LIBERATION PSYCHOLOGIST SERVING BIPOC & LGBTQIA+ FOLX IN ALL OF CALIFORNIA
Giving psychology away, and giving psychology a way - come and get free through liberation psychotherapy.
It’s normal to feel bad when things are bad.
It can feel exhausting to have to work to survive, surreal to be so disconnected from ourselves and each other, constantly witnessing state-sponsored violence, gen0c*des, and disappearances of our neighbors and loved ones, and feeling powerless and unsure of where to start. The anxiety, depression, stress, and overwhelm you feel are what make you human, and are appropriate responses to these oppressive systems not made for us. However, because our struggles are interconnected, none of us can navigate this alone, and therapy is one way to break these cycles of harm.
You’re looking for someone to carry these soul wounds and navigate this journey with you, and you’ve come to the right place. Unlike traditional psychology, liberation psychology doesn’t blame you for your suffering; it explores the systems and contexts that have prompted your survival responses. Your individual healing through therapy supports our collective freedom, and With & For believes everyone deserves access to living well.
This practice is rooted in four core values of CARE: connection, accompaniment, restoration, and empowerment. Rather than have you acclimate to the systems that have kept you in survival mode, I use a decolonial approach to reimagine how you can thrive despite them.
Connection: The therapeutic relationship is the heart of our work, and through empathy, advocacy, and cultural humility, I aim to nurture your healing, liberation, and transformation.
Accompaniment: While I am an expert, you’re the expert in your life and experiences. As a liberation psychologist, I will walk alongside you, relate to you, and affirm your humanity in the face of injustice and stressors that work to keep us down.
Restoration: Wounds aren’t inherently bad, and scars show us where we’ve been. Our work together aims to repair harm, restore relationships, and rebuild trust in yourself.
Empowerment: Let’s move beyond surviving to thriving - our work will clarify and remind you of the tools and capacity you have to change and shape the social, political, and generational systems that affect your life.
Dr. Andi Lee (she/they)
I’m a first-gen queer Taiwanese American liberation psychologist, newish parent, feminist abolitionist, recovering academic, and serial hobbyist. I have over a decade of clinical experience providing culturally-grounded and trauma-informed care for adults and families with concerns including but not limited to mood, anxiety, racial trauma, autism, ADHD, PTSD, grief, identity exploration, chronic pain, and oppression-based wounds. I care deeply about racial justice, liberation praxis, community organizing, and accessibility for those most impacted by our systems of oppression. I completed my master’s and doctoral degree in Clinical-Community Psychology at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and have offered care in community mental health centers, university counseling centers, medical hospitals, VAs, and in group and private practice. Rooted in liberation psychology, community psychology, and disability justice, I like to examine the systems and contexts keeping us in cycles of pain, survival, and disconnection from each other.
I was raised in both Philadelphia and Shanghai, and home is a bit of an amorphous concept to me. I am familiar with being both “too much” and “not enough” in spaces where I sought belonging and acceptance. Over the years, I’ve found that dance, fiber arts, and rock tumbling have been consistent care practices that help sustain my capacity to care for others. I also love organizing with comrades in my local community, crafting and playing music with my COVID conscious band, and attempting gentle parenting with my toddler, dog, and cat.
What would it be like to be in the room with you?
One thing about me is that I don’t have a poker face. You’ll get a therapist that will be always authentic and human, responding to the pain, frustration, excitement, sorrow, or whichever emotions join us in the room, holding these experiences with nonjudgment, care, and deep empathy. My clients unequivocally know that I am on their team, even when we disagree, and that I am advocating for their wellness and joy in and outside of the room. I approach therapy with curiosity, kindness, and a continual commitment to dismantling the presence of harmful and oppressive systems in our thoughts and behaviors. As a queer Taiwanese American therapist who grew up abroad as an insider-outsider, I am very comfortable navigating the in-between spaces and negotiating a sense of belonging – as such, I offer people a space where they feel a sense of coming home, because they experience connection, acceptance, and can be fully themselves.
I use my expertise in liberation and decolonial psychologies to offer anti-oppressive, culturally-grounded, and identity-affirming care that honors the client as a whole person. My training and expertise allows me to pull from acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), internal family systems (parts work), narrative therapy, emotion-focused therapy (EFT), cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), and mindfulness-based, feminist, liberation, and culturally-sensitive therapies to give you a truly personalized healing experience.
