Z. Avery

I am Z. Hamilton Avery, LCSW, BC-TMH, CMT, CYT-1,000, TIYT (he/they), a queer and nonbinary psychotherapist, clinical social worker, and coach with more than 15 years of experience across mental health, healthcare, crisis services, education, and community-based care. Through Therapy with Z, LLC, I provide affirming online psychotherapy to adolescents (13+) and adults in Oklahoma, Florida, South Carolina, and Idaho and non-clinical coaching to teens and adults nationwide. I work with 2SLGBTQIA+ people across diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, relationships, families, bodies, abilities, backgrounds, beliefs, and ways of living. My work includes people navigating stress, anxiety, depression, trauma and PTSD, suicidal thoughts, chronic illness and pain, grief and loss, burnout, identity-related concerns, major life transitions, and other experiences affecting mental health and well-being. I approach 2SLGBTQIA+ mental health as part of whole-person health. Emotional well-being can intersect with physical health, relationships, identity, family, community, culture, safety, healthcare experiences, environment, resources, and the larger systems in which we live. For 2SLGBTQIA+ people, therapy may involve minority stress, discrimination, rejection, stigma, concealment, belonging, family or community relationships, and navigating healthcare or other institutions. Being 2SLGBTQIA+ does not automatically need to become the subject of therapy. Sometimes identity is central to the work. Sometimes it is not. You should be able to bring your full identity into therapy without being expected to explain, defend, justify, or change it. I believe affirming care requires more than simply accepting someone's identity. It requires curiosity about the whole person, cultural humility, respect for autonomy, and recognition that there is no single way to be queer, trans, nonbinary, gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, aromantic, intersex, Two-Spirit, or otherwise part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. People differ in their relationships to identity, disclosure, family, community, spirituality, gender, gender expression, sexuality, relationship structures, and the language they use for themselves. My role is not to determine what any of those things should look like for you. My therapeutic approach is humanistic, person-centered, strengths-based, trauma-informed, harm-reduction oriented, inclusive, and affirming. My clinical training includes CBT, DBT, ACT, motivational interviewing, compassion-focused therapy, EMDR, trauma-focused interventions, mindfulness, somatic approaches, and mind-body practices. I use these approaches flexibly rather than expecting every person to fit the same therapeutic model. Therapy may involve developing practical skills, processing difficult experiences, exploring patterns, strengthening emotional regulation, cultivating self-compassion, clarifying values, or finding different ways to respond to situations that feel overwhelming or stuck. My style is warm, curious, collaborative, practical, and often humorous. I want clients to be able to ask questions, disagree with me, provide feedback, and participate actively in shaping their care. My professional background includes outpatient psychotherapy, integrated primary care, community mental health, hospice and end-of-life care, mobile crisis services, 911 emergency communications and first response, school-based services, health education, and community-based care. I have worked with diverse and historically underserved communities throughout my career. I am also neurodivergent, and my practice is neurodiversity affirming. I recognize that sexuality and gender can intersect with neurodivergence, disability, chronic illness, race, culture, socioeconomic circumstances, relationships, spirituality, and other dimensions of lived experience. Beyond psychotherapy, my work includes non-clinical coaching, education, speaking, writing, curriculum development, professional training, and integrative wellness. I develop programs and resources related to mental health, trauma, suicide prevention, chronic illness and pain, mindfulness, self-compassion, 2SLGBTQIA+ affirming care, and integrative well-being. Across my work, I want people to have greater freedom to understand themselves, determine what matters to them, and build lives that reflect their own identities, values, relationships, needs, and definitions of well-being.