I'm Fievel, and I'm a therapist invested in healing and liberation work in queer and trans communities. 

I believe that many of the experiences that we consider mental health symptoms are understandable responses to trauma, injustice, oppression, and environments that do not serve us. I believe that therapy can offer us transformative healing, and that our healing also involves connection, community, and social change outside of the therapy room.

I completed my undergraduate degree in Psychology with a focus on LGBTQ issues at the University of Michigan, and transitioned into working at a homeless youth shelter and drop in space, where I also facilitated a support group for predominantly Black queer and trans youth. After moving to Seattle, I was a founding member of a group seeking to start a queer and trans youth host home program, with a particular focus on young folks aging out of the foster care system. 

I completed my Master’s Degree in Social Work (LW60746141) from the University of Washington in 2014 with a focus on community-centered integrative practice. My first-year practicum was in the role of an adult ally with Queer Youth Space, where I designed and facilitated intersectional workshops for trans and nonbinary youth with focuses on disability and BIPOC identities. In my second-year practicum, I provided therapy and substance use disorder treatment at Seattle Counseling Service, the iconic first LGBTQ counseling center in the United States.

I went on to work in community mental health for several years providing therapy and case management to predominantly low-income queer and trans folks, including in a residential setting for folks living with HIV.  The experience of working toward healing with folks harmed by enforced poverty, racism, ableism, and neglect and harm by medical and legal systems helped to deepen my understanding that dismantling systems of oppression is necessary to create the environments in which we can experience mental health and wellness.

Prior to starting my private practice, I worked for several years in a college counseling clinic located on campus in a student medical center. I appreciated the chance to connect in a high-energy environment with students from a diverse range of identities and cultural backgrounds, including international and immigrant students from more than 25 countries. In this setting, I was also able to practice a wide range of therapeutic strategies with students who found that "traditional" Western talk therapy was not culturally relevant or helpful to them.