LGBTQIA+ Wellness
Therapy. Nurses & Doctors. Doulas. Dentists. Yoga Instructors. Trainers. Physical Therapists. Hair Stylists.
Therapy Services
Therapy For The People
Noah Krell (he/him), Dani Fazio (she/her), and Jacob Krueger (he/him) are three of the four queer-identifying providers, who along with two other allied therapists offer LGBTQIA+ affirming mental health, recovery, and spiritual care at Therapy For The People.
“We opened our doors at 57 Exchange Street in Portland/occupied Wabanaki Confederacy territory just five weeks before the pandemic forced us to close them to in-person sessions. It felt devastating at first, but also created the space for us to be resourceful, flexible, and adaptive. We’ve been using telehealth exclusively since March, and are constantly in awe at the resilience shown by the folx we work with, as we all navigate these new realities. Our primary goal for creating Therapy For The People, was to center our work within the queer community and provide support to folx in their personal experiences of healing and self-understanding. In addition to being a place for clients, Therapy For The People is also a vibrant co-working space for therapists who want to work in private practice and have the experience of community, peer relationships, and business support. We’re hopeful that as we grow, more therapists and healers will come and join us.”
The Bliss Mystic
Krista, She/Her
“For almost two decades I have had the honor of serving not only our local queer community, but also humans from all over the world through consciousness and relationship design. We all experience barriers to our pleasure and energetic flow and when queerness is a part of our identity and evolution it takes courageous action to embody our wholeness. As a sexologist, I invite clients to intuitively transmute those barriers into power and bliss. I’m so grateful to serve every day by guiding humans to their highest consciousness for passionate, pleasure-led lives and loves. Living and breathing this path in my daily life informs my every connection and creation. May we all find our peace through openhearted pleasure.”
Healthcare Providers
NP, Sexual and Reproductive Health
Finn, They/Them
“I moved to Portland for grad school. I'm working towards becoming a Family Nurse Practitioner with the goal of providing queer-affirming primary care and educating other health professionals. One of my dreams for the queer community is getting to a point where we all support and lift each other up and learn from each other. There is a lot of divisiveness and judgment and racism and classism and ableism in the queer community and I hope that more people start putting in the work to move past that.
I'm a nonbinary, trans, poly, kinky, queer boi and I'm proud of every part of my identity. Part of my work fighting for the queer community is taking up space, letting my queerness, my work, and my queer body be visible, and showing others that it's ok to do so when society tries to shame our existence and push us into the shadows.”
Dentists
Dentist at Jessie Albert Dental & Orthodontic Center
Flo, She/Her, on the left.
“Building and being part of my communities is important to me. I'm on the board of EqualityMaine to support my queer community. And for my people of color community, I started a monthly networking happy hour, Fourth Fridays (@fourthfridayme). When covid put a pause on that, I began a weekly podcast/talk show on WMPG, In the Pocket (@in_the_pocket_wmpg). It features artists and activists sharing their narrative on art, culture, activism, and living as people of color in Maine."
Doulas / Midwifery / Reproductive Care
Soft Corner Midwifery
Sierra, She/Her, on the left.
Sierra is a student midwife and full-spectrum doula serving oppressed communities. “Black birthing people die in birth at 3-6x that of their white counterparts and more than half of queer people who visit doctors report facing discrimination due to their sexuality. 1 in 100 American adults is behind bars, many without access to writing and educational materials even though books reduce recidivism rates. Here are some places you can go to learn, donate, or advocate: @penamerica, @prisonbirthproject, @sistersong_woc, @blackmidwivesalliance, @blackmamasmatter, @queerdoulas and @mainetransnet .”
Peony Doula Co.
Hannah, She/Her: CD (DTI), CLC, CCEd (DTI), CD-PIC, C-PPS
My passion as a Full Spectrum doula is to support clients through pregnancy termination and abortion. I am on the forefront of seeing how families and babies are being failed in our country, so of course I understand why abortion should always be an option to pregnant people. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 59% of people who get an abortion are already parents doing the best they can to raise their children. Even though a lot of my clients are extremely thankful for their abortion, over the years their feelings around the experience can ebb and flow. Healing truly is not linear in abortion care so I often have clients who come to me for support years after their experience. For me abortion care doesn’t always look like supporting someone through an abortion they are currently going through but some time after the procedure. I hold space for my birth and postpartum clients who may have emotions around their past abortion that resurface as they transition into parenthood. When we doulas block out abortion to only focus on birth and newborn babies we are doing a disservice to our clients. By not honoring abortion as a reproductive experience we are not providing client centered care around their emotional well-being and the full spectrum of their experiences. Clients deserve better than just care centered around babies.
If someone you love is going through an abortion, the best thing you can do is just follow their lead in what they need in that moment. I often hear clients say the people in their life invalidated their very real, valid emotions or even made them feel guilty for the feelings that came up for them. I find that it’s less about what you say to try to make them feel better and more about listening and creating space for them to feel comfortable sharing their story.”
Little Fish Doula
Shannon, She/Her
“I came out in 1993 on Christmas morning; 0/10 do not recommend. The early 90s were a great time to be a queer kid. We still had gay bars, drag culture was thriving, and because our elders fought and fought and fought, we were starting to see a societal shift around queer inclusion and equality. I began working in an abortion clinic in 1997, in Bangor, Maine. The director of the center was a force of nature and she saw something in me, something that she felt was worth her time and effort. That changed my life. I'll never forget the elders who mentored me, believed in me, and cheered me on. Because of them I've been able to be a mentor, a friend, a champion, and a force of nature. Working in abortion care is the best. A lot of patients would say, "How can you do this job every day? Isn't it so sad?" The answer is no. It's not sad to me to provide someone with bodily autonomy, it's joyful. Of course, there were patients whose stories were heartbreaking or terrible...but that's not because of abortion. People suffer because of misogyny, white supremacy and racism, poverty, and Queer-phobia. They don't suffer because they were given the highest quality health care they will ever receive. Abortion is liberation and I will always, always, always do what it takes to support folks who need it. I see my doula and birth work as an extension of my abortion work. Supporting folks on the spectrum of pregnancy is my calling. I heard someone in a birthing space say, "There's no trophy for an unmedicated birth." I disagree. The trophy is autonomy. The blue ribbon, the first-prize trophy is being able to make decisions based on evidence-based information. The fall of Roe isn't just about abortion. It's about who gets to make choices for us. It's about autonomy and without it, people who can get pregnant are less than full citizens in this country. That is unacceptable to me. Keep fighting. Keep loving. Keep being a force of nature.”
Abortion Care Doula
Hannah, She/Her
“Abortion care is inherently queer. Community care, intentionality, consent, imagining and creating your own future and family and body and world, autonomy, sex for joy and pleasure and connection instead of for procreation (but sometimes for procreation, if and when you want!) Every day I help someone create and protect their own experience of their body moving through the world, and every day I fall more and more deeply in love with that queer work and the constellation of humans who are doing it.”
Yoga Instructors
Yoga Instructor
Hale, They/Them
“I studied and started a career in public health and quickly learned my passion for healthy communities is better served through making art. I make paintings and sculptures of ppl and am curious about increasing opportunities for collaboration in my creative practice. My greatest interest rn is building community and manifesting a better future through collaborative art making. When im not creating, i can be found teaching yoga or hiking/rock climbing. Rock climbing and yoga can be intimidating spaces to access, if you want to try these out with a friendly face present, pls reach out! I feel so lucky to have landed in a place with a vibrant creative and queer community, within easy access of wilderness.
Follow my art @halelinnetart, im starting a free figure drawing group in october!”
Yoga Instructor
Thea, She/They
“I was born and raised in Maine and for a long time didn't have the language or space to come to terms with my queerness. Laughter and joy have been a big part of my never ending journey and I'm a firm believer in the healing power of laughter. I feel the most present and whole in my body when I am moving, creating and expressing myself in ways that feel joyful to me. I'm grateful for my amazing friends and community who help me feel free to be myself.”
Yoga Instructor
Victoria, She/Her
“As a movement guide, grief worker, dancer, lover, and disrupter, I take pride in creating and holding spaces where people feel like they can show up exactly as they are. Being queer, and a Black femme, is so much more than any one job I do or labor I create, but more about holding liberation and compassion at the center of how I live my life. When I’m teaching an asana class (as I do at both Portland Yoga Project and Portland Yoga Collective), or sitting in session with a grief client mapping their relationship with a dead loved one, my aim is to allow for the nuance and complication that can be present in group and 1:1 interactions, while considering the greater systemic injustices under which we all live. There is no one way, and embracing our individuality through playfulness is what makes me feel like our political and spiritual work is sustainable! That and pasta. Lots of pasta. Every shape of pasta.”
Yoga Instructor
Jax, She/They
Jax M White is a licensed massage therapist, ERYT500 yoga teacher and a thorough human being from York, ME. During one of her yoga training sessions, she discovered structural integration and that’s when it clicked: her mission is to help people find alignment with their own unique true north. Jax sees the body as an incredible reminder of our humanity, resilience, and innate capacity to forgive. She believes that by physically practicing connecting to the core, moving from a place of intention & compassion, and making that a habit- we can all move through this life, in a literal and spiritual way, with more lightness and more grace. Jax offers queer yoga specifically for LGBTQIA+ folks, and all of her classes are inclusive and accessible to all bodies.
Trainers / Physical Therapy
Authentic Strength Project
CJ, He/Him. ISSA Certified Strength Coach.
“I started lifting weights at the beginning of my medical transition in 2017 to feel safer and more at home in my body. I suffer from severe depression and anxiety and I soon found that lifting helped my mood and helped to regulate my nervous system. This is the main reason why I’ve stuck with it and have a passion for sharing it with others!
I wanted to start the Authentic Strength Project with the purpose of uplifting those who have never felt comfortable, safe, or accepted in gym spaces and allow them the opportunity to explore their bodies through strength training. Free from the unwanted messages of toxic fitness culture and diet culture. I want to make fitness more supportive of diverse bodies and to see the immense beauty they provide. My wish is for those diverse bodies to experience joyful movement, embodiment, and the satisfaction of strength. You are the expert on You; your body, experiences, and feelings. I want to hold a shame free space which encourages that intuition and is focused on honesty and on honoring where we are in each specific moment. Where people can find fulfillment in their movement journey and not exercise out of fear, guilt, or compensation. I’ve been working for some time to become a Certified Strength Coach and recently received my certification. I am in the beginning stages of exploring how I can put this to use in our community! If strength or resistance training is something you’ve wanted to explore and didn’t know where to start, or just if any of my message resonates with you feel free to reach out
Pride In Movement Physical Therapy
Riley, He/Him. Founder & Physical Therapist
“I started Pride in Movement Physical Therapy after finding myself deeply disenchanted with the insurance model of physical therapy. I didn’t like some non-medical profession dictating how I provide my care, so I’m not letting them anymore. As a cash-pay practice, I get to decide what is best for my patient and guide the session to best support their needs. I’m a mobile practice, so I travel to my patients to decrease barriers of providing care - you don’t have to go anywhere, I come to you - my travel range is on my website but I provide telehealth as well. I provide a wide range of care as well being an orthopedic physical therapist (so, all your general bodily aches and pains) but also a pelvic health PT (another wide range of conditions such as incontinence, pelvic pain, sexual dysfunction, and more). I also enjoy working with populations experiencing chronic pain as I find my approach can help them to understand their pain and help to take back their life from it. You probably already guessed from the name of the business, but I want to specialize in being a queer-affirming provider (though I am happy to treat anyone of any background). As a gay man myself I know the comfort that can be found in working with a provider who understands that part of you and I want to be able to create that space for others in the capacity I can.”
Homeostasis Massage & Wellness
“Bodywork for Every Body”
“In a culture that often shames and stigmatizes our bodies, it is my mission to instead help people find relief, pleasure, and connection to their unique physical form. Using techniques such as deep tissue, Swedish, myofascial release, trigger point, and cupping, I tailor each massage to work toward my client’s individual goals. Sessions may focus on pain relief, relaxation, emotional regulation, increasing range of motion, scar tissue mobilization, and more.
Having a long personal history of emotional dysregulation and chronic pain, I am especially interested in the nervous system and its role in how we experience pain, pleasure, and everything in between. I view massage, movement, breath, and temperature as tools that I can use to communicate with a person’s nervous system, helping them feel safe, grounded, and connected to their body; reducing pain, increasing pleasure, and achieving enough internal balance and stability to enable healing.
My corny catchphrase is “bodywork for every body.” I love working with people who may not have considered massage as an option in the past, having been explicitly and/or implicitly told as much. As a transgender working-class person I never felt that massage was accessible to me - and that is something I aim to change. I am a trauma-informed, body-neutral practitioner, and I use transparency and communication to help people feel safe and comfortable on my table.
Questions about me or my practice? Please reach out - I would love to hear from you.
Sage Walker, He/Him. LMT.
Homeostasis Massage & Wellness
Sage Walker, LMT #7553
Westbrook, ME
(207)-200-6163
Homeostasis-massage.com
@sagewalkerlmt
Hair Care
Nysstique Hair Design
Nyssa, She/Her, on the left. Owner.
Nyssa is a queer hairstylist in South Portland and welcomes all queer people to come and explore expressive and gender affirming hairstyles. Check her work out at @nysstique
Tend Hair
Helm, She/Her. Owner.
Tend Hair is a queer owned and operated space. Inclusion, community, and individuality are at the top of Rachel and Mel's goals for the studio. No one fits a perfect mold, your hair should help represent your vision of who you are and it is up to the stylist to help you articulate that goal. In an industry that is woefully outdated, we know it is our responsibility to educate ourselves and be active listeners for our community and our clients. By offering gender-free haircut choices, creating a community funded, sliding scale payment option (details coming soon!) and actively expanding our knowledge of all hair types/textures, we aim to be in tune with our clients needs, as well as the needs of the greater community. We stand in support of Black lives, survivors, and queer and trans community.”
Dakota Grey, Barber
Dakota, He/Him
“When I was a teenager, I often cut and colored my hair as part of my journey in self creation. I found it to be a soothing but radical act, to change my hair to better reflect how I wanted to be perceived by others. Over the last 14 years since I started cutting hair, I’ve found a specific joy in helping others shape their hair to create the image of how they want to be seen in the world. It means the world to me to be trusted with that job and to give back to my community in such a personal, and intimate way. We all deserve to feel our best selves, and often, that starts with a good haircut.”
Connor, Stylist
Connor, He/Him
“Home grown Portlander and Hair stylist at the Raven salon. Hair is my art and I love making people feel beautiful, and confident. I enjoy helping people express their individuality with unique styles.”