Taylor Koonce, Clinical Intern
Taylor Koonce believes therapy is a vital form of self advocacy. Her work is rooted in social justice and prioritizes understanding people within their cultural contexts. Taylor aims to help her clients live their best lives while coping with any environmental or societal challenges they may face. She believes internal distress is exacerbated by external factors, and therapy is a space for clients to address/validate these factors. Multicultural, psychoanalytic, and CBT techniques are commonly employed in her counseling style.
As a queer woman of color, Taylor understands the importance of recognizing how identities intersect to influence mental health. Gender, race, sexuality, and other identities will influence how client’s experience the world and how they experience therapy. In her sessions, Taylor is open about how her and her client’s identities are present in the room, as well as how they interact. Her work is collaborative and encourages clients to be active in their own growth. She specializes in working with LGBTQ+ clients.
Taylor is currently attending New York University's Mental Health Counseling masters program and is completing their LGBTQ+ Health, Education, and Social Services Certificate.
She previously worked with LGBTQ+ youth and young adults at the Dutchess County Pride Center. Taylor has a strong understanding of sexuality, gender identity, and the struggles queer clients face. Her experiences help her provide gender affirming resources and community support to clients.
Outside of counseling, Taylor is passionate about research. Her areas of interest are racial & gender theory, feminist philosophy, and experiences of intersectional discrimination. One of her career goals is to help make the field of psychology more inclusive towards queer people of color.
Taylor was born and raised in South Jersey and loves to visit the Jersey Shore every summer. In her free time, she likes to paint, re-watch old TV shows, and go thrifting. She also has a cat named Luke who is likely sleeping next to her during telehealth sessions.