Inspiring Conversations with Natasha De Soysa of Healing Tree Therapy LLC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Natasha De Soysa.

Natasha, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I think it was around the end of middle school and early high school that I really found myself in a pattern of being sought out for support and advice. I remember several occasions where people I hardly knew or didn’t know at all shared really vulnerable things with me that they had never told anyone. That said, the idea of becoming a therapist didn’t really cross my mind until senior year in high school on a drive home with my mom where we discussed possible career options. During that conversation, she brought up how a lot of my friends tended to turn to me for support and advice and suggested looking into psychology. The idea made me feel energized and excited.

I was really passionate about social justice during my undergraduate program and was part of a group of students who created programs and events to help advocate for various minority groups. I earned my Bachelor’s in Psychology at the University of Arizona. At one point, I thought about working towards being a psychiatrist, but after taking the MCAT and really sitting down with what aspects were most important to me – psychiatry shifted to being a counselor.

I chose to take a gap year after undergrad to ensure that being in mental health was what I truly wanted to do. After spending half a year as a case manager for a community behavioral health agency, I found myself really wanting to help people on a deeper level. So, I grabbed my laptop, did some research, and started the application process for Arizona State University. Honestly, I was bummed that the University of Arizona didn’t have a master’s in counseling program, but I applied to ASU anyway. I’m so glad I did! I’m incredibly grateful for the program, my classmates, as well as the professors that I had along the way. A huge shout out to Dr. Jamie Bludworth and Dr. Jenn Pereira who really supported and inspired me. It was Dr. Pereira who led me to fall in love with using play therapy and sand tray therapy.

After graduation, I started a job working with children. If you asked anyone in my family beforehand none of them would have guessed that I’d work with kids. However, I absolutely loved working with 3-5 year olds. I initially started working with just children and teens at Devereux then shifted to just children and adults at EMPACT Trauma Healing Services and Taproot Therapy. I’m incredibly grateful for the experiences, tools and skills that I gained over the course of the first 5 years of my career as well as the amount of support and encouragement I received. I knew that I wanted to start my own practice at some point and decided to take the leap in June 2022. During the planning process, I made the difficult decision to discontinue working with children to focus solely on adults. This was mainly due to the financial constraints of setting up two therapy offices. It was really important to me to have separate offices for children and adults because of the differences in aesthetics and needs. I’m grateful for the time that I spent working with children, while also feeling like this shift was right for me. Over the last few years, I’ve been able to really fine tune my skills in working with just adults. My clients were the ones to really shape my current niches. I noticed that the shifts in individuals reaching out the most were people of color, those identifying as LGBTQIA+, and survivors of various forms of trauma.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Unfortunately, I had a lot of difficulties fitting in throughout my life mostly due to not fully embodying some of my major cultural identities. I was born in Canada and my family emigrated to Arizona just before my 6th birthday. My parents come from a long lineage of Sri Lankans, but I didn’t feel Sri Lankan enough because I couldn’t speak the language and didn’t really engage with the culture enough to take it on as my own. My mom is Buddhist and my dad Christian, but I didn’t feel Buddhist or Christian enough growing up as we didn’t regularly attend temple or church.

It’s also been particularly hard to navigate living in a Western culture and society when your family operates from a more Eastern one. There’s more of a focus on the individual in the West versus the collective group and community as a whole in the East. Trying to find a balance between the two comes with its own unique challenges and emotional distress, especially for those who are first generation growing up in the US. I don’t believe that either culture is better than the other. I recognize there are strengths and challenges with both and how they can play a role in mental and emotional health.

Another challenge I’ve experienced and continue to face is not feeling a sense of belonging in the US from other people. Much of this has to do with being brown skinned. I’ve experienced a significant amount of microaggressions as a result. These are the sort of comments and behaviors that have undertones of prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination. One example of this was being told by my theater teacher at 14 years old that I’d never make it in theater because I wasn’t white. Another common experience is being asked where I’m from and when my response is that I was born in Canada, I’m asked where I’m “really” from.

These past and present experiences really help me connect and support my clients of color, which tends to be an underserved and misunderstood group due to the underrepresentation of racial minority therapists.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My therapy private practice is Healing Tree Therapy LLC. I provide both in-person and virtual sessions. My office is conveniently located near Old Town Scottsdale. I specialize in supporting the BIPOC (black, indigenous, and people of color) and LGBTQIA+ communities as well as a focus on complex trauma/PTSD. I think some of the things that make my practice unique include being an Asian therapist, taking the time to really understand and dive deep into what the issues are, providing education to help my clients make sense of their challenges and understand the contributing factors, as well as having in-depth knowledge on different forms of therapy. It’s really important to me to make sure I’m addressing my client’s unique needs through using a specialized combination of approaches. Also, I like to think I’m funny and will incorporate sarcasm and humor in my sessions when appropriate.

My office has unique qualities as well. I’ve incorporated a lot of different sensory objects to help with grounding and emotion regulation. These objects include various fidget toys, a weighted blanket, and containers of candle scents and essential oils. I also have shelves of miniatures for sand tray therapy and a custom made sand tray table. I’m really happy with the calm space that I’ve curated so far and am always looking at how I can make it even better.

In addition to providing individual therapy, I’m really excited to also be starting a support group in August for BIPOC LGBTQIA+ individuals.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
I do accept most Aetna insurance plans!

For those who have other insurance companies, there’s still a possibility of using benefits! For convenience, I’ve partnered with Mentaya to help clients use their out-of-network benefits to save money on therapy. There’s a free benefit checking tool on my website to see what benefits are available as well as how much to expect paying per session. I’m more than happy to explain and provide more detail on this process.

Pricing:

• Initial Intake and Assessment Session (55 min) – $180
• Therapy Sessions (55 min) – $160
• Extended Sessions (85 min) – $240
• Aetna insurance accepted

Contact Info:

• Website: https://healingtreetherapyllc.com