AJ Johnson, AMFT
My work centers around 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 primarily from EMDR, IFS/parts work, and somatic practices, 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.
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 that remind us that healing is deeply relational, communal and embodied. We aren’t meant to do this alone. The way I support people has also been deeply shaped by organizers and activists from the anti-psychiatry, intersectional feminism, disability justice, and Black liberation movements.
I recognize that the mental health field has not always served everyone equally, and that many traditional Western therapy models focus on “fixing” individuals by managing emotions, correcting thoughts, or reducing symptoms without fully acknowledging the larger contexts people are living in. My approach is different. I see my role as supporting you in understanding how your life experiences—including experiences of oppression, marginalization, and trauma—have shaped how you relate to yourself and others.
In our work together, we may explore how these experiences live in the body and show up in your relationships, your sense of self, and the ways you move through the world. Rather than trying to change who you are, our work is about creating space for curiosity, compassion, and new ways of relating to the parts of you that have always been worthy of care and belonging.
By supporting people to reconnect with their inherent worth that systems of oppression attempt to disconnect us from, and loosening the grip of trauma-based responses, therapy can become an act of resistance- supporting people to move beyond survival and into lives rooted in agency, connection, and collective liberation.