TRACI MEDEIROS (She/They)

MASTER’S IN COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGY (MACP)

CA Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist #86600

Florida Telehealth Registration TPMF#1243

CEPA Approved Continuing Education Provider Administrator for GGOC Education #1000128

Yoga Alliance Certified RYT500

Hello!

I am a queer body of culture (Resmaa Menakem, My Grandmother's Hands), learning and unlearning generations of inflicted and sustained trauma. I use she/her/hers and they/them/their pronouns.

I'm beyond grateful to have my dream job supporting mental health in the communities I love so much. Even after nearly 15 years, I sometimes feel uncertain about my place in this cisheternormative, largely gendered field of emotional service that continues to center whiteness and pathologize the experiences of minoritized groups.

I practice tarot and pendulum work when I'm feeling disconnected from my intuition. I do yoga when I can get through my complicated feelings about the practice. I receive daily therapy from my feline familiars and will self-prescribe deep breaths to anyone and everyone.

I can be mindful and resilient as well as flawed and frenetic. I believe compassion is revolutionary and that connection is healing. I believe in you and your story.

A little bit about me…

The letters after my name…

I hold a Bachelor of Arts in Critical Gender Studies from the University of California, San Diego (2006), with a focus on sexuality and social kinship networks — what we often call our "families of choice." I earned my Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Argosy University, Orange County (2011).

I completed my clinical practicum at The LGBT Center, Orange County, where I provided individual, couples, and group counseling services. I also assisted with the administration of The Center OC's low-cost, sliding-scale counseling program and facilitated trainings and workshops on affirming and culturally competent care for the LGBTQ+ community.

I am a California-licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT #86600) and a Florida Telehealth Provider (#TPMF1243). Additionally, I am trained at the RYT 500-Hour Level in trauma-informed, therapeutically focused yoga.

I am incredibly proud to be the Co-Owner and Educational Director at Gather & Grow OC, a group practice offering affirming counseling, education, and wellness services, as well as clinical training to providers invested in accessible mental health services.

CLINICAL SPECIALIZATIONS AND AREAS OF EXPERTISE

My clinical practice centers intersectional, trauma‑informed care tailored to the needs of LGBTQ+ people, those in consensually non‑monogamous relationships, kink communities, sex workers, and people of color. I provide affirming, non‑pathologizing mental health services grounded in cultural humility and social justice, and I center the expertise that comes from these communities’ lived experiences.

Trauma Recovery & Complex PTSD Treatment

Using evidence-based, trauma-informed modalities, I support clients’ healing from acute trauma, complex trauma (C-PTSD), childhood abuse, sexual assault, intimate partner violence, discrimination-based trauma, and systemic oppression. My approach integrates somatic awareness, nervous system regulation, and relational healing to address the impacts of trauma on mental health, relationships, and sense of self.

LGBTQ+ Affirming Therapy & Queer Mental Health

My therapeutic approach centers the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals, addressing the impacts of marginalization, minority stress, and systemic oppression on mental health and identity development. I provide affirming support for queer individuals exploring sexual orientation, gender identity, coming out processes, chosen family dynamics, and navigating discrimination. Rather than pathologizing responses to oppression, I validate the reality of systemic harm and work to strengthen resilience, self-acceptance, and authentic self-expression.

Gender Identity & Transgender Mental Health Support

I provide affirming mental health support for transgender, non-binary, gender-nonconforming, and gender-questioning individuals navigating identity exploration, social transition, medical transition, and gender-affirming care. My practice addresses the social construction of gender, including cultural expectations around gender identity, gender expression, and gender performance. I work collaboratively with clients to navigate institutional gatekeeping in healthcare systems, including support with accessing gender-affirming hormone therapy (HRT) and gender confirmation surgery through mental health assessment, letters, and advocacy.

Relationship Therapy & Couples Counseling

I offer relationship therapy and couples counseling for partners of all genders and relationship configurations, including monogamous couples, polyamorous systems, queer relationships, platonic partnerships, and kink houses and families. Using Intersectional Relationship Therapy (IRT), developed with co-facilitator Jacqueline Plante for our Relationship Intensives, I help partners strengthen communication, navigate conflict, process relational wounds, and build sustainable connections rooted in mutual respect and shared values.

Consensual Non-Monogamy & Polyamory Counseling

I provide non-judgmental, affirming support for individuals and relationship systems practicing consensual non-monogamy, polyamory, open relationships, and other non-traditional relationship structures. My approach helps clients design intentional, values-aligned relationships, navigate boundaries and agreements, process jealousy and insecurity, and strengthen communication across multiple configurations.

Anxiety & Depression Treatment

I provide compassionate, culturally responsive treatment for anxiety disorders, depression, and mood-related challenges. My approach examines both individual coping strategies and systemic factors contributing to mental health symptoms, integrating intersectional feminism, mindfulness practices, and relational support to build resilience and emotional wellness.

Healing for Healers

I provide specialized mental health therapy, coaching, and consultation for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC therapists, coaches, educators, and care workers navigating the unique challenges of doing liberation work within oppressive systems. My services address compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, professional ruptures and conflicts, nervous system regulation, authenticity in professional spaces, ethical dilemmas and moral injury, and sustainable care practices. Through trauma-informed, culturally responsive support that recognizes systemic oppression, I help you build resilience, maintain boundaries, and deepen your capacity to hold complexity without sacrificing your well-being. Prioritizing your mental health as a healer is both resistance and self-preservation—you deserve support that honors your humanity and sustains your capacity for continued liberation work.

Intersectionality & Social Justice in Therapy

I maintain critical consciousness of how intersecting identities—including race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, disability, and other social locations—shape both lived experience and the therapeutic relationship itself. My practice actively examines power dynamics, privilege, and oppression within the therapy room, creating space for clients to process experiences of systemic discrimination while building agency and personal effectiveness. I utilize an anti-oppressive framework that honors clients as experts in their own lives.

Kink-Aware & Sex-Positive Therapy

I offer kink-aware, sex-positive therapeutic support that affirms diverse expressions of sexuality, intimacy, and desire. My practice provides a shame-free space to explore BDSM dynamics, power exchange relationships, sexual identity, consent practices, and the intersection of sexuality with mental health and relationship wellness. My framework not only embraces kink and BDSM practices but holds the potential of these structures as their own healing modality.

Sex Worker Mental Health & Support Services

I provide affirming, non-judgmental mental health services for sex workers, including those engaged in full-service sex work, cam work, content creation, sugar relationships, and other forms of transactional intimacy. My approach acknowledges both the agency and the challenges inherent in sex work, addressing stigma, safety concerns, boundary management, and mental health needs without pathologizing clients' choices or labor.

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Healers Balancing Compassion Fatigue + Liberation Work

Highly Sensitive Activists

Heart-Driven Academics

Progressive Tiger Moms Nurturing Our Next Generation

Self-Made Men Creating the Reflections They Didn’t Have

Conscious Tenderqueers of All Persuasions

People of Color Invested in Joy

White Folks Invested in Equity

FOLKS I TEND TO WORK ESPECIALLY WELL WITH:

if your heart drew you here to my little corner of the internet, 
probably you!

SELECTED SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS, INTERVIEWS, & PRESS

  • INTERVIEW ON YNOT CAM

    • Sex Worker Affirming COM|PASSionate REVOLT

  • INTERVIEW ON GO MAG

    • 7 Minutes in Heaven

  • INTERVIEW ON AUTOSTRADDLE

    • Poly Pocket: Making Relationships Up As We Go

  • INTERVIEW ON THERAPY CABLE

    • Serving the Transgender Community

  • ONGOING COMMUNITY EDUCATION

    • Affirming Care + Best Practices: Serving the LGBTQ Community

  • SANTIAGO COMMUNITY COLLEGE WELLNESS SERIES 2013-2014

    • Stigma + Violence: How it Looks and How it Can Be Prevented on Campus

    • Gender Privilege: Exploring Gender Privilege, Power, and Safety in Our Communities

  • TRANS* ASTERISK CONFERENCE 2015

    • Gates + Gatekeepers: Accessing Medical Transition Services

    • Taming the Hulk: Finding Temperance for the Transmasculine Journey

  • CONTEMPORARY RELATIONSHIPS 2015

    • Queering Consent: Navigating Relationships Outside of the Hetero AND Homo Normative

  • TRANS* ASTERISK CONFERENCE 2016

    • "The Talk" A Closed Space to Discuss the Coming Out Process

  • CONTEMPORARY RELATIONSHIPS 2016

    • Clearing the Cache: Destigmatizing and Demystifying the Consumption of Pornography in Contemporary Relationships

  • WOODHULL SEXUAL FREEDOM SUMMIT 2016

    • Cache Confidence

  • KINK.COM'S EDUCATIONAL SERIES

    • Pajamas, Popcorn, and Porn: Slaying the Shame Monster Under Our Beds

    • Conscious Kink: A Sensual Midweek Yoga Class @ The Armory Club

  • CATALYST CON 2018

    • Porn Tasting 101: Consumption for the Curious (Press Release)

    • AVN Write-Up

  • EVERYDAY FEMINISM's School for Social Justice, Still available online

    • Dating and Sex After Trauma: A Webinar for Survivors and Those Who Love Them, 5.22.2018

    • Ethical Non-Monogamy 101: Exploring Love, Abundance and Accountability, 8.7.2018

  • OC CAMFT Webinar: The Dreaded Hour, Why Clients Challenge Us and How We Can Challenge Ourselves to Serve Them Better (Live: 7/26/19)

  • Queerfully & Wonderfully Made: Embodiment Interview and Meditation

  • Queerfully & Wonderfully Made: Queer Polyamory

  • Queerfully & Wonderfully Made: Queer Resilience

  • Bitch Magazine The Sick Issue #86: Interview with Marina Watanabe “Uncoupling Sickness from Otherness”

  • TASHRA (The Alternative Sexualities Health Research Alliance): Power, Privilege, & Play - A Primer on Healing Through Anti-Racist, Kink-Affirming Care

PROJECTS & PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

  • California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists

  • Contemporary Relationships Program Committee 2016

  • Contemporary Relationships Program Committee 2021

  • Everyday Feminism’s Speaker Bureau

  • Gather and Grow Orange County

  • KinkedIN Advisory Board

  • National Coalition for Sexual Freedom: Kink Aware Professionals Directory

  • National Queer & Trans Therapists of Color Network

  • Queer & Trans Affirming Provider (QTAP) Certification, Board Member, Faculty, and Consultant 2022, 2023