Hi, I’m AJ! I am a therapist with Empowered Mind Therapy Center specializing in providing culturally responsive, trauma-informed and liberation-centered therapy for QTBIPOC and neurodivergent adolescents and adults who are seeking support to process trauma, explore intersectional identities and build meaningful connections with themselves and their communities. My clinical experience includes specializing in working with queer and trans adolescents and adults, supporting them to navigate anxiety, depression, low-self worth, gender dysphoria and euphoria, internalized oppression, interpersonal challenges, challenging relationships with food and exercise, substance use and personal/intergenerational experiences of trauma. I also really enjoy working with parents, carers, and families of young queer and trans people who are seeking to support their young person and affirm their identities. I deeply believe in the liberatory potential of therapy and my devotion to this work is in reverence to the folks who have supported me, both professionally and personally, in my own journey out of survival mode and into a fuller expression of aliveness.

Grounded in humility and respect for the lived experience of my clients, my approach is collaborative and person-centered, recognizing my clients as the expert of their own experiences and positioning myself as a fellow traveler on the human journey. My identities as a neurodivergent, multiracial, queer, trans non-binary clinician with my own lived experience of trauma and healing drives my ongoing commitment to anti-oppressive, neurodiversity affirming and decolonizing practices.

My therapeutic approach is grounded in the belief that the challenging things that we face in the present, including things like anxiety, depression, irritability, avoidance, overwhelm and people-pleasing, once began as necessary and helpful responses to difficult experiences and to navigating systems of oppression. Drawing from EMDR, IFS/parts work, and somatic practices, incorporating some interventions from ACT/CBT I support folks in processing these experiences, identifying underlying needs and reconnecting with their bodies in ways that allow them access a wider range of responses to life’s challenges. I also specialize in LGBTQIAP2S+ and cross-neurotype couples and constellations through Emotion Focused Therapy, supporting them to develop patterns of communication and interaction that are compassionate, collaborative and that honor their commitments to caring while upholding all parties’ autonomy.

In supporting people to recover the inherent sense of worthiness that oppressive systems strip away and to shift out of survival responses into more agency, therapy becomes an act of resistance that empowers people to live, relate, and participate in community in ways that contribute to collective liberation.

In-person in Walnut Creek, virtually throughout CA.
OON, private pay $150 per session, Reduced Fee Program for BIPOC and QTBIPOC folks, please inquire.

Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT #161165) Registered in California under the name Amanda Johnson, supervised by Jessica Hernandez, LCSW # 113712