Dani Neiderhiser (She/her)

As a third culture kid, I understand what it’s like to not really fit in and have to learn the hidden rules of integrating oneself into a new culture. I moved to the United States when I was ten years old, but I was also a half-American when I was living in Spain. It can be frustrating. I miss hugging friends being considered normal. I miss different types of humor. I understand what it’s like to want to be authentic and want to fit in and also what it’s like to be rejected.

I didn’t find out I was transgendered until I was 29 and didn’t even truly question my gender until. I was 28. I wish that the whole idea of gender identity had been accessible to me growing up. Thinking you might be trans/nonbinary can be a lot to process, especially if you were raised thinking it was wrong to identify as anything other than cisgender. I want to help other people who are struggling with figuring out their gender identity in a safe space.

Anxiety. It’s a part of us that wants to protect us, but oftentimes it makes us suffer. Learning to cope with anxiety can take practice, and learning to listen to what it’s telling you can take even more. I want to be able to help people not only manage and lower their anxiety but to honor it and be able to tell it that it doesn’t have to do its job anymore.

Person-centered therapy is very useful, especially when first getting to know the client. This kind of therapy tends to be what I’m naturally drawn to. I believe that my clients are the experts on themselves and I like to let them lead. I also find it really important to have and show an unconditional positive regard to my clients.

We have all learned to be the way we are. Sometimes in order to survive and do well, we acquire maladaptive parts to ourselves, but in reality those parts are there to protect us. It is important to listen to what those parts are saying and to honor them. When we can do that, we can learn to find other parts of ourselves that we may not have even known were there this whole time and we can listen to what they say, too.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is perhaps the most well-known kind of therapy. A big part of it is to find faulty thinking, address it, and change it. It might be considered simple and many therapists actually don’t like it, but I think that it can definitely be a great tool to have for when it’s needed.