Our Providers

Marika Yip-Bannicq, LPC

**she/her**
**Individual and Relationship Therapy**
aquarius sun / aquarius rising / cancer moon
**Internal Family Systems Level 1 Training (in progress)**
My approach to therapy centers healing and liberation through connection. I believe that relationships form the foundation of human experience, and that our deepest personal growth happens in caring, compassionate connection to ourselves and others. I draw from relational and psychodynamic approaches, as well as Internal Family Systems, to join my clients in exploring the historical and relational roots of their present-day challenges in ways that honor their adaptive origins and open up new paths for relating to the world.
I am a mixed race and multicultural Taiwanese-French-American who believes in the anti-oppressive power of showing up as a whole person in relationship with my clients. I am dedicated to the continual work of creating a space that is anti-oppressive and safe for all experiences to be explored, and I welcome clients of all sexual orientations, genders, races, ethnicities, and identities. I work with individuals and couples.
I completed my clinical training and education at Northwestern University. I also hold a PhD in Social Psychology from New York University and received my postdoctoral training at the Columbia Couples lab at Columbia University. My psychological research is dedicated to studying interpersonal dynamics in close relationships, with a special focus on helping couples navigate relationship conflict in more constructive ways.

Avi Bowie, LCSW

**they/he**
**Individual Therapy, Consulting**
virgo sun / libra rising / gemini moon
I approach my work through an integration of trauma-responsive, anti-oppressive, and mindfulness-based practices and lenses. I view therapy as a collaborative process where we work together to build trust and grow insight to support you in developing a deeper understanding of your relationship to yourself, to others, and to the world around you. I consider individuals to be the experts of their experience and see my role in the therapeutic relationship as one of creating a space that is welcoming, affirming, reflective, non-judgmental, curious, and compassionate.
In my career, I've worked primarily with youth, young adults, adults, and families. Much of my work has been with LGBTQ+, and BIPOC individuals. I've collaborated with those who are navigating trauma/vicarious trauma, oppressive structures and systems, and those seeking support with depression, anxiety, grief, relationships, & life transitions.
In our work together we'll practice being present & observing what your systems are asking of you. We will examine the experiences & beliefs that contribute to your distress, & create space to cultivate a greater understanding of your own innate wisdom, and the conditions that will support you in experiencing less distress and greater wellness in your life.

**Sarah Jane Bowie, LCSW**

**she/her**
**Individual Therapy**
capricorn sun / libra rising / pisces moon
**NARM (Neuro-Affective Relational Model) MASTER THERAPIST**
I am a queer, cisgender white woman, trained as a clinical social worker. I enjoy providing the space and time for people to feel heard, understood, and, when they are ready, supported enough to create new patterns that will allow for lasting growth and change on their path to self-becoming. I believe that people are incredibly resilient and have an immense capacity to survive, overcome, and thrive even through the most challenging of circumstances. I also see the interconnectedness of the immense intergenerational and collective trauma that we all experience and participate in perpetuating, knowingly or not. I believe this aspect of healing cannot be disconnected from the impact it has on our individual adaptation to trauma and the subsequent wisdom of survival strategies. Supporting a container of healing for people to gain awareness and connect to their own heart’s desire and inner wisdom is what draws me to this work.
**My approach.**
My goal is to co-create a safe space where clients can deepen their self-awareness and self-compassion in order to explore what may be getting in the way of living a fuller, more balanced and fulfilling life. As a former dancer, I deeply connect with the body’s role in being able to help us explore and re-imagine who we are, why we are here, and where we are going. I am inspired by the natural world and the lessons it can teach us about the cycles of life and the beauty and worth of all living beings. I feel privileged to be able to collaborate and be present with people along their journey towards transformational healing. I incorporate relational, trauma-informed, mind-body, parts-work (IFS-informed) & depth psychology approaches to help support connection to one’s authenticity and life force energy. All of my work is rooted in anti-racist, anti-oppressive, body-neutral, sex positive, LGBTQIA-affirmative, client-centered, harm-reduction and strengths-based frameworks.

““If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” - ”

— - Australian and aboriginal artist, activist, and academic Lila Watson has identified these words as a collective belief born from the activist groups of which she was part

Our Approach

At Love Liberates, we are eager to connect with those who want to engage in the work of personal, interpersonal, and collective healing and liberation. We are committed to collaborating with individuals, couples, and organizations who are curious about what is possible when we decide to intentionally move toward liberation. We understand that much of the harm that we experience occurs in relationship and that our healing occurs best through deepening our relationships (to ourselves, to one another, and to our communities). We believe that we can move toward greater and more sustained wellbeing when we practice understanding, interrupting, and replacing the beliefs and behaviors that keep us asleep to our own power and “enoughness”; when we recognize that much of the distress we experience is not due to shortcomings or failures on our part, but the result of the many ways that oppression (which can create the symptoms that we often define as pathology) denies us of our right to access and experience wholeness, rest, connection, care, and real love.

Why love?

We believe that one of our most direct paths to liberation is through love - love for ourselves, love for one another, love for our communities, love for all beings, and love for our planet. When we speak of love we are not referring to a “Hallmark” or romantic sort of love. We are referring to a type of love that Martin Luther King Jr. described as “strong, demanding, and costly” - a love that requires practice and discipline - a love that invites us to understand and unlearn all of the ways that we have been told that we are unlovable (meaning undeserving of care and safety), or that anyone else is undeserving of, or beyond love. We are referring to an unconditional type of love that does not require our own or anyone else's suffering. Within this understanding is also a belief that truly loving ourselves and one another requires the creation and maintenance of clear communication, boundaries, and discernment. In our work we create space to examine and practice the paths toward cultivating a love that enables our own and one another's healing and liberation.

Why liberation?

Ancestor Grace Lee Boggs would often ask: “what time is it on the clock of the world?” There are, of course, many ways to answer this question. For many of us, however, this is a time when, as Adrienne Maree Brown said, “the veil is being lifted” and we are developing a deeper, collective understanding of the myriad ways in which individuals and groups continue to struggle under the weight of sustained systemic and structural oppressions. More and more people are coming to recognize that we’ve had to work hard to survive, as intact as possible not just in our own lives, but in most cases, for generations. When we are able to slow down to extend real curiosity to our beliefs, feelings, and overall experience (personally and within our relationships), when we practice meeting ourselves and one another with open hearts and minds, when we move with greater intention and awareness in our behaviors, we deepen our capacity to confidently move closer to our own and our collective liberation.