Empowered Mind Therapy Center · In-person & online care
Culturally Responsive Trauma Therapy in Walnut Creek & Oakland
You deserve room for yourself in the life and relationships you’re building.
Start with our care coordinator to explore therapist fit, availability and fees.
Who we support & how we work
Therapy centering queer, trans and gender-expansive people of color, alongside women of color and first- and second-generation adults navigating intergenerational trauma, family expectations and recurring relationship patterns.
We bring cultural and relational understanding to trauma care, integrating approaches such as EMDR and Brainspotting with attention to your needs, preferences and pace.
A Therapy Community Where People of Color Thrive
“You deserve to be understood in the context of your whole life.”
We support people healing from trauma, chronic survival mode, and the impacts of systemic, intergenerational, and identity-based experiences.
Our approach to trauma therapy
You deserve support before you reach your limit.
If you are used to being the dependable one, the caregiver or the person who keeps things together, receiving care can feel unfamiliar.
Our therapists explore how earlier experiences and present-day conditions shape what feels safe, expected or possible.
There is room for you to be cared for, too.
Centering queer, trans and gender-expansive people of color, women of color, and first- and second-generation adults.
Explore what this can look like in therapy.
Your life around the pattern Relationships, responsibilities and everyday realities.
- Boundaries & responsibility A boundary may carry financial consequences, especially when others depend on you.
- Rest & worth Rest may feel unfamiliar after years of being valued for what you provide.
- Conflict & connection A disagreement with someone you love may bring up fears shaped by earlier rejection or instability.
How we choose the work together EMDR, Brainspotting and ongoing relational work.
Depending on your clinician and needs, therapy may integrate EMDR, Brainspotting, parts-informed or somatic approaches with ongoing relational work.
We discuss the purpose of an approach, what it involves and whether it fits your preferences.
What you want to make room for More choice in how you respond, relate and receive care.
That work might include:
- Understanding a familiar response without judging yourself for having developed it.
- Recognizing which responsibilities you want to keep and which need to change.
- Expressing needs without automatically taking responsibility for everyone’s reaction.
- Making more room for mutual care, creativity, rest and connection.
Does this feel familiar?
When belonging asks a lot.
Your needs matter, too.
When family relies on you, asking for care or saying no can bring guilt.
A role that never fit.
Family expectations may not fit your gender, your needs, or the life you want.
Room for your whole self.
One space understands your race or culture. Another understands your gender or sexuality. You want both.
Always carrying the conflict.
Overexplaining, withdrawing, or managing everyone’s feelings can make it hard to say what you need.
Care brings up old patterns.
Parenting, caregiving, or partnership can bring up the past while you’re trying to offer something different.
Knowing the pattern. Feeling stuck.
Knowing why you react a certain way doesn’t always make it easier to respond differently.
Find a person you can begin with
Meet our trauma therapists in the East Bay.
Each clinician brings a different focus. Start with the experience that feels familiar, or ask our coordinator to help you explore who may fit.
Monique Jacobo-Evans
Clinical therapist
Motherhood, identity & changing family patterns
About Monique’s approach
Motherhood can bring your needs, relationships and childhood into sharper focus. Monique supports mothers, including Black, Filipina and multiracial women, navigating emotional overload and changes in identity.
Brainspotting · Relational and cultural understanding
- Fee
- $200–$275 / 50 minLicensed clinician range; confirm Monique’s exact fee.
- Location
- Walnut CreekAsk about online or other office options.
- Availability
- Check current openings
AJ Johnson
Associate clinician
Queer and trans identity, childhood wounds & relationships
About AJ’s approach
Replaying conversations or hiding your needs to preserve connection? AJ works with queer, trans and neurodivergent adults navigating childhood wounds, perfectionism and relational harm.
EMDR · Somatic work · Parts-informed therapy
- Fee
- $150 / 50 minPublished associate rate; confirm at consultation.
- Location
- Walnut CreekAsk about online or other office options.
- Availability
- Check current openings
Jessica Hernandez
Clinical supervisor
Family expectations, guilt & intergenerational trauma
About Jessica’s approach
You want room for your own life, but disappointing family can feel like failing them. Jessica supports first- and second-generation adults, including eldest daughters, navigating inherited responsibilities and grief.
EMDR · Parts work · Relational approaches
- Fee
- $200–$275 / 50 minLicensed clinician range; confirm Jessica’s exact fee.
- Location
- Walnut CreekAsk about online or other office options.
- Availability
- Check current openings
Vanessa Solis
Founder & CEO
Leadership, perfectionism & carrying the responsibility
About Vanessa’s approach
People rely on your judgment. Asking for help may feel harder. Vanessa supports women of color and queer and trans professionals, leaders and entrepreneurs navigating trauma and self-doubt.
EMDR · Brainspotting · Intensive options
- Fee
- $200–$275 / 50 minLicensed clinician range; confirm Vanessa’s exact fee.
- Location
- Walnut CreekAsk about online or other office options.
- Availability
- Check current openings
EMTC is a private-pay, out-of-network practice with offices in Walnut Creek and Oakland, and online care across California. Confirm your clinician’s format and location before booking. Fees above are for 50-minute individual sessions; longer sessions and intensives have separate rates. Explore Fees & Insurance.
Our approach to out-of-network care
Care shaped around your life.
We work outside insurance networks to give us more flexibility in how we plan care with you and support our therapists.
-
Your life guides the work.
Your goals, cultural context and pace matter.
-
Sustaining the people who care.
Time for preparation, consultation and ongoing learning.
You pay for sessions upfront; your plan may reimburse part of the cost afterward. Our coordinator can help you explore your benefits and options before you decide.
Start with the questions on your mind.
Why “out of network” instead of “private pay”?
Both terms can apply. Out of network means we don’t participate in insurance networks. Private pay describes paying the practice directly.
We say “out of network” because paying us directly doesn’t necessarily mean insurance cannot help. If your plan includes these benefits, it may reimburse part of your fee afterward.
You can also pay without seeking reimbursement. We’re happy to talk through either option.
Could my insurance help with the cost?
Possibly, if your plan includes out-of-network mental-health benefits. Our coordinator can help you understand benefits information and prepare questions about coverage for your clinician, deductibles, reimbursement amounts and paperwork.
A reimbursement percentage may apply to your insurer’s allowed amount, which can be lower than your session fee. Your insurer confirms coverage and payment; reimbursement is not guaranteed.
When do I pay, and how does reimbursement work?
You pay EMTC’s full session fee upfront. You can then submit a superbill, an itemized receipt, to request reimbursement. Your insurer decides whether and how much it pays.
We can explain the paperwork and help you consider the time between paying and receiving any reimbursement.
Can I pay without insurance? What about privacy?
Yes. You can pay directly without submitting an insurance claim.
If you seek reimbursement, your insurer receives information used to process it, which may include a diagnosis and service details. You can ask what appears on a superbill before deciding. We still keep required clinical records.
What if I don’t have benefits or the cost doesn’t fit?
Tell us what would make care workable for you. We can explore associate-clinician appointments and whether a reduced-fee option is available. Eligibility and availability vary.
We’ll be honest about the options, and we understand if they still don’t fit your budget.
What can we figure out in a free consultation?
We can explore therapist fit, availability, payment options and questions about insurance. Bring whatever information you have; you don’t need to choose a clinician or understand your benefits first.
It’s a conversation to help you decide, with no commitment to begin therapy.
The EMTC reading room
Culture · Connection · CareResources for your whole life.
Reflections on the ways culture, relationships and family history shape our lives. Start with a question that feels familiar, and take what’s useful to you.
Caregiving & mental load
When your mind is still caring for everyone else.
A reflection on the planning, noticing and anticipating that keeps life moving, and why receiving care can feel harder than giving it.
Read the reflection
Queer & trans relationships
Culture, identity & your relationship.
How family expectations, racial stress and queer and trans experiences can shape conflict, closeness and asking for support.
Explore the articleFamily & intergenerational trauma
Healing across generations.
Explore how family history, migration and survival can shape guilt, boundaries and the roles we inherit.
Explore the article
Motherhood & identity
Making room for who you’re becoming.
A reflection on motherhood, inherited expectations and your changing relationship with yourself.
Read the reflection
Let’s talk about what you want more room for.
It might be a relationship where care goes both ways. More freedom to express yourself. A different way of responding to family conflict.
Time for rest, pleasure or parts of your life that have been postponed. We can start with what matters to you and help you explore whether someone on our team is a fit.
Follow us @empoweredmindtherapy
