THERAPY FOR
Identity & Culture
Do you feel like parts of who you are have been silenced, shamed, or misunderstood?
Our identities—race, culture, gender, sexuality, spirituality, ability—are not just “labels.” They shape how we move through the world, how others respond to us, and how safe or unsafe we feel in our own skin.
But we don’t live in a neutral world. We live in systems that often marginalize, stereotype, or erase difference. For queer, POC, Indigenous, and other marginalized communities, the struggle isn’t just personal—it’s collective, systemic, and historical. The weight of racism, colonization, heteronormativity, transphobia, fatphobia, ableism, and patriarchy is carried in bodies and passed through generations.
This can leave you feeling:
- Like you have to split yourself just to belong in different spaces
- Silenced or unseen in environments that don’t recognize your whole identity
- Exhausted from being tokenized, stereotyped, or misunderstood
- Rejected or unsupported by family or community in your queerness or identity
- Like there is something fundamentally wrong with you or flawed about your being
- Weighed down by intergenerational trauma from colonization, displacement, or systemic violence
- Unsure of your worth, belonging, or authenticity
- Heavy with anger, grief, or exhaustion from constantly resisting oppressive systems
The Weight of Identity Wounds
When who you are is invalidated, shamed, or erased, the wound isn’t just psychological—it’s relational and cultural. It creates disconnection: from community, from ancestry, and even from yourself.
These struggles often come from:
- Systemic oppression: racism, colonization, heteronormativity, ableism, patriarchy
- Family or community rejection: when authenticity threatens belonging
- Intergenerational trauma: wounds carried across generations of BIPOC and Indigenous communities
- Internalized oppression: when external messages of inferiority become inner shame
- Cultural silencing: being told to assimilate, shrink, or erase parts of yourself
The result isn’t that you’re “broken”—it’s that you’ve been surviving in systems not designed to hold your full humanity.
HOW THERAPY CAN HELP
A supportive space to reclaim your voice, your truth, and your wholeness.
Therapy offers a safe space to reconnect with yourself and your authentic identity. In our work together, you can begin to reclaim your voice, strengthen your sense of belonging, and heal the parts of you that may have felt silenced, hidden, or fragmented.
This process isn’t about changing who you are to fit someone else’s mold. Instead, therapy supports you in releasing toxic shame, honoring your lived experiences, and embracing all the parts of your story—your emotions, your history, your culture, and your truth. Whether you’re navigating trauma, identity struggles, or the weight of systemic oppression, therapy can help you rebuild a grounded sense of self
Together, we’ll work to:
- Center your cultural, racial, and queer identity in the healing process
- Validate your lived experiences of oppression and microaggressions
- Explore the intersection of personal trauma and systemic trauma
- Reclaim cultural and ancestral strengths as sources of healing
- Work through internalized feelings of shame, rejection, or silencing
- Support you in building affirming relationships and community connections
- Hold space for grief, anger, and resistance as part of healing
HOW WE APPROACH IDENTITY & CULTURE
Honoring every story, every identity, every path to healing.
At Moongate Therapy and Wellness, we approach identity and culture with humility, openness, and a commitment to anti-oppressive care. We do not claim expertise in cultures that are not our own—but strive to hold space that is respectful, curious, and accountable.
Ultimately, therapy is a place where your story is witnessed without judgment, your struggles are validated, and your strengths are nurtured—so you can move forward with more clarity, confidence, and self-compassion.
During our work together, we may use a range of modalities, keeping your therapeutic goals and preferences at the forefront. Depending on your unique needs and experiences, together, we’ll draw on methods such as: