Who I help
I provide therapy for highly sensitive LGBTQIA teens aged 16 and older, young adults, and adults who experience sensory and emotional overwhelm, burnout, masking-related disconnection from themselves and others, and difficulty setting boundaries in relationships. Many clients also carry deep grief around the trauma of climate disasters and the prevailing sociopolitical climate, and struggle to find their voice and belonging.
My approach is trauma-informed, liberation-focused, and neurodivergent-affirming. I integrate somatic therapy, parts work, and expressive arts with spiritual therapy and outdoor ecotherapy when aligned. Together we explore sensory and nervous system needs, emotional processing and regulation, practice empowered boundaries, and develop ways of living and being that better embody your needs, values, strengths, and capacities.
About the therapist and licensure
Phoenix Song is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and is licensed to provide therapy to clients in California, Oregon, and Vermont.
California License: LMFT #109093
Oregon License: LMFT #T1808
Vermont License: LMFT #100.0134355
Location: Online sessions available to clients physically located within California, Oregon, or Vermont at the session time. Outdoor ecotherapy is offered in the East Bay area of San Francisco Bay Area, California.
Offerings: Individual and relationship therapy.
Client Ages: 16 and up (I don’t work with children)
Format: Online therapy is offered through video or phone. Outdoor ecotherapy is offered in the East Bay Area of San Francisco Bay Area, California.
Session frequency: Weekly sessions.
Therapist availability: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday 9am-5pm Pacific Time (PT). No after hours crisis coverage.
Payment: Private pay, insurance is not accepted. Superbills available upon request.
Cancellation policy: A minimum of 24 hours' notice is required for cancellations. Up to 4 cancellations a year are permitted, with notice. Additional missed sessions beyond the four permitted cancellations will be charged at the applicable session fee in order to keep their spot available.
Services & Fees
Free Consultation (20 min): phone call. Alignment and fit check to explore what you’re seeking support on, what you hope therapy will look like, how I work, and whether my approach is a good fit for what you are seeking. If so, we’ll schedule your first session.
Individual Therapy (50 min): $240, phone or video. Sliding scale offered starting at $185 and up, pending circumstances and availability. Teens aged 16 and up, young adults, and adults.
Relationship Therapy (50 min): $260, video. Young adults and adults only, no minors. Clients must be physically located in California, Oregon, or Vermont at the time of session.
I often work with people who…
Feel overwhelmed with emotional and sensory input
Experience burnout and flooding from being people-pleasing, fawning, and being the “unofficial therapist” in their relationships
Carry feelings of shame and judgement around their fluctuating capacity, when these often point to differences in nervous system, sensory, and emotional processing needs
Find it difficult to set limits and boundaries in relationships
Struggle to feel and express healthy anger
Carry deep and pervasive grief and anger about the prevailing sociopolitical climate and climate disasters
Additionally, I often work with teens and young adults who…
Feel different than their peers and struggle to belong
Experience rich, lively, fantastical inner worlds with which they are deeply engaged
Find the school environment to be both emotionally and sensory overwhelming, at the same time as lacking the emotional depth and sensory needs they require
Are often described as sensitive, brilliant, precocious, and display emotional processing depth beyond their developmental level
Struggle to transition to college and need support with accommodations and navigating relationships with peers
Identify as part of the LGBTQIA community, and are exploring what their identity means to them
Strong fit and alignment
This therapy is a strong fit for you if you want therapy that…
Incorporates somatic awareness and practices to develop embodiment
Offers artistic explorations such as writing and journaling, drawing and art making, music and playlists, movement practices, and drama and theater explorations - with no artistic experience needed or required!
Integrates your spiritual beliefs and practices into therapy when wanted, including tarot, rituals and ceremonies, guided visualizations, dream work, and processing beliefs about life and death
Supports reflection and practices to unlearn white supremacy and colonized lenses and focuses on liberation
Offers both gentle, deep exploration - with empowered, direct practices of integration and next steps
Has occasional quiet visits from my sweet orange kitty during your video sessions
If you resonate with a handful of these descriptions, it’s likely we will be a good fit together!
I am likely not the right therapist if you need the following:
Crisis or emergency care: My practice does not provide crisis services, urgent stabilization, after hours availability, or on-call support.
Higher levels of care: My practice is not appropriate for experiences of active suicidality, untreated mania or psychosis, difficulty keeping safe in between sessions, or the need for multiple sessions a week to stabilize. These are beyond the scope of what I can provide in my practice, and more intensive support may be needed.
Court mandated therapy
Legal documentation or therapy for use in a court case
Short term therapy based on highly structured skills development and worksheet-driven models
Insurance-billed therapy services. My practice is private pay and I do not take insurance. Superbills are provided on request, but reimbursement depends on your insurance policy.
Therapy for children under the age of 16 and families.
If you are in an emergency or crisis situation, please review the following external resources for non-carceral mental health crisis support https://www.inclusivetherapists.com/crisis or dial 988 for systems based mental health crisis support.
My approach to therapy (somatic and trauma-informed):
My therapy approach is trauma-informed, liberation-focused, and neurodivergent-affirming. It integrates somatic therapy, expressive arts, parts work, as well as spiritual therapy and ecotherapy practices when appropriate and wanted.
Sessions include body check-ins to notice signs of overwhelm or overstimulation; somatic practices to develop grounding and support; exploring emotions through art-making, writing, music, and drama exercises; identifying patterns of people-pleasing and overgiving; visualizing and practicing how to communicate boundaries; and developing daily sensory supports and routines. We may also explore how masking, trauma, white supremacy, and other forms of oppression affect your relationship with yourself and others.
What we’ll work on in therapy:
High sensitivity and nervous system support
Psychoeducation on different nervous system needs, development, and processing paths
Explore the impact of high sensitivity on the body, self, relationships, and path in life
Highlight the gifts of high sensitivity and work together to develop relationships, environment, and career paths in alignment with these gifts
Reflect on the challenges of high sensitivity and work together to develop tools, skills, rituals and routines to support the needs of high sensitivity
Trauma-informed emotional processing and regulation
Psychoeducation on the impact of trauma on the body and self, and ways it shows up in everyday life and relationships
Support tools for experiencing activation and feeling pushed beyond your unique limits and window of tolerance
Somatic practices to identify feelings and emotion in the body, and develop awareness of signs of overstimulation and understimulation
Nervous system education to track the impact of trauma on high sensitivity, and develop familiarity and self-knowing around your fluctuating capacity and needs
Develop tools for preventing overwhelm and burnout, and recovering when they do occur
Arts-based, spiritual, and nature-based practices to support the depth of emotional processing inherent in high sensitivity.
Boundary and limit setting
Explore what boundaries and limits are in relationship, and how they can create safer and more secure relationships - rather than limit them
Engage in visualizations based on recent challenges, and practice step by step methods to identify your needs and limits, and communicate them clearly and directly to others
Develop tolerance for the discomfort and anxiety that can arise when setting boundaries or navigating conflict.
Depathologize conflict in relationship, and explore the necessary role of conflict in promoting safer connection, security and togetherness, growth individually and relationally, expanded self understanding and worldviews.
Connection with community and purpose
Reflect on your style of personal relationships and community throughout your life, and identify how masking has limited the possibility of authentic connection
Explore relationship styles and practices that feel aligned and authentic to you, such as relationships based on deep and meaningful conversations as well as artistic and whimsical play
Reflect on communities you are already engaged in, and explore communities you would like to become involved in
Liberation practices
Understanding and identifying white supremacy and colonization based belief systems when they show up in your life and relationships
Depathologizing anger and exploring safer, empowered, and embodied practices to express anger and identify what it is communicating
Explore visionary authors, leaders, and artists and how their work can inform your liberation practices
Reclaiming joy and whimsy
Unlearning the belief systems that link joy with consumerism and pathologize whimsy
Explore small, everyday practices that inspire feelings of connection and joy
Reflect on and embody habits and practices that inspire awe and whimsy
Understanding the importance of joy in healing and embodiment
Training, Experience, and Credentials
Credentials:
Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Expressive Arts Therapy from the California Institute of Integral Studies
Licensed Marriage and Family therapist (LMFT) in California LMFT #109093, Oregon LMFT #T1808, and Vermont LMFT #100.0134355.
Experience and Trainings:
Providing psychotherapy since 2013
Previously worked in community mental health organizations offering case management, group facilitation, and program development for LGBTQ young adults, as well as a teaching artist within school based programs focused on socio-emotional development of adolescents and teens.
Neurodivergent Somatic Therapy Parts 1-3 with Nick Walsh
Rape Crisis Counselor Certification through San Francisco Women Against Rape (SFWAR). Designed and implemented pilot traineeship counseling program through SFWAR.
Certified Sex Educator through San Francisco Sex Information Hotline (SFSI)
For more information about who I am, as well as my experience and training, please explore here .
Looking for something specific?
Therapy built for highly sensitive people and their unique needs
LGBTQ therapy that centers and reflects our communities
Understand what trauma-informed therapy looks like
Explore the difference between liberation based therapy and traditional therapy
Learn more about parts work therapy, somatic therapy, expressive arts therapy, ecotherapy, and spiritual therapy.
Explore relationship therapy for romantic relationships, queer platonic relationships, and friendships.
Next steps: schedule your free 20-minute phone consultation
Please feel welcome to schedule your free phone consultation here, or fill out my contact form if you’d like to reach out first before scheduling. This is our opportunity to speak about what it would be like to work together, and answer any questions you may have about my practice and how I work, and see if this would be a good fit. If we feel like this is not a good fit, I am happy to provide referrals that may be more aligned with what you are seeking at this time.
Plain language summary
Phoenix Song is a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) providing private pay therapy for LGBTQIA highly sensitive teens aged 16 and up, young adults, and adults who are located in California, Oregon, or Vermont during online sessions. Additionally, Phoenix Song provides private pay outdoor ecotherapy when appropriate to clients in the San Francisco Bay Area, CA.
The therapy practice focuses on sensory and emotional overwhelm, burnout, masking, belonging, and grief related to the prevailing sociopolitical and climate disasters. Therapy is trauma-informed, liberation-focused, and neurodivergent-affirming, integrating somatic therapy, parts work, and expressive arts, with spiritual therapy and outdoor ecotherapy when appropriate.
I do not offer crisis or emergency services, on-call or after hours support, court-mandated or legal documentation services, or intensive support for higher needs such as active suicidality, and untreated mania and psychosis.
