Hey, I’m Briana!
Human Design: 3/5 Projector
Big 5: Empathetic Idealist 97% Zodiac: Gemini, born under a full moon Song: “Window Seat” by Erykah Badu Quote: “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even if her shackles are very different from my own.'“— Audre Lorde
I’m Briana, (she/her), but all my homies call me Bri. I’m a Black, queer, divergent, woman, and single mother. I tend not to fit neatly into any particular box, or have any desire to. My identities are multiple, complex, and deeply political. My personal life has been touched by poverty, domestic violence, addiction, suicide, sexual abuse, homelessness, child welfare and carceral systems in ways that could have only radicalized me. I am a liberationist in everything I do.
Navigating the world at the intersections of all of my identities, I am acutely aware of the privileges I hold and the oppression I must confront. Having held onto many experiences of "not-enoughness"—from my body to my identity to my status as a black single mother to my value as a woman—set me on this lifelong practice of healing, unlearning, and reclaiming myself, and I am honored to share that medicine. I believe a free world is possible and I am devoted to the struggle for liberation for all oppressed people everywhere and our planet.
When I’m not in session, I can always be found near the beach or out exploring in a forest, at the library checking out too many books (I will share all of the inspirational quotes with you), filling my phone with photos of animals and sunsets, writing, or listening to podcasts and all sorts of music. I have a deep passion for climate justice, particularly interested in marine life and how to protect our oceans. I love learning about culture, philosophy, and world religions. I’m a restless wanderer at heart with dreams of one day living on a houseboat or a small camper van with my son.
My approach
This is not your typical therapy or coaching experience. I work from a creative, radical, relational, abolitionist, ecowomanist, narrative (meaning you get to tell your/your people’s story), liberatory approach to care. You are the expert of your experience in the world and I am your thought partner, guide, and passenger seat hype woman. This is a space for possibility, creativity, complexity, nuance, imperfection and mess, learning and unlearning, and boldly exploring subversive, out of the box, counter-cultural ways of thinking, living, and being with ourselves and each other.
My approach is less structured, more flow. Less rigid clinical approach, more expansive. Less telling you what to do, more inviting you to your own wisdom. I do my best work when I am able to show up fully, and I invite you to do the same. In the words of Dr. Ayesha Khan: “I don’t want to overly police my tone, rhetoric, or lingo anymore in constant fear of how I may be misjudged, misinterpreted, misunderstood, misquoted, or mistaken. I don’t want to force myself to fit western rules on what is considered polite, positive or respectable.”
I conduct coaching sessions by centering curiosity and connection, insightful and challenging questions, honest deconstructive conversations, and a commitment to naming the oppressive systems and dominant beliefs and norms at work in our lives, while aiming to make the most therapeutic impact in any single session.
Folks who’ve worked with me described me as nurturing, supportive, and intuitive. I have been lovingly compared to Khadijah James from Living Single, the wise seer Gramma Tala from Moana, the eccentric Mrs. Frizzle with her dope magic school bus, and the highest compliment from a group of incarcerated teens: “that cool auntie your mama sends you to live with after you get in trouble.”
My experience
I am honored and humbled to have held roles that allowed me to be in service to communities I belong to, feel most connected to, and responsible for, such as:
Community therapist for adolescent girls and their families navigating school to prison pipeline, teen pregnancy, child abuse, sexual abuse and human trafficking, involvement in child welfare and carceral systems
Medical case manager and advocate for LGBTQ+ folk living with HIV/AIDS
Therapist and advocate for women/families surviving domestic violence
Therapist and Transformative Justice Facilitator for incarcerated youth
Therapist and case manager for youth and adults impacted by addiction
My work has focused on disrupting violence against women and girls, the prison industrial complex, and the material conditions of Black, Indigenous, women of color and LGBTQ+ folks. With over a decade of experience in hospitals, clinics, schools, community mental health, crisis centers, and correctional facilities, my work has radicalized me and supports my lifelong commitment to disrupt oppression and injustice.
My values
My values are deeply rooted in both the way I live my life and the way I show up to this work: anti-genocide, anti-colonial, anti-occupation, anti-oppression, anti-capitalism, anti-imperialism, anti-apartheid, anti-supremacy culture. I stand against all forms hatred and oppression including but not limited to racism, sexism, ableism, sizeism, colorism, classism, caste, homophobia, transphobia, elitism, exceptionalism, and all the other beliefs, structures, and systems that keep people at the margins of society.
I believe a liberated world is possible; this is why I do this work. Free Palestine, Congo, Sudan, Haiti, Tigray, Yemen, Turtle Island, Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and all violently occupied and exploited regions globally.
