Hello, my name is Gabriel Windevoxchel and trauma-informed therapist. I received my master’s in mental health counseling and wellness from NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development. My parents emigrated from Peru and Venezuela in search of a better quality of life to Puerto Rico, where I was born and raised. My native language is Spanish, but I am also fully fluent in English due to my upbringing back in my home country. I find that my afro-indigenous heritage is a very important part of who I am, and how I interpret the world around me.During my time at NYU, I primarily focused my studies on communities of color, the LGBTQIA+ community, and the effects of pervasive trauma. I also am very interested in neurodivergent and personality disorders. I am interested in working with queer-identifying individuals and people of color. My theoretical orientation for my work is a wellness-based integrative approach. To me this means an integration of narrative therapy approaches to assist you with finding insights as well as infusing person-centered approaches to enrich the relationship we will build together. My framework for therapy also adopts core values of both multicultural and neuropsychological theories to allow for conversations where individuals can learn how their environment and biological makeup have an important role to play in shaping one's life story. Rather than utilizing the medical model to aid my clients, which focuses on pathology, I approach my cases through a wellness-based model that is more concerned with the whole picture of an individual's life.Beginning one’s own healing journey can be quite frightening, and that’s why I seek to create a space where empathy, understanding, and compassion is what will guide all the work we do. Community is very important, and for that we must be willing to welcome each other with open arms and open hearts.