Therapy is gay podcast
Queering the conversation around mental healthcare, spirituality, and healing.
Interview with Maia Gonzalez of Concha x Fresno
In this episode, I speak with my friend and collaborator Maia Gonzalez (she/her) about our new collective Concha x Fresno! Concha x Fresno is a Central Valley art collective that affirms and celebrates Queer and Trans People of Color through curated events and community collaborations. We threw a Pride Party on June 28th as our inaugural event, and were completely overwhelmed by the turn out and support. We talk about how this party came to be, the importance of building queer and trans community here in the Central Valley, queer eldership, and our vision for the future of Concha. To learn more about Concha x Fresno, you can follow us @conchaxfresno.
Born and raised in the Central Valley, Maia is a librarian and children's book author. She volunteers with her community and has been involved with numerous programs and services that focus on Queer and Latine populations. For more information about her children's book, you can follow @miicamisa_libros.
Interview with Onyx Fujii of Kintsugi Therapist Collective, and sharing more about Palma Spirit Group
I had the opportunity to speak with Onxy Fujii (they/them), who is a psychotherapist, clinical supervisor, and Co-Director of Kintsugi Therapist Collective. We spoke about the spiritual nature of intuition and atunement in client work, and the power of creating spaces for care for providers to be authentically themselves together.
I also share more about the inspiration and intention behind my upcoming class Palma Spirit Group, and how aligned it feels to be offering it through Kintsugi Therapist Collective. Applications to Palma Spirit Group are due by May 5, so start your application already! You can learn more about it and apply here.
Onyx is a queer, non-binary, chronically ill, culturally Jewish, mixed race clinical social worker in private practice in Philadephia (on unceded Lenni-Lenape land). Healing justice is at core of their multidisciplinary practice where they offer trauma-informed, anti-oppressive psychotherapy, clinical supervision, and cultural humility facilitation and consultation; focusing on the intersections of gender, sexual orientation, race, chronic illness and disability. Their professional practices and writing center the intersections of identity, trauma, (in)visibility, and connection. Outside of their professional roles, they are a parent, a creative writer and occasional art maker, a beachcomber, and an avid home cook. You can learn more about their work at: www.kintsugimentalwellness.com
Season 2 Episode 3 Nat’s Interview with Beyond the Couch: Developing Spirituality with Therapists
Listen to Nat's interview on Bridges Mental Health podcast called Beyond the Couch. Nat shares some summer updates, including new info about enrollment for Intuition Immersive's second cohort! Also, a big thank you to you if you've been listening along since the beginning- it's been almost a year, whoa. We want to hear from you! What have you liked, what do you want to hear more about, and who would you want to hear on Therapy is Gay? Feel free to email or dm your ideas and feedback.
Intuition Immersive Application
This week, Sam is joined by Nat Strafaci, a licensed therapist, clinical supervisor, psychic medium, and spiritual herbalist, who shares their perspective on spirituality as a journey rather than a therapy ‘modality’. Nat offers insights into how colonialism has disrupted connections to spiritual and indigenous practices, and together they discuss how many modern therapeutic approaches are deeply rooted in spiritual traditions. Nat discusses the transformative power of connecting to one’s ancestral lineage, and how the body serves as a place of connection with ancestors. Together, Nat and Sam share their experiences of developing a spiritual lens as therapists, and how learning their own family history has deepened their connection with themselves and their ancestors, enriching their work as therapists.
Bridges Mental Health connects Asian, Pacific Islander, South Asian Americans (APISA) with culturally responsive mental health professionals and resources. We hope to make mental health care more accessible and approachable across the Asian diaspora.
Season 2 Episode 2: Interview with Ren the Medium!
As a Black Trans non-binary Spiritual Medium and advocate for love-centered healing, Ren is committed to fostering a safe and inclusive environment for everybody in their readings. Raised in Germany with deep ancestral ties to Guinea, their connection to spirit communication is steeped in both ancestral wisdom and personal empowerment. Ren's intersectional perspective enables a deep sensitivity to diverse identities, allowing for an open and empathetic engagement as a Medium. Ren uses their own transformative journey as a rich foundation for love-centered healing and an invitation to embrace authenticity, resilience, and profound connection.
Season 2 Episode 1: Pandemic Reflections & Grief
Season 2 is here! This short episode is a check in where I share a bit about my journey with mediumship and how it has paralleled the pandmeic. I touch on family, grief, ongoing violence, and life transitions.
Our Playlist from Episode 6! Consider it a love letter from our inner teens to yours <3
Episode 6 Interview with Cyn Magaña: Inner Teen Work & Our Ancestral Connection to Music (The Mars Volta are lesbionic)
This episode is really fun... Nat and Cyn go back in time and share stories about their connection to different music scenes as teenagers. They explore the healing power of reconnecting to a beat and how music and movement brings us back to ancestral wisdom in the body. Oldies, emo, punk, and house... get ready for a playlist to accompany this episode!
Episode 5 Interview with Sequoya Hayes: Healing Work Is Creative Work
In this episode, Sequoya shares about her creative process, and how her art informs her healing work. We discuss a part of her journey that brought her to Alaska and back, and how essential creativity as a healing practice can be when navigating loss and transition.
Episode 4 Interview with Joanna Hartshorne: Psychic Mediums, we’re just like you!
Nat and Joanna explore how working through our fear of spirit communication can allow for our collective healing and liberation. They also discuss how common a god complex can be in mental healthcare, spiritual spaces, and the acting world.
Episode 3 Interview with Carlette Quinto: Therapy is Gay…and smells like Le Labo Santal 33
Nat is joined by Carlette Quinto and they discuss social work, sobriety,and making spirituality your own.
Episode 2: Therapy is Gay…and leads a semi-charmed kind of life
Nat share feelings coming up around vulnerability, fear, and memory, and how Third Eye Blind is a part of their non-linear healing journey.
Episode 1: Therapy is Gay…and homeschooled
In this episode, Nat introduces themselves as a licensed therapist and psychic medium, and shares a bit about their journey with religion, spirituality and what brought them to working in the field of mental health.