Gianna Colera (she/her)
Owner and Clinician
Gianna is a licensed professional counselor associate, and a licensed marriage and family therapist associate. She is supervised by Nicole Richardson, LPC-S, LMFT-S.
Gianna attained her Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Family Sciences from the University of Texas in 2014. She graduated from Texas State in 2022 with her Masters in Professional Counseling.
She is trained in Gottman level one, PACT level one, and certified in the Positive Discipline Parenting model.
Personal
When not doing therapy, Gianna enjoys napping, reading, having coffee with friends, or just hanging out at home with her husband and pets (2 dogs and a cat). She loves going on walks and hikes when its not too hot outside, and enjoys traveling to CA and CO to visit family and escape the summer heat.
Therapeutic PhilosophyGianna operates from an attachment perspective and utilizes feminist theory, systems work, somatic experiencing and utilizes Gottman and PACT methods. She is passionate about social justice and strives to incorporate a decolonized perspective into her work both inside and outside the therapy room. More info below.
It is important to me to be transparent and honest with my clients in order to facilitate safety in the therapy space. Here are some of my beliefs that impact my work as a therapist:
I am a non-religious therapist. I work with clients from all religious and faith back grounds including none at all. I was raised Catholic and am familiar with Christian doctrines. I understand the impact of religion on identity and mental health, and encourage my clients to explore their religious/spiritual beliefs.
I strive to show up to my community and therapy practice as actively anti-racist. As a white woman in what is now called the United States, I will always have implicit biases to explore and a life-long journey of unlearning them. I hope to always be affirming of racial and cultural differences in life and in therapy.
As a cis-woman in a hetero-passing relationship, I recognize the privilege I hold in regards to gender and sexuality. I am an ally to the queer and trans community and work to defend and protect their rights inside and out of the therapy space.
While I am not an expert in disordered eating, I acknowledge the deep harm caused by systemic diet-culture that is based around white supremacy beauty standards. I work from an anti-diet, anti-fatphobic, body-liberation perspective when navigating body image issues.
Finally, I believe that the patriarchy hurts all of us. In session, I often acknowledge the deep harm caused by systemic oppression of women/femme people, as well as the often unattainable expectations for men/masc people to preform under patriarchal standards. These over arching societal beliefs cause harm to our mental health and well-being.