Dela is an acceptance-based therapist who specializes in helping people to build self-awareness and self-compassion to get out of cycles they are stuck in. Therapy with Dela is collaborative and emphasizes working together to define and take steps toward your goals. Dela uses Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and trauma processing approaches. She believes that therapy is more than just what we do for one hour of the week, so she will often suggest concrete ways to practice or experiment with new ways of being outside of sessions.

Dela will partner with you to name the stories that you believe about yourself and others and to notice when those old stories get in the way of new possibilities. These stories often developed because of stress, adversity, and trauma, as our mind’s way of helping us to survive those situations. Through working with Dela, you will learn to appreciate how these stories exist to try to protect you, and also notice opportunities to write a new story when the old ones are no longer serving you. Dela will teach you skills to make space for the feelings that are hard to let in, to change behaviors that aren’t aligned with who you want to be, and to prioritize what is most important to you over the things that get in the way.

Dela is passionate about creating an affirming and nonjudgmental therapy space for LGBTQ+ community members, women, and people of color. As a queer therapist and an ally and activist for trans rights, working with this community is close to her heart.

Dela is a licensed clinical psychologist whose work includes therapy, research, and teaching, serving marginalized communities. She has worked extensively with communities of color in Philadelphia, Albany, and Chicago in these capacities. Dela also has experience supporting pregnant and postpartum people navigating reproductive health challenges and the transition to parenthood.

Dela has many years of experience working with trauma survivors and has expertise in several structured approaches to treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as working with people who struggle with relationships and emotion regulation due to trauma. By healing the psychological and emotional wounds caused by traumatic experiences, she will help you to grow around and in spite of these painful memories. Dela will work with you to find the best way to work toward your therapy goals at your own pace.