Maya Usher, Associate Therapist

I was born in Tokyo, Japan, and moved to San Diego, California before I was 18 months old. I've always been a big fan of sports and grew up dancing, swimming, and running, though I dabbled in other sports as well. I went between Tokyo and Dallas, Texas to visit the two sides of my family and appreciated the opportunity to connect with both the relatives on either side and the different cultural experiences each side brought. 

My faith and spirituality have been an important part of my life since I was young. I have always been drawn to the idea of finding meaning through theology combined with pagan beliefs and divination practices. I was raised United Methodist and continue to practice my faith in this way, and appreciate learning more about other realms of worship. If faith and spirituality is important to your life I would love to walk with you on this path, but they do not need to hold space in our sessions if this is not an area of interest or a trigger from past experiences. 

I went to college at Montana State University-Bozeman, where I received a Bachelor's in Psychology and a Bachelor's in Sociology with an Emphasis in Criminology and a minor in human development. During my time in college, I came out as queer and have been proudly navigating that identity ever since.

I completed my master's through the MSW@Denver program at the University of Denver, while living in San Diego. Towards the end of my program I moved out to Austin with my two cats. In the community, I'm involved with my church, fostering through the local shelters, and volunteering at the local middle schools. Creating a community where everyone has the opportunity to thrive is important to me both in my work as a therapist and a member of our social collective. 

My journey with navigating my mental health began in middle school, when I began to see a therapist. In high school, I began to see a psychiatrist as well. Through college, I navigated seeing different professionals with different opinions and approaches as to what I needed. This has shaped my belief in the important of client-led practice, where the symptoms and patterns of most distress to the client are the focus of sessions. Diagnoses are a flexible part of our work together, with room for a deemphasis on them as a whole and for the fluidity with which symptoms can change.