Alicia (she/her/ella) is certified as a Sex Therapist by the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT), a sex therapy consultant and is an EMDRIA Approved Consultant and Certified EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapist via the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA) and has expertise working with a wide range of sexual issues, relationship & attachment issues, and traumatic experiences. She holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Counseling from Johns Hopkins School of Education, post-graduate certification in Holistic Sex Therapy from the Institute for Sexuality Education and Enlightenment (ISEE) and post-graduate certification from the Sexual Health Alliance (SHA)  on Problematic Sexual Behaviors. Alicia is supervisor toward independent licensure in Maryland and Washington DC as well as licensed in both states.

Alicia specializes in working with individuals who want to learn to manage and process:

• Depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, anger and impulsivity symptoms, or what feels like “emotional dysregulation” or “shutting down”
• “Addictive” or behaviors of repeated patterns or seeming “out of control”
• Complex trauma or persistent development traumatic experiences or unnurturing developmental experiences; experiences identified as neglectful, abusive or impacting attachment/relationships
• Specific traumatic experiences at any age
• Sexual dysfunction
• Exploring specific identifies or various intersectional identities (i.e. gender, sexual orientation, cultural, sexual expression, etc)
• Problematic sexual behavior or “out of control” sexual behavior, dissatisfaction with sexual health

Alicia also works with couples who desire to achieve or work through:

• a more deepened connection in their relationship
• desire discrepancy or mismatch sexual interest
• the crisis of infidelity 
• repair from difficult incidents or relationship strain
• sexual dysfunctions or substance use/addiction impacting their relationship
• exploring consensual non-monogamy (CNM) in their current relationship life

In therapy, Alicia could utilize the following approaches:

• sex-positive approaches
• mindfulness, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) skills
• EMDR, Sensorimotor psychotherapy, IFS (Internal Family Systems), DNMS (Developmental Needs Meeting Strategy)
• EMDR early interventions: ASSYST (Acute Stress Syndrome Stabilization for Individuals or Groups) and PRECI (EMDR protocol for Recent Critical Incidents and Ongoing Traumatic Stress)
• Imago & Gottman Method approaches for couple’s therapy. 

Alicia is an ally to LGBTQA+, to individuals in open relationships/consensual non-monogamy and an ally for social justice. Alicia is bilingual (Spanish) and bicultural; she was born in Peru and grew up in Montgomery County, MD. She strives to respect various cultures, spiritual practices, and identities and learn more from her clients via the work that they do together. Her goal is to provide a supportive therapeutic environment regardless of sexual orientation, sexual expression, gender expression, relationship orientation, gender identity or religious values/beliefs.

Alicia’s career has consisted of psychotherapy in outpatient settings; she’s worked in integrated medical and behavioral health settings, in sexual assault and domestic violence centers, in crisis intervention, with offenders populations, and for fee-for-services outpatient agencies in the community. In her advanced career, she’s devoted her time to improving sexual health and healing trauma. She is also a practice co-director, an educator, approved supervisor and consultant; her plan is to continue supervising and teaching to bring about more sex-positive & trauma-informed clinicians in the community. Alicia has trained with EMDRIA, the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute, the Internal Family Systems Institute, The DNMS Institute, The Gottman Institute, The Beck Institute, and Imago Relationships. During her free time, Alicia enjoys spending time with her family and close friends, dancing and reading good books.