LGBT therapists in Newport News, VA

Challenges shouldn’t just be endured—they should be the catalyst for your breakthrough. My goal is to help you transform life's toughest hurdles into a foundation for lasting resilience and self-discovery, giving you the tools to reclaim your strength and lead a more intentional life.

Life can be hard and sometimes overwhelming, but there is light, even if you can’t see it right now. You don’t have to carry everything alone. With support, healing and growth are possible. You deserve a space where you feel heard, understood, and supported without judgment. Starting therapy can feel vulnerable, but I’m here to walk alongside you. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Virginia with over 10 years of experience in the helping profession, including clinical mental health work since 2020. I earned my Master of Science in Education in Clinical Mental Health and School Counseling from Old Dominion University. I work with adolescents, young adults, adults, couples, and veterans ages 11 to 40 supporting concerns such as life transitions, relationships, anxiety, depression, stress, trauma, self-esteem, and personal growth. I focus on building a genuine connection and creating a safe, welcoming space where you can be yourself. I value cultural humility and honor your unique experiences and strengths, meeting you where you are while supporting your growth. I believe healing happens in supportive relationships. Whether you’re facing challenges, processing the past, or moving into a new chapter, I’m here to support you. There is hope, and together we can help you move forward. Outside of counseling, I enjoy singing, painting, music, travel, and exploring different cultures, which help keep me grounded and inspired.

As a board-certified psychiatric nurse practitioner in rural Virginia, as well as, a decade abroad managing health programs, my experience includes acute crisis management, addiction medicine, community health, and maternal and child health. Medication management, therapy, and holistic care for depression, anxiety, adjustment challenges, traumatic experiences, and bipolar disorders are my main areas of focus. Particular interest and expertise in working with children and families in foster care.

This field is everything to me. I have been fully licensed for a short time but have worked in mental health for over 10 years in many roles. Working with clients, being alongside them through their most difficult and profound experiences is, I feel, the biggest honor one could have.

I believe therapy should feel like a place where you can finally exhale. You don’t have to have the right words, know exactly what you need, or arrive with everything figured out.

My approach is warm, compassionate, and deeply human. I work with people who may feel overwhelmed, stuck, disconnected from themselves, or exhausted from carrying too much for too long. Together, we make space to understand what you’ve been through, what your nervous system has learned to protect you from, and what you need now in order to heal and move forward.

I created Gentle Ground Therapy with the hope of offering exactly what the name represents—a soft place to land, where you can feel supported, understood, and safe enough to grow.

You are more than what has happened to you, and healing does not mean becoming someone new. Sometimes it means gently finding your way back to yourself.

Hey! I'm Brendan (he/they), a licensed professional counselor, living and working in Richmond, Virginia. I will be offering in person appointments starting in August. My goal, in every session, is to help you reach a point of empowerment and acceptance with yourself through compassionate and playful work together. You are the expert on you, I will follow and walk along this path with you. I want to help you better understand yourself and how you wish to be. Through understanding there is compassion, through compassion there is liberation. Tsi-Ya (ᏥᏯ) means "otter" in the Cherokee Language. In life we may feel our emotions and stress in such profound ways we struggle to tread water and may find ourselves drowning and overwhelmed. Like otters, we must learn to float.