Mental Health Services

Cybele’s daily motivation is to cultivate affirming and inclusive spaces for authentic connection, compassion and wellness.  Bringing her experience as a licensed mental health clinician (LMFT), with gender-affirming clinical care training from leading organizations, such as WPATH, Fenway Institute, PAU’s LGBTQ+ Clinical Academy, Yale’s LGBTQ+ Affirming CBT Model and Family Acceptance Project to TDC, Cybele guides the success of our mental health program of goal-oriented trauma-informed LGBTQ+ affirming mental health program. TDC has expanded mental health service capacity by bringing on supervised field-placement counseling Trainees and Associates who are our county’s next generation of gender-affirming clinicians. Cybele advocates, through education with healthcare settings, on the incredible life-saving power of having affirming and accessible practices, like gender-neutral bathrooms and LGBTQ+ inclusive customer paperwork.

Martha is a queer therapist, who is passionate about providing culturally competent, neurodivergent inclusive, and trauma informed mental health care to our local community. They were drawn to joining the Diversity Center’s clinical team due to the unique opportunity to serve solely LGBTQIA+ clients in an intentionally affirming and welcoming environment. By joining the team, she seeks to expand access to clinical services, and aid in training graduate student therapists to provide quality inclusive care. In session, Martha frequently uses somatic skills, humor, and art therapy to help clients reach their goals. She believes in the power of therapy to facilitate growth of self-compassion and autonomy for a wide range of people.  

Martha enjoys hiking, mushroom foraging, watching women’s soccer, and cuddling with her two cats. 

As a transgender man who has experienced the power of an affirming therapeutic space, Turner Edwards is passionate about providing that same support to others. His conviction that effective mental health care requires understanding the broader systems that shape people's lives led him to complete his Bachelor's degree in Sociology from UC Santa Cruz in 2023. He is now pursuing his Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Marriage and Family Therapy at University of San Francisco.

As a volunteer, he has worked developing independent living resources for neurodivergent adults, compiling resource maps for trans women's healthcare and harm reduction services, and even serving as a front desk host here at the Diversity Center since February 2024. He is excited to be moving into a new role as a clinical intern this year.

He is dedicated to approaching mental health through a trauma-informed, affirming lens that recognizes the impact of systemic oppression and celebrates the resilience found in clients' unique passions, cultures, and communities. 

In his free time, he enjoys bouldering, creative writing, and acting. 

Kathy is a graduate student at Santa Clara University, currently pursuing her MA in Counseling Psychology with concentrations in Marriage and Family Therapy and LGBTQ+ Counseling. A Bay Area native, she moved to Japan in 2019 to work as an English teacher through the JET Program. After returning to the US for graduate school, she worked as a project manager for the BALANCE study, an intervention study focusing on how the use of digital mental health tools may impact mental health outcomes for LGBTQ+ youth. 

Having struggled herself with the implications of her romantic and sexual orientations, Kathy is a firm believer in the idea that counseling work is social justice work. She is interested in exploring how systems of oppression shape not only our life experiences, but also our inherent sense of self. Additionally, she believes deeply in the individuality of counseling; she seeks to use a compassionate, affirming, and curious stance to make room for the hearts, minds, and needs of each client. 

She loves to drink tea, play video games, and cuddle with her void cat named Maya. 

Jude is a graduate student at Santa Clara University, currently in her practicum year as she pursues her MA in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in LGBTQ+ Counseling.

As a trans woman, Jude brings both lived experience and extensive academic focus on LGBTQ+ issues to her clinical work. She is deeply committed to providing affirming, trauma-informed care that recognizes the resilience of the LGBTQ+ community while addressing the systemic barriers that impact mental health. Jude views counseling as an act of social justice and sees her role as giving back to the community that has shaped her life.

She was drawn to the field after witnessing how often the mental health needs of youth, particularly LGBTQ+ youth, go unsupported. With a lifelong passion for psychology, Jude feels called to create spaces of care, understanding, and empowerment for those who have too often been overlooked.

Outside of her clinical work, Jude enjoys thrifting and filling her home with secondhand treasures and local art. She has lived in Santa Cruz for nearly seven years, where she shares her space with two cats, Wizard and Cowboy.