Encompassing Wisdom and Wellness, PLLC

06/01/2026

Happy Pride Month to all of us — no matter what stage or circumstances you find yourself in, you deserve to celebrate who you are!

You belong here. You're seen. You're valid. You deserve to celebrate yourself and your community, no matter what stage of your journey you're on right now.

Happy pride month. 💜

03/31/2026

It’s so important to *know* the therapist sitting across from you in your mental health services. If you have doubts about your therapists values, we always encourage clients to voice the concerns and let the nonverbal & verbal response(s) you receive serve as information for you to discern and determine goodness-of-fit. As members of the LGBTQIA+ community, we know how deeply impactful it is to your healing to feel like there are pieces of you or your life that aren’t held in positive regard in healing spaces — don’t settle for that! Seek a provider who actually accepts you, and I mean at 100%, as you truly are.

The American Counseling Association (ACA) is profoundly disappointed in today's ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Colorado's ban on conversion therapy. Despite the ruling, the evidence remains clear: conversion therapy is harmful, discredited, and unsupported by science, and its risks to client well-being are well documented. ACA, SAIGE and other leading mental health organizations remain committed to ethical, evidence-based, and affirming care, and will continue to oppose practices that violate these standards of care.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/4bUJdbE

03/27/2026

03/05/2026

To more fully understand this, please read the entire statement at the link in TCA’s post that is being shared here.

I’m grateful that these professional organizations are reiterating the importance of client autonomy & independence within the counseling/therapeutic relationship above all else. All clients, and most especially marginalized clients, should have their rights & choices respected within therapeutic spaces and not be encouraged by professionals to repress or suppress the very things they are seeking to better understand and find healing around.

We at Encompassing Wisdom and Wellness, PLLC will always stand with our Q***r, Trans, Nonbinary, Two-Spirit, Intersex, Questioning, and LGBA+ clients. All of you is welcome in our shared spaces.

The Texas Counseling Association, in coalition with the Texas Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, the Texas Society for Clinical Social Work, and the National Association of Social Workers - Texas Chapter, has issued a joint statement disagreeing with the recent opinion released by Ken Paxton on SB 14 (88R).

Our statement clarifies that SB 14 addresses specific medical procedures related to physical health and does not regulate or prohibit mental health services. Licensed behavioral health professionals remain bound by their ethical standards, scope of practice, and commitment to providing culturally responsive, identity-affirming, and trauma-informed care. TCA also submitted an amicus brief arguing that mental health professionals are not included in SB 14 (88R) when the request for an opinion was filed last fall by the Behavioral Health Executive Council.

While the opinion does not create new criminal prohibitions for mental health professionals practicing within their scope, it does create uncertainty and concern among providers across Texas. TCA reaffirms our unwavering commitment to the people of Texas — including transgender and gender-diverse individuals. We will continue to advocate for dignity, safety, and ethical care for all.

Read the full joint statement:https://higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/TXCA/9a94f13f-4453-47fd-a4ab-77e8307c79b3/UploadedImages/SB_14_Joint_Statement_3_3_2026.pdf

03/03/2026

Just in case anyone is curious where we stand, the text in this post from Equality Texas should help clear things up. 🫶🏻🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈

In 2022, when Paxton tried to interpret the law to target trans kids, the Texas Supreme Court said, “it is well-settled that an Attorney General opinion interpreting the law cannot alter the pre-existing legal obligations of state agencies or private citizens.”

That’s fancy speak for “shut up.”

The Texas Legislature banned certain medical procedures for trans youth in the state when they passed SB 14 in 2023. The list of banned procedures does not include mental health services. That means that it remains legal for mental health practitioners to treat young Texans with gender dysphoria. Paxton’s recent opinion claiming that SB 14 bans mental health care cannot and does not change the scope of the law.

To trans kids in Texas: There is an entire community of q***r and trans folks behind you. Our community has always taken care of each other, and we’ll take care of you.

If you need someone to talk to, call the Trevor Project: 866-488-7386

If you are looking for ways to support the trans kids in your life, a little care and support goes a long way. To learn more about navigating mental health crises, please see our Mental Health Toolkit. bit.ly/EQTX-MHTK

12/20/2025

FROM THE DESK OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
TO: Our Trans and Non-Binary Siblings, Our Families, and Our Allies

Our Lives Are Not Up for Debate

I am writing to you today with a heart that is heavy with horror and burning with an absolute, unyielding rage.

The recent federal actions of Mehmet Oz and Robert Kennedy Jr. represent a catastrophic, coordinated assault on the lives of our transgender and non-binary youth. Their explicit goal, to dismantle access to gender-affirming care, is not a"policy debate." It is a targeted, systemic act of violence against the most vulnerable members of our community.

Let us be perfectly clear: We are talking about the survival of our young people. At the Phoenix Center, we see the faces behind these headlines every single day. We see the children whose light is dimming because they are being told by the highest levels of government that their existence is a mistake. We see the terror in the eyes of parents who just want their children to live to see adulthood.

Make no mistake: when you strip away life-saving healthcare, people die. By attempting to ban gender-affirming care, which is endorsed by every major medical association as essential, these leaders are effectively signing death warrants for our youth. This cruelty will fall hardest on our Black and Brown trans siblings, who already navigate a healthcare system built on a foundation of inequity.

I know many of you are terrified. You are exhausted. You are looking at the news and wondering how we can possibly move forward when the ground is shifting beneath us.

First: Your fear is valid. Your rage is an appropriate response to injustice. It is okay to not know what to say. It is okay to feel the weight of this trauma in your bones.We live in a "sanctuary state," but we are not naive. Springfield is the lifeline for gender-affirming care in Illinois and beyond. Federal attacks on funding and medical licensure will reach us here. The walls of our sanctuary are being tested.

But we will not sit in silence while they target our children. We are q***r. We are a community. In times of profound darkness, we do not simply sit by and watch things happen to us. We find strength in the marrow of our q***r family. We resist.We protect. We survive.

I am asking you to channel your fear and rage into immediate action:

1. Protect the Frontlines: Our local gender-affirming clinic workers are under immense pressure and are facing the same fear we are. Take them cupcakes. Send them a card. Drop off a coffee. Show them they have an army of support behind them. They are the ones holding the line for our lives; we must hold them up in return.

2. The "Safety Check" Protocol: Check on your trans and non-binary friends and family - now. Not with a generic "How are you?" but with a meaningful, "I am here, I see the weight you are carrying, and I am standing with you." We must be each other’s psychological safety net.

3. Radical Allyship: If you are a cis-gender ally, this is your time to be the shield. Do not leave the labor of education and resistance to those who are currently being hunted. Have the hard conversations with your neighbors and your families. Be the voice that refuses to let dehumanization go unchallenged.

4. Mutual Aid: If federal funding is pulled from our local facilities, community-funded care will be the only thing left. Prepare now to redirect your resources toward local funds that directly assist youth in accessing care.

We are a community forged in resistance. We have navigated legal erasure and systemic neglect before, and we have always found our way back to each other. Community is not just a word at the Phoenix Center; it is our most potent weapon.We are scared, but we are together. And as long as we are together, we are resilient.

In solidarity and rage,
Teresa & Your Phoenix Center Team

RESOURCE:

The folks at the Trans Youth Emergency Project with the Campaign for Southern Equality are actively assisting families in continuing care plans. Those who need help navigating alternative options should reach out to them.

https://southernequality.org/tyep/

10/10/2025

In light of recent oral arguments at the Supreme Court in the Chiles v. Salazar case, ACA reaffirms that conversion therapy is a harmful practice. We also reaffirm our commitment to supporting policies that protect clients, uphold professional standards and advance the integrity of the counseling profession. As part of a coalition of mental health organizations, we have signed on to a friend of the court brief reiterating:

• Conversion therapy is a dangerous and discredited practice
• Psychotherapy is more than simply ‘talking’ — it is a medical treatment and therefore can be regulated by states
• Conversion therapy can fuel stigma and discrimination toward the LGBTQ+ community

Learn more about our efforts: https://bit.ly/3JYgo3G

06/13/2025

Feeling Overwhelmed During Pride? You’re Not Alone—and You’re Not Broken

For deep-feeling and highly sensitive q***r folks, Pride can feel like a double-edged sword. 👀 Hear me out…

You’re grateful for the visibility & representation, for the camaraderie and “we’re all in this together” vibes—even for the statement it is to celebrate with others a part of you that can be overlooked or unwelcome in certain spaces.
*and*
You’re exhausted from the pressure to be “on” and seen by others, to be social or loud, or to like overstimulating spaces.

But here’s the truth: Pride is a celebration of authenticity in a world that doesn’t want to understand nuance.

So, if you’re someone who needs tenderness, stillness, space, or quiet, that’s part of your Pride and celebration of what makes you, YOU!

These slides are some of the things that my partner & I think through when we’re preparing to go to a big function.

You get to participate in the things you want to participate in and in the ways that make you feel more comfy in your own body, brain, & existence.

There’s no such thing as one right way to celebrate Pride.

💾Save this if you want to review the Sensory Check List or send it to someone who helps support you as a way to spark a conversation about engaging on your own terms.

Want some help navigating being more comfy with your identity, learning how to work with or prevent Burnout, or other kinds of sensory overload? Contact one of the therapists tagged here who get what it means to choose ***r


tx


***rhealing ***rtherapist 🏳️‍🌈

12/21/2024

2024 has been a challenging year. You’re at your limit: struggling to bolster enough motivation to work, take care of yourself, & keep up with daily responsibilities. You’re scared of what the new year will bring: further hardship, isolation, & uncertainty. You’re exhausted: disconnected from yourself & the people you care about, empty, & dragging yourself through life.
 
2025 doesn’t have to be the same. You can make the choice that can transform your life.
 
“Self-care is a revolutionary act.”—Audrey Lorde. Self-care is community care. We don’t heal in isolation, we heal together. Without community, self-care is useless.
 
We are offering group therapy to help bring community care to you. To be part of the revolution, to heal and transform your life:
 
1️⃣Q***r Support Group
2️⃣New Year, Authentic You
3️⃣Burnout Recovery for Q***r Highly Sensitive Folks
 
As therapists, we’ve helped our clients shift from:
 
-Lonely, scared & exhausted to connected, empowered and energized.
-Lost, directionless & apathetic to attuned to their personal compass, clarity, & renewed joy & excitement in their life. 
-Hanging on by a thread to courageous, confident & trusting themselves to navigate challenge & change.
 
Don’t let another year go by with you stuck in the same place.
Spots are limited. Reserve your seat today (🔗 in Bio)!
 
🧡Lindsey (She/They) &
💜Kimber-Lea (They/Them)
 
We’re Q***r HSP therapists for Q***r HSP folks.

We understand the challenges you face as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community because we live w/them, too. Group allows us to help our community come together for strength, empowerment, & support. We’ll do the work to ensure these groups are a safer place for you to exist in. We’re here to support our community in moving beyond surviving & into thriving & flourishing.
 
Save your seat today through the link in bio!
 
+ ***rowned ***rtherapist ***r ***rtherapy ***r