Meet Gabby Collins, LCSW (she/they)
Feeling super anxious all the time and wondering when the panic attacks will stop? Girl, same. Struggling with your body image and relationship to food, especially as a queer person? Been there! I am a nonbinary lesbian therapist (more specifically, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker) with lived experience with many of same things my clients come to me struggling with. Therapy has helped me so much in my own journey, and it's truly the greatest privilege to now get to be part of my clients' stories. I've sat across from hundreds of tweens, teens, and adults helping them navigate anxiety, OCD, eating disorders, gender identity, and relational conflicts, and I love the work I get to do. Curious about how I got here and all of the professional credentials? Read on (or not).
I began my journey on the path to becoming a psychotherapist at the University of California, Berkeley, where I got my B.A. in Psychology and engaged in research on the psychology of stigma and prejudice. While this work is deeply important, it lagged so far behind the knowledge we have from people's lived, everyday experience. I decided I wanted to get out of the Ivory Tower and actually work directly with people. So, did the necessary evil of just a little more Ivory Tower and I went to UCLA to get my Master's in Social Work (MSW).
During my MSW program and in the years after, I got to work with so many incredible clients in various different settings. I was a counselor and group facilitator in eating disorder treatment, a school based therapist in elementary and middle schools, a case manager to adults in homeless services, a therapist in crisis services to teens, adults, and families, and a hospital social worker and therapist. Amongst all of the hats I've worn, there's a through line -- I LOVE working with queer and trans tweens, teens, and adults. I continually feel called back to doing work with anxiety and OCD, disordered eating and body image, and queer identity and relationships.
So, I started my own practice so I could get to really focus on the work I love the most. It's been one of my greatest joys and I feel so lucky to continue to work with my incredible clients! And of course, when I take off my therapist hat, I do regular human stuff. I like to hike, kayak, birdwatch, practice photography, create art, and spend time with my family, friends, and pets.
My Approach
I aim to balance warmth and gentle challenging in sessions. I will be one of your biggest supporters, and also call you out on the patterns that keep you from the change you want to see. I use an integrative approach to therapy, meaning I use multiple different modalities depending on what will best help the person I am working with. I pull primarily from IFS, DBT, I-CBT, and ERP, among other modalities. In session, this looks like exploring physical sensations, connecting them to emotions, and uncovering the origins in the past of certain parts with more depth in order to move past patterns that keep us stuck. It may also look like us collaborating to rewire thought patterns, create distress tolerance-focused coping skills to keep us in the present, and improving our ability to handle difficult triggers that might typically send us into full blown panic mode.
I provide a collaborative, supportive, and trauma-informed space in therapy that considers how both personal experiences, thought patterns and protective parts, and systemic issues impact wellbeing. I view the clients I have the privilege of working with as experts with invaluable knowledge gained through lived experiences. As such, I seek to honor this knowledge while also asking tough questions and facilitating the creation of new insight and skills to support clients though challenges.
I view the strength of relationships as a crucial pathway toward healing. Healing does not happen in isolation, but through community, the support of loved ones, and our therapeutic relationship. My goal in all the work I do with clients is to make my job obsolete; I aim to help you build a strong enough sense of self, level of coping, and sense of community that you'll be able to move on from our work together with confidence.
If you’d like to learn more about working with me, please reach out for a consultation! I can’t wait to learn more about you.