In many traditional therapy settings, neutrality is often treated as a professional standard. Therapists are taught to stay "objective," to avoid bringing politics or personal experience into the room. But here’s the truth: therapy is never neutral.

Every therapist brings their worldview, values, and lived experience into the space whether it’s acknowledged or not. And pretending otherwise can actually cause harm. When therapists don’t name power dynamics, social location, or systemic injustice, they risk invalidating the real-world struggles their clients face.

For queer, trans, BIPOC, and other marginalized clients, this kind of silence can feel like erasure. Healing spaces must be built on trust and trust grows when clients know their realities are not only seen but understood and honored.

Being values-based as a therapist means being transparent about what you stand for. It means explicitly affirming identities, challenging oppression, and creating space for collective liberation not just personal growth.

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Meet Javonna Arriaga

 
Javonna was born on Turtle Island. Her ancestors are from Abya Yala and her lineage is from the Moche and Chiriqui tribes. She is the daughter of Heather Miramontes-Garcia who is the daughter of Oscar Arriaga, Afro-Peruvian and Marcia Bishop, European American. She is the daughter of Gerardo Perez, though she honors her father's Panamanian lineage she does not know her father. She has been most directly raised by her mother Heather and grandfather Oscar. Javonna also spent two years in foster care and honors her foster parents Jen and Brad Newton as part of her family as well. Together this community has contributed to Javonna's journey.
Javonna is CIS-gendered, able-bodied, pansexual, and a relationship anarchist. Javonna's first language is English and she is fluent conversationally in Spanish.

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