About
“My goal is to create a space where the complexities of identity, family, and culture are welcomed as an integral part of your story—not treated as an afterthought.”
About Lavanya
Who I Am
I am a 1.5 generation Indian American immigrant woman, social worker, and therapist. Before becoming a therapist, I spent over a decade working in public health, social justice, and systems change efforts in the United States and abroad. Those experiences continue to shape how I understand healing: not only as an individual process, but as something deeply connected to our relationships, communities, cultures, and the systems we live within.
Why I Do This Work
I became a therapist after experiencing the transformative impact of working with a South Asian therapist as a client. For the first time, I felt deeply seen and understood—not only as an individual, but as someone shaped by culture, family, identity, and lived experience. That experience showed me how powerful therapy can be when you do not have to spend your sessions explaining or defending the context behind who you are.
My goal is to create a space where the complexities of your identity, family, and culture are welcomed as an integral part of your story - not treated as an afterthought.
What Therapy With Me is Like
I believe therapy is a collaborative process. You are the expert on your own life, and my role is to bring curiosity, clinical knowledge, and a different perspective to help you better understand yourself and create meaningful change.
Together, we will explore the patterns, beliefs, and experiences that shape how you see yourself and relate to others. I will support you in identifying what may be keeping you stuck, processing difficult emotions, developing new perspectives, and building tools that align with your goals and values.
Therapy with me is conversational, reflective, and focused on helping you develop a deeper relationship with yourself. I believe healing often happens when we have the opportunity to feel truly understood, explore our experiences with compassion, and create new possibilities for how we move through the world.
Who I Work With
I especially enjoy working with:
South Asian adults and first- and second-generation immigrants navigating cultural identity, family expectations, belonging, and life transitions.
Students and professionals experiencing anxiety, perfectionism, burnout, relationship challenges, and the pressure to meet internal or external expectations.
Individuals seeking to understand and break cycles of intergenerational trauma while building more compassionate relationships with themselves and others.
Movement leaders, organizers, activists, and changemakers who want to engage in their own healing work while working toward social change.
Individuals working in healthcare, government, academia, and other institutional settings who are navigating demanding environments and seeking support, balance, and sustainability.
I am particularly passionate about supporting people who are navigating the tension between caring deeply about others and learning how to care for themselves.
My Approach
My approach to therapy is relational, culturally responsive, trauma-informed, and integrative. I draw from a variety of frameworks, including:
Attachment-based and psychodynamic approaches
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
Mindfulness-based approaches
Narrative therapy
Person-centered and existential-humanistic approaches
Feminist and relational-cultural approaches
Somatic and trauma-focused approaches
I tailor therapy to each individual rather than following a one-size-fits-all model. Some approaches to therapy focus heavily on individual experiences without fully considering the cultural, relational, and systemic contexts that shape people’s lives. While I use evidence-based therapeutic approaches, I also strive to practice through a liberation psychology lens—recognizing the impact of family, culture, identity, history, social conditions, and systems of oppression on mental health and wellbeing.
Credentials
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Maryland: LCSW-C #28793
Washington, D.C.: LICSW #LC200004569
Virginia: LCSW #0904019815
Education
Ferentz Institute - Level 1 Certificate in Advanced Trauma Treatment
University of Maryland, Master of Social Work, 2015
Johns Hopkins University, Master of Public Health, 2015
University of Pennsylvania, B.A. in Health & Societies, 2009