I believe that change is unavoidable and it is normal for us to get stuck in the process of moving through life. Whether intentional or not, our relationships with each other and with ourselves impact our movement forward. My mission in the therapy room is to provide a non-judgemental space for you to explore what it means to engage with yourself and others in an authentic and compassionate way. As a therapist, my style is collaborative, curiosity-driven, and client-centered. I invite you to bring all facets of yourself and your story into the room as we work together to process the past and envision new possibilities for the future.
Sunny specializes in…
- Licensure
- Marriage and Family Resident Therapist
- Clinical Supervisor: Alissa Goddard, MA, LMFT, AASECT Certified Sex Therapist
- Degrees
- Bachelor of Arts in Psychology – Lewis and Clark College
- Current Student – Masters of Art Marriage, Couple, and Family Therapy: Sexuality Tract – Lewis and Clark
- Graduate School
My Journey
I tripped into the field of psychology while following a deep sense of curiosity and desire to learn about people and their stories. Before I knew it, I had fallen in love with the idea of working with others to expand our conversations and relationships around sex, shame, pleasure, and ourselves. A large part of this love was seeded and nurtured by the experiences I have lived through.
While I was raised in a household that was sex-positive and education encouraging, I was also taught to be wary about sharing my identity as a LGBTQ+ and gender-queer individual out of fear for my safety and well-being. Though out of love, this mis-match in communication from my family combined with living in a religious area to foster a sense of shame and secrecy. I internalized the message that pieces of myself were more lovable and acceptable than others and shifted my behavior accordingly. My whiteness and ability to pass as cisgender, heterosexual, and monogamous were privileges that afforded protection growing up though I learned what it meant to live in conflict with yourself. Moving for college brought new perspectives, environments, and connections that helped me to unlearn some of those messages around who I was allowed to be in the world and how I was allowed to express myself.
My journey through life has included times of grief, joy, pain, confusion, contentment, and already so many transitions. I am passionate about creating more spaces for us to reflect and learn about who we have been and who we are becoming in experiencing our journeys. As someone who holds LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent identities, I want to open up avenues for people to have conversations about how those intersectionalities interact with the way we want to love and engage with those around us. I believe in the beauty and strengths of many types of relationship structures and strive to create a therapeutic relationship that is transparent, compassionate, and exploratory.
My therapeutic style is rooted in Common Factors Theory and a systemic worldview which emphasizes the way our environments, emotions, narratives, culture, and relationships interact with each other to create our unique contexts. I lean towards incorporating the lenses of Structural Family Therapy, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), and Interpersonal Neurobiology into my way of working. Coming from this perspective encourages me to be flexible in meeting you where you are at in your own journey and collaborating to create new possibilities.
When I am not in the office, I love crafting and creating primarily in the forms of painting, sewing, and digital art. I am a self-labeled nerd and regularly engage in D&D, Magic the Gathering, and the vast world of sci-fi and fantasy media. If I manage to make it outside, you can likely find me hiking in the Gorge or curled up at the beach with a book.
