My name is Vanessa (she/her), but you can call me V.

I’m a queer, first-generation Portuguese American therapist, coach, and movement guide. I grew up in north New Jersey, surrounded by vibrant cultural diversity, yet with limited access to personal and community resources and support. Witnessing and experiencing the impacts of trauma, silence, and disconnection early on shaped my beliefs on healthcare.

Mental, relational, and sexual health care should be both accessible and deeply human.

My work is rooted in helping individuals and relationships navigate intimacy, embodiment, and authenticity—especially in spaces where closeness has felt out of reach. In our work together, we will definitely talk through and untangle difficult messages but we may also draw, breathe, stretch, sit in silence, walk, or even dance together. I bring in practices from somatics, sex therapy, mindfulness, and expressive movement to support the full human experience—because healing isn’t one-size-fits-all, and neither are we.

Sometimes, the deepest healing comes not from fixing ourselves, but from being witnessed and accepted as we are.

Outside of the therapy room, I also teach dance and movement classes influenced by Latin partner dancing, Contact Beyond Contact, and mindful movement. Our bodies hold wisdom that words sometimes can’t reach and these spaces invite people into deeper relationship with their bodies, their intuition, and each other.