Nina Lamaria (they/them)

Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist
Currently accepting new autism assessment clients!

Hi, I’m Nina! I’m an LMFT specializing in LGBTQIA+ & neurodivergent affirming, culturally sensitive, trauma-focused care with training in EMDR & IFS. I provide affirming autism assessments for adults as well as virtual therapy for teens, adults, & relationships.

I love working with my QTBIPoC community and allied accomplices. I am honored to walk alongside clients working through life transitions, identity exploration, complex trauma, relationship issues, depression, anxiety, grief & loss, difficulties with self-worth, self-esteem, boundaries, and more. I feel especially moved to work with those breaking the cycle of generational trauma & people beginning their journey of understanding their neurodivergence.

I am an autistic nonbinary lesbian and mixed immigrant person of Filipino & Syrian descent. My lived experience has shaped every part of me, including my calling as a therapist and my approach to healing. As someone who navigates life holding many intersecting identities in an oppressively binary world, I’ve often felt confused, stuck, othered, hopeless, and fragmented. It would be an understatement to say it’s been a struggle to come home to myself. Continuously challenging and unlearning the messages of racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, xenophobia, and every other -ism our world is steeped in has been crucial on my journey moving towards unapologetic authenticity and self-compassion.

I’m thankful to have had therapists and community who held space for me without judgment and reflected back my worth, until I could begin holding myself, too. This is the same gift I feel called to share: co-creating a space where my clients can reconnect with themselves, their needs, their feelings, their communities, their relationships, their worth, their joy, their creativity, and their dreams.

My Approach

I’ve been told I have a warm, attuned, compassionate, & empowering approach. I hope to create an affirming collaborative space where your lived experience and identities are honored and celebrated. I bring my authentic self to the therapy space, so expect lots of laughter, honest feedback, care, transparency, and the 50% chance of my cats Beanie & Binky joining as my co-therapists.

The interventions I use are highly dependent on your individual needs, comfort-level, feedback, and informed consent. Overall, I naturally strike a balance between deeply exploring issues, emotions, and beliefs as well as practicing tools and new ways of relating to yourself. My integrative approach draws from these frameworks: person-centered, feminist, relational, attachment-based, internal family systems (parts/inner child work), EMDR, mindfulness, strengths-based, Autistic-centered therapy, neurodivergent-affirming, disability justice, self-compassion, sex-positivity, liberation psychology, LGBTQIA-affirmative, and critical race theory. With couples, I also draw from the work of the Gottman Institute & Emotionally Focused Therapy. I love being in a field that encourages life-long learning, and I’m always trying to improve & integrate new approaches to better serve my clients.

Affirming Autism Assessments 

As a late-diagnosed Autistic, I know how life-changing it is to finally put words to your lived experience. Whether you're starting to wonder if you're Autistic, already identify as Autistic and want a space to confirm and explore your traits, or fall somewhere in between - I'd love to help! I especially love meeting with people whose traits are often overlooked or misdiagnosed due to being high masking and/or belonging to a marginalized group. Throughout the whole process, I strive to help folks feel validated and empowered with new tools and a deeper understanding of themselves. I have specialized training in multiple affirming diagnostic tools - and having autism be one of my special interests definitely helps!

I offer different packages based on your unique needs, including: 

  • Two to four-session formal comprehensive diagnostic clinical assessment 

  • One-hour consultation focused on informal identity exploration

  • Optional additional sessions for further exploration

  • Diagnostic letters, written reports, & accommodation recommendations as needed

Please reach out and we can determine together if my services may be a good fit! 

Education & Specialized Training

Affirming Adult Autism & ADHD Assessment Training from NeuroPebble

MIGDAS-2 Strengths-Based Autism Assessment for Older Adolescent & Adult Applications Workshop from Marilyn Monteiro, PhD

Internal Family Systems Foundations Training for Trans, Nonbinary, & Queer Clinicians from Shifting Center

Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy Training from the Institute for Creative Mindfulness

MA in Clinical Psychology, LGBTQ Affirmative Specialization from Antioch University Los Angeles

BA in Psychology, Minor in LGBTQ Studies from the University of Southern California