Chelsea Sokolow

About Chelsea

My approach

I support folks who feel a little (or a lot) at odds with the world around them work through shame, stigma, anxiety and trauma to feel safer, and be braver, more resilient, and more deeply connected to themselves and the people around them, and to navigate the state of the world while still finding joy, ease, creativity, and freedom in their daily life.

About me

I’m a queer therapist, a playful meaning-maker, a former overanalyzer (okay, still working on that one), and someone who knows first hand what it can be like to feel out of sync with the world around you. In therapy with me, you can show up messy, unsure, contradictory, sensitive, exhausted, brilliant, numb, curious - exactly as you are.

More background

I strive to create room for people to be exactly who and how they are, to dismantle shame and stigma, and to safely muck around in the messiness, vulnerability and exquisite beauty and difficulty of being human. Therapy with me is a space where you don’t have to shrink, perform, or over explain yourself just to be understood. My approach to therapy is centered around people’s innate agency, autonomy, and capacity for self-determination. I view therapy as an opportunity for intentional collaboration, skill-building and the sharing of resources and helpful tools. I recognize that individuals’ experiences are deeply rooted in the social, cultural, historical, and political context, and I view personal healing and growth as intimately intertwined with building a more just and equitable world on a systems level. I believe that everyone is doing their absolute best with the tools, resources, skills and knowledge that they have available to them. And that everyone deserves radical kindness and fierce support - no matter what they are facing or have experienced. I want to help support you in building a life that feels nourishing - however you define that for yourself! Nobody knows your life better than you do!

I hold a Master of Social Work from Western Carolina University, where I received specialized training as a HRSA Integrated Healthcare Scholar. I completed a B.A. in Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Brown University, with a supplementary course of study in Geography and the Environment at Pontifícia Universidade Católica in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Throughout my career I have worked with erotically marginalized individuals, with survivors of childhood trauma and neglect, with immigrants and their families, with survivors of sexual and interpersonal violence, with traditional-age and non-traditional age undergraduate and graduate students, and adolescents in wilderness therapy. In addition to my work in the mental health field, I have worked in language justice as a Spanish-English interpreter, in community organizing, international education and leadership development, and as a server and bartender in the restaurant industry. Our life experiences shape who we are and how we show up. The breadth of lived experiences I’ve had greatly shapes how I approach my work as a therapist, and has helped me to develop a holistic and multi-faceted approach to human health and well-being.

Outside of being a therapist, I find joy in goofing around outside, long-distance hiking, playing soccer, getting messy and being creative, building community, breaking free from both external and internalized oppression, writing, cuddling with my cats, reading all the afro-futurist, sci-fi, and speculative fiction I can get my hands on, and making up silly puns with my loved ones and laughing till I can barely breathe.

Specialties

Types of therapy

Who Chelsea works with

Ages

Adults, Elders (65+)

Communities

LGBTQ+, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Non-Binary, Immigrant, Neurodivergent, People with Disabilities, Sex Worker Allied, Body Positive, Open Relationships / Non-Monogamy

Languages

English

Education and training

Master of Social Work (Integrated Healthcare/Rural Considerations), Western Carolina University, 2022

Bachelor of Arts in Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Brown University, 2011