Andrew Pereira, Ph.D.

Session to session my clients often notice that I may not feel similar in style to other counselors they’ve met. I tend to be more interactive, and you get to see who I am not just as a therapist but as a person. As we get to know each other and feel trust between us, we will explore your current life, memories, and emotions at your pace, in a space that we built together to be a confidential haven for your personhood. I see my role as gently and respectfully offering my observations, even if they may be difficult to hear and against the invisible social rules that bind us. We use the clinical relationship as a place of experimenting/exploring a new way of being and connecting with ourselves and others.

You and I will hold your pain, joy, and the intersectionality of your identities in a frame that is decolonized, emphasizes the importance of community, connection, nature, and authenticity. As we work to create healing inside the room where we talk, I will help guide your growth outside of sessions as you live your life with greater intention. I typically see the greatest change with effort both inside and outside my office.

The types of activities we may encounter are storytelling, creative emotional expression, meditation and grounding, sensory reflection, trauma focused processing, bibliotherapy for those who enjoy structure, and courageous exploration of important identities. I also see myself as an advocate for your emotional well-being and strive to provide gender affirming services, such as letter writing and assessment, as well as referral services for other needs you may have. At the end of your sessions, if there is a question that baffles us, I will work through my connections to help guide us towards the goals we identify.

My clinical focus is centered on the healing connection possible between two people in a counseling relationship. Although I am trained as a generalist and tend to be more integrative of evidence-based treatment, in my heart I am a relational counselor who enjoys the model of Relational Cultural Theory (RCT), which is rooted in feminism, interpersonal theories, and multicultural theories. This type of work highlights the ways that you attach and connect with others in your life, or don’t, and the experiences that have taught you these lessons and may have helped to shape your approach. Together we honor experiences of trauma, oppression, the influence of family, friends, culture, and the myriad of images in your mind that root us in our behaviors and psychological pain. In my work I believe in honoring the importance of symbolism, intergenerational experiences, and the impact of mistreatment on current psychological functioning.

This type of meaning-making and transformation requires enough safety between us for fluid exploration, and as such my clinical practice is rooted in social justice, anti-oppression, forgiveness, decolonized (to the extent possible in our current societal realities), and celebrates queer identities, neurodiversity, disability, fatness, and actively dismantles the “isms” and stigma society places on our shoulders. I strive to foster humility in our differences and delight within individuality. 

University of North Texas
PhD in Counseling Psychology (2021)
MS in Psychology (2017)

Eastern Washington University
BA in Psychology (2013)

Outpatient adult counseling and comprehensive psychological assessment

Lightheart Psychological Associates, Redmond, WA
Community Counseling Center, University of North Texas, Denton

Outpatient counseling

Lifestance, Seattle, WA
Counseling Center, University of Washington, Seattle
Family Advocacy Center, Irving, TX (trauma focused)
Counseling Center, University of Texas, Dallas
Counseling and Testing, University of North Texas, Denton (vocational emphasis)