Birch Bolin, MSW LICSW (they/them)
Hello and welcome. My style of therapy is down to earth, honest, rooted in understanding your unique perspective and lived experiences so we can get to the heart of what you seek support and clarity on. I weave together anti-oppressive, consent-driven, person-centered, and community-focused lenses, influenced by personal, educational and professional experience, to create a place where you can show up as you are. There you can start identifying what you already know and understand, as well as what you have questions about. I aim to offer guidance, suggestions, practical and creative solutions—mixed with acceptance—so you can focus on what can be changed. Some of what I offer will work for you and some of it will not and I will respect your intuition on this.
My worldview comprises a systemic, relational, and community-focused, liberatory lens. I believe each of us has the responsibility to identify how we both create care and perpetuate harm, in order to live according to our values, leading to greater alignment between our inner and external worlds. This is where care, inclusion and wellbeing for everyone thrive. I get great joy from helping people develop deeper emotional attunement with themselves and those around them. This includes collaborating to identify traumatic experiences, resulting symptoms and creating a path towards healing. From here, so much is possible.
Before practicing therapy, I worked with disabled individuals providing direct care, worked as a mental health and medical case manager and offered crisis care to those hospitalized due to acute mental health experiences.
Some identities I hold that offer me strength and resilience are being queer, gender fluid, neurodivergent, European American (mostly of Dutch and Irish descent, white), a survivor, a parent and coparent and an all-around whimsical weirdo. In my personal life I like to slow down and spend time outside, riding my bicycle, doing yoga, meditating, writing and being goofy with my kid. I love 90’s music, burritos, sloths, singing, making art and morning coffee.
Trainings: Somatics, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, harm reduction, Narrative Exposure Therapy, trauma informed neuroscience
Specialties: adults 21+, complex and developmental trauma, PTSD + navigating triggers, family of origin exploration/impacts of intergenerational trauma, identifying neurodivergence in adulthood, identifying and creating healthier coping skills, improving self-esteem, radical self-care, healing codependency + boundaries psychoeducation and support, inner child connection + reparenting, anti-oppressive/gentle parenting, mindful self-compassion, finding strengths in areas of perceived weakness and queer + trans affirming support.
