from an anti-oppressive positionality.
Van also provides trainings on an array of topics, including but not limited to supporting trans and non binary identities, LGBQPIA2S+ folx, disability justice, neurodiversity, harm reduction, navigating death by despair and more. They are the organizer of a national provider list called No More GateKeeping which is a national list of providers who agree to engage in an assessment and write a letter in one session, an author of the interactive book Exploring My Identity(ies) (2020), produced a Documentary called Do Something: Trans & Non Binary Identities (2021), put on an international conference called Do Something: Identity(ies) (2022) (with the recordings available for purchase) and developed No More GateKeeping app that provides trauma-informed questions for the provider to use during the assessment with the clients and populates a letter. The Do Something: Identity(ies) Conference (2024) was on Friday, May 31st, 2024. To access the recordings please connect with us at DiversityAndIdentities@gmail.com. They are also the Director of Behavioral Health at Transgender Health.
