Jessica "Gonji" Lee LCSW

Many BIPOC and QTI people must contend with not just our own lived experiences of trauma, but also the intergenerational trauma that resides in our spirits and our DNA. When our pain comes from trauma, we might know something logically but still feel or react differently. That's because trauma lives in our deep subconscious. Somatic modalities are the most effective approaches for trauma. I am trained in IFS & Brainspotting, which can help you heal from trauma on a deeper level.

It is important to understand that the chronic stress of navigating a transphobic and homophobic world has heavy impacts on mental and physical health. Anxiety, depression, relational difficulties, and identity confusion are often normal responses to living in an unsafe world. I specialize in working with queer, pansexual, trans, nonbinary, and intersex communities, and incorporating how these identities impact emotional and mental health.

Brainspotting is a power therapy model that targets acute, complex & intergenerational trauma. It supports people in identifying, processing and releasing core neurophysiological areas where emotional suffering, body pain, trauma, dissociation, addiction, and a variety of distressing qualities may feel stuck. Through Brainspotting, we literally change the structure of our brain so that we can heal wounds and achieve balance, emotional regulation, and meaning making.

DBT is useful for anyone who has difficulty regulating your emotions (i.e. feeling emotionally out of balance, emotions feeling like they are out of your control, taking a long period of time to feel better), and has a history of emotional invalidation from others that may have become incorporated as your own internal voice. DBT incorporates skills from CBT along with mindfulness, emotional regulation, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, problem solving, & contingency management.

I have worked with BIPOC communities as a community organizer, youth advocate, and therapist since 2006. Therapy must understand how BIPOC people's individual experiences cannot be separated from the larger systems of racism that we live under. Therapy for BIPOC communities must include addressing the ancestral trauma that continues to live in our DNA, the impact of our family's migration histories, imposter syndrome, vicarious trauma, as well as covert and overt racism.

IFS is a somatic approach that has been found to be profoundly effective for issues where you've hit a wall in traditional talk therapy. IFS can help you understand and connect with the protective and wounded parts of you that may be hard to accept or tolerate. Then we can figure out different ways of being that are intentional, present, aligned with our values, and in integrity with our whole selves.