I believe therapy should be a space where people feel genuinely seen, heard, and understood as human beings first, not reduced to labels, diagnoses, or assumptions. While diagnoses can sometimes help us make sense of our experiences, I do not believe in over-pathologizing natural responses to trauma, grief, chronic stress, oppression, disconnection, or the overwhelming sociopolitical climate we are all trying to navigate. I believe healing begins by meeting people where they are with curiosity, compassion, honesty, and care.
As a CPC Student Intern and Art Therapist in Training, my approach is trauma-informed, relational, existential, humanistic, and person-centered. I am especially passionate about art therapy and the role creativity can play in emotional processing, identity development, healing, and self-discovery. Art therapy is not about being “good at art,” but about creating space for nonverbal expression and helping people process emotions and experiences that can feel difficult to put into words. Sometimes our bodies, emotions, and artwork speak long before we fully understand what we are carrying consciously.
I work with clients navigating anxiety, trauma, grief, emotional overwhelm, identity exploration, life transitions, self-esteem challenges, relationship difficulties, and feelings of disconnection from themselves or the world around them. I am LGBTQ+ affirming and deeply drawn to feminist, multicultural, and decolonizing approaches to therapy that recognize how culture, systems, politics, identity, and lived experiences shape our mental health and the ways we move through the world.
My background includes several years of experience working with children and adolescents with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and other neurodivergent experiences, as well as volunteering in hospice care supporting individuals and families navigating grief, illness, death, and end-of-life transitions. These experiences have deeply shaped my understanding of resilience, humanity, vulnerability, and the importance of creating spaces where people feel emotionally safe enough to simply exist as they are.
I often think that many of us move through life feeling as though we are trapped inside a dream, watching things happen around us while feeling disconnected, overwhelmed, powerless, or uncertain of who we are beneath survival mode. Part of my role as a therapist is helping people slow down, reconnect with themselves, process their experiences piece by piece, and begin reclaiming agency over their emotions, choices, relationships, and life story. I do not believe therapy is about “fixing” people. I believe it is about helping people come home to themselves in a more honest, grounded, compassionate, and empowered way.
Amanda Cipilii- CPC Student Therapist