Vanesa Akbarpour, MA, AMFT

Hello! My name is Vanesa Akbarpour. I work from a trauma-informed, holistic, sex-positive perspective in English and Spanish, but you can think of me as a nervous system whisperer, skill-builder, and guide on your path to liberating your most authentic you. for those with a wide range of presentations, from mood disorders, trauma, and sexual expression to relational or intimacy troubles. I strive to be informed and affirming to diverse populations and welcome non-monogamous people, and Kink or lifestyle persons.

Relationships not only inform how we interact with the world but also how we shape ourselves. They effect our lives from bringing out our strongest emotions of happiness, love, and grief to influencing how we communicate and set boundaries for ourselves. I guide couples in developing greater intimacy by providing a safe space where each partner can practice vulnerability with the other to voice the unmet needs at the heart of couple disagreements. It’s so often the case that partners have trouble acknowledging each other’s hurt or fears because they are worried it will be used against them to invalidate their own emotional pain. Through the process of therapy, I help couples learn that this need not be so and that it is possible to hold the validity of both emotional realities.

Areas of Specialty
Healing from sexual trauma & reclaiming erotic self
Interconnection of Spirituality & Sexuality
Dreamwork/tending
Cultural sensitivity
Inner child work
Couples & Partnerships of all kinds
Creatives
Highly sensitive people (HSP)
Ethical Non-Monogamy
Anxiety
Mood Disorders
Relationship/Couples Therapy