LGBTQ+ Therapy & Culturally Responsive Care

Integrative, depth-oriented support to navigate intersecting and multifaceted identities, minority stress, and the psychological impacts of systemic challenges.

Grounded Support for Your Lived Experience 

Culturally responsive therapy provides a dedicated clinical space to examine how your specific lived experience impacts your mental health. This specialized approach addresses the root causes of distress—including minority stress, systemic barriers, and the nuances of identity exploration—while providing practical tools to function in life, foster resilience, and increase self-awareness.

Our doctoral-level clinicians offer grounded, objective support for clients of all identities. This includes queer, trans, or non-binary individuals seeking an affirming therapist to help navigate gender and sexual identity and support self-understanding. We also support BIPOC individuals seeking culturally competent care to explore how their cultural background shapes their worldview and relationship patterns, in addition to navigating systemic barriers and acculturation. We work collaboratively with you to gain insight into how your unique background has shaped your thought and personality patterns, process difficult emotions, and construct new, flexible ways of living.

Let’s Find the Right Fit

Reach out to our intake coordinator, Carrie Simpson, M.A., to discuss your goals and match with the right clinician.

Connect With Carrie

Doctoral-Level Expertise Meets Affirming Care 

At Denver DBT & Psychotherapy, our approach is rooted in clinical expertise and a respect for your unique background. We understand that navigating marginalized identities can often complicate existing mental health challenges like depression, anxiety, trauma, and relationship issues. Our clinicians work with you to process the psychological impact of both internal and external stressors. Rather than applying a generic framework, our Denver-based, DBT trained team also draws from multiple theories to help people change, including (but not limited to): cognitive behavioral, depth-oriented relational psychodynamic, behavioral and EMDR/trauma informed therapies, creating a personalized plan to achieve your specific goals.

Our practice maintains a foundation of multicultural humility. We welcome clients of any race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, relationship configuration and political opinion. Because we have multiple clinicians credentialed in diverse modalities, we are able to offer you customized care across individual psychotherapy, family therapy, and couples counseling. Our goal is to thoughtfully understand your context so you can gain insight into what might be keeping you stuck, increase your resilience, and build capacity to navigate the world with freedom and in a way that honors your unique identity and values.

Learn More About Psychotherapy at Denver DBT

FAQs:

While all therapy should take your background into account, culturally responsive care includes an explicit focus on how culture, race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and systemic factors impact your psychological well-being. Clinicians with specialized training in this area thoughtfully integrate these factors into treatment, ensuring that your background is actively understood as a component of your psychological landscape.
Yes. Many clients engage in therapy proactively to address the ongoing nuances of identity development and interpersonal relationships. We frequently work with clients who are navigating the coming-out process, managing shifting cultural or generational family dynamics, or taking the opportunity to deeply explore how past experiences of masking and minority stress influence their current relationship patterns. Our team provides the structural support to do this work safely.
Yes. We are a multifaceted private practice that values curiosity and acceptance. We welcome clients of all backgrounds, identities, relationship configurations, political and religious beliefs, and sexual orientations. If it is important to you to work with a clinician who shares a particular cultural or social identity, please let our intake coordinator know, and we will try to match you accordingly. Our team of diverse clinicians was intentionally chosen; many of us share identities with many of you and we welcome that connection!
For clients seeking both culturally responsive individual care and DBT skills, we offer a flexible, integrative approach. You can work with one of our specialized clinicians for individual therapy while joining a DBT group to build practical tools to function in life. Unlike comprehensive DBT programs, our flexible model gives the option of staying with your current outside therapist while adding our DBT groups for additional skills-based support. All Denver DBT clinicians receive dedicated multicultural training and each group reflects Denver DBT’s commitment to culturally responsive and competent care.
The first step is a phone consultation with our intake coordinator, Carrie Simpson, M.A., to ensure a proper fit. During this call, she will listen to your current needs, answer questions about our clinical approach, and pair you with a doctoral-level clinician or postdoctoral fellow who aligns with your specific goals. Our clients report that this initial conversation is a helpful first step in establishing a supportive therapeutic relationship.

Specializing in BIPOC & LGBTQ+ Care 

Culturally responsive care is central to our practice. Our team is purposefully built to represent a wide spectrum of identities so our clients can choose to work with someone who shares elements of their lived experience. While every Denver DBT clinician receives dedicated multicultural training, we are highlighting a few providers below who specialize specifically in BIPOC and/or LGBTQ+ care.

Dr. Andrew Arriaga 

Dr. Arriaga offers affirmative therapy to clients of all ages, working with you to navigate issues related to sexual orientation, gender identity, and the systemic challenges often encountered during identity exploration. Utilizing an integrative approach, he works with multiculturally diverse populations to help you build resilience and overall well-being.

Dr. Kritika Dwivedi 

Dr. Dwivedi practices from a relational perspective, emphasizing the importance of working collaboratively to understand your specific world view and background. She maintains a clinical commitment to multicultural humility and culturally responsive care, bringing her experience from national committee work regarding multicultural psychology directly into the therapeutic space to support your specific needs.

Dr. Sydney Kelly 

Dr. Kelly integrates relational, depth-oriented therapy with evidence-based practices to help you explore intersecting identities, LGBTQ+ topics, and family dynamics. As a queer clinician, she is passionate about working with other members of the community. Dr. Kelly creates a grounding, empathic therapeutic space to help you gain insight into how your background shapes your current relationship patterns.

Dr. Megan LaVoy 

Dr. LaVoy is a queer clinician who specializes in working with gender and sexual identity exploration alongside trauma and self-compassion work. She uses a collaborative, insight-oriented approach to better understand your life experiences, enabling you to clear obstacles and find new, meaningful ways of relating to yourself and others.
Meet Our Entire Clinical Team

Explore Culturally Responsive & LGBTQ+ Therapy at Denver DBT

Reach out today to speak with our intake coordinator, Carrie Simpson, M.A., and discuss your goals to find the right therapeutic match.
Connect With Our Intake Coordinator