Therapy for Identity and Belonging
Finding Yourself When You’ve Always Lived Between Worlds
Many people grow up feeling that they don’t fully belong anywhere, caught between cultures, languages, families, or life experiences. You might wonder: Who am I, really, when every place I’ve been has shaped me in a different way?
At Horizon Online Therapy, we specialize in helping people explore questions of identity, belonging, and self-understanding, especially when those experiences are layered by adoption, migration, mixed heritage, or complex family stories.
We believe that belonging is not something you earn; it’s something you cultivate by understanding and honoring your own story.
When Identity Feels Complicated
You might be seeking therapy because you:
– Feel disconnected or “between worlds”, culturally, racially, or linguistically.
– Have a history of adoption and are exploring your story, roots, or attachment experiences.
– Struggle to balance different cultural or family expectations.
– Feel invisible, misunderstood, or like you have to “code-switch” to fit in.
– Notice feelings of shame or loss when it comes to your background or sense of self.
– Want to feel grounded in who you are, even when others don’t understand your experience.
Therapy can offer a space to make sense of these experiences and find language for the parts of you that have never had words.
How Therapy Helps You Reconnect with Yourself
Our approach integrates evidence-based modalities with a deep respect for lived experience and cultural context.
Depending on your goals, sessions may include:
– Narrative and trauma-informed therapy to help you explore your story and make sense of your past.
– EMDR therapy to process memories that still carry emotional charge or feelings of disconnection.
– Mindfulness and somatic approaches to help your body feel safer in belonging.
– Attachment-based work to explore patterns of closeness, trust, and safety in relationships.
– Culturally responsive therapy that honors your background, values, and multiple identities.
Through this work, many clients begin to feel less fragmented, more self-accepting, and able to carry their complexity with confidence rather than confusion.
Our Clinicians’ Experience
Each therapist at Horizon Online Therapy brings a different lens to identity and belonging work:
– Alex De Araujo Sanchez, LCSW — specializes in adoptees, multicultural and multiracial individuals, and those navigating identity reconstruction after trauma or migration.
– Tenaya Meaux, LCSW — supports LGBTQ2A+ individuals, perfectionists, and those exploring identity through self-acceptance and nervous-system healing.
– Rachel Boll, LPC — integrates EMDR, mindfulness, and somatic therapy for clients exploring life transitions, self-worth, and belonging.
We provide therapy for adults across Oregon, fully online, in a space designed to feel safe, grounded, and culturally aware.
What You Can Expect
In therapy, we’ll slow down and explore:
– How your background, experiences, and relationships have shaped your identity.
– Where belonging has felt possible — and where it hasn’t.
– How to develop compassion for the different parts of yourself.
– How to connect with your roots, values, and the communities that feel most aligned.
Therapy becomes not only about healing what hurt, but about reclaiming the right to belong to yourself.
Getting Started
You don’t have to have all the answers. You only need curiosity about your story and a desire for connection.
Reach out today to schedule a free consultation and learn how therapy can help you find your place between worlds.
Further readings:
– National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): Identity and Culture
– Mental Health America: Culture, Identity, and Mental Health
– The Adoptee Collective — community and advocacy resources for adoptees.
– Harvard Center for the Developing Child: The Science of Belonging
