A Black Female Therapist in DC Who Truly Gets You
Culturally affirming therapy from someone who shares your lived experience. Let's work together to heal, reclaim, and rise.
Charika White, LICSW, LCSW-C Trauma-Informed Black Female Therapist Serving Washington, DC
Charika White is a licensed Black female therapist in Washington, DC, who specializes in helping adults navigate life’s challenges, trauma, anxiety, relationship issues, life transitions, and racial identity.
With extensive experience providing therapy to underserved communities, she brings cultural awareness, compassion, and clinical expertise to every session as a solution focused on helping you with mental health issues.
As a trauma-informed therapist, Charika creates a supportive, affirming space for clients to explore personal challenges, heal from painful experiences, and reconnect with their sense of self.
She understands the complexity of racial trauma, childhood trauma, and the emotional impact of migration and systemic injustice — and she offers therapy that honors the whole person.
Charika’s integrative approach blends evidence-based techniques with client-centered therapy.
Whether you’re struggling with depression, navigating burnout, seeking support after a breakup, or exploring deeper issues around self-esteem, she meets you with care, curiosity, and authenticity.
At Life Migration Therapy, you're not defined by a diagnosis — you're seen, heard, and valued.
Therapy with Charika is about finding relief, building emotional resilience, and learning to trust your own voice again.
“As a queer Black immigrant woman, I understand the power of being seen—and the exhaustion of constantly explaining yourself. My practice is a space where you don’t have to translate your experience, shrink your truth, or carry it all alone.
Let’s work together to untangle what’s holding you back and move toward the life you deserve.”
“Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion.”
— Bell Hooks
Your Path to Support Is Simple
Beginning therapy shouldn’t feel intimidating — it should feel like a step toward peace, clarity, and healing.
At our private practice, we’ve made the process easy and welcoming, so you can gain insight, start feeling seen, supported, and empowered from day one.
Here’s what working with Charika looks like:
Schedule a Complimentary Consultation
Book a no-pressure, 15-minute call to discuss what you’re navigating, what you’re looking for, and whether our work together feels like the right fit. It’s a chance to explore without commitment.Start Tailored Therapy Sessions
If it feels right, we’ll begin individual sessions shaped around your unique experiences and identity. Whether you’re managing anxiety, trauma, relationship shifts, or the complexity of being first- or second-generation, you’ll receive affirming, trauma-informed care every step of the way with evidence based practices.Build Long-Term Emotional Wellness
Healing is not just about surviving — it’s about learning how to thrive. Together, we’ll develop tools for resilience, insight, and alignment with your values. You’ll move at your own pace, grounded in evidence-based strategies and culturally responsive care. We’re not just solution focused, with our cultural understanding, and being person centered, we help you feel whole again.
Have a Question?
Want to reach out before scheduling a call? Let us know what’s on your mind below. We’re helping clients every day.

Why Working With a Black Female Therapist in DC Matters
At Life Migration Therapy, we believe representation matters—especially in healing spaces.
As a Black female therapist in DC, Charika offers a grounded, culturally-responsive approach to therapeutic services that prioritizes trust, safety, and self-discovery on your healing journey.
Whether you're navigating life transitions, feeling stuck, carrying intergenerational trauma, or simply seeking mental health services that see and support the full you, Charika meets you where you are—with empathy, expertise, and lived experience.
Her practice is rooted in supporting Black women and men and other underserved communities from diverse backgrounds and family dynamics who are often overlooked by traditional systems of care.
Sessions aren’t about fixing you—they’re about affirming your worth, honoring your story, and giving you space to breathe with a therapeutic approach and especially a holistic approach.
You Might Be Looking For:
A Black woman therapist who truly listens
Therapy for anxiety, trauma, or identity exploration
Immigration evaluations with compassion and clarity
LGBTQ+ affirming therapy
A culturally responsive therapist who honors your story
What You Might Be Carrying (and How We Can Help)
Maybe you’ve been surviving for so long, you’ve forgotten what it feels like to feel safe.
Maybe you’ve been the strong one—at work, at home, in your family—and now you’re tired.
Or maybe you're navigating life transitions, anxiety, or burnout that won’t let up.
We see you. And you deserve more than coping.
We offer culturally-affirming mental health services in Washington, DC that go beyond talk.
Sessions with Charika are grounded in deep listening, cultural humility, and strategies that honor your lived experience.
Whether you’re working through generational trauma, identity shifts, or daily stressors, you’ll find a space that centers you. No code-switching. No shrinking. Just real healing rooted in authenticity.
Because you’re not broken—you’re becoming.
How We Work Together
Questions about working with a Black female therapist in DC? This FAQ covers insurance, telehealth, trauma therapy, cultural fit, and everything else you need to know before starting counseling. If you don’t see your concern addressed, reach out—your path to culturally affirming mental-health support can start with one conversation.
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Life Migration Therapy is led by Charika White, LICSW, LCSW-C—an African-American, queer, first-generation Caribbean psychotherapist.
Sessions blend evidence-based modalities such as CBT, ACT, EMDR, and Internal Family Systems with cultural humility and racial-trauma awareness.
You receive licensed psychotherapist care that centers Black mental-health needs, immigrant stress, and intersectional identity work—something generic counseling offices in Maryland often overlook.
As a licensed psychotherapist serving Maryland and Washington, DC, I provide individual therapy that centers your story.
Whether you’re navigating depression, anxiety, identity questions, or emotional stress, I offer culturally-responsive support tailored to your needs.
You deserve care from a mental health professional who sees your full humanity.
Its less about solution focused therapy, and more about commitment therapy to your own current space.
I get to know you, address challenges with a person centered approach where I provide compassionate guidance that’ll bring positive change to your world.
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While some clients resolve a focused goal in 8–12 sessions, others choose ongoing weekly or bi-weekly psychotherapy to sustain mental wellness.
Progress is reviewed every 6–8 weeks with standardized measures (PHQ-9, GAD-7) and collaborative check-ins to ensure therapy services remain aligned with your changing needs.
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Yes. Charika provides trauma therapy that targets high-functioning anxiety, major depression, and PTSD stemming from race-based stress, intergenerational trauma, or immigration transitions.
Treatment plans combine somatic grounding, cognitive restructuring, and culturally sensitive psychoeducation, giving Washington DC clients both immediate coping skills and long-term emotional resilience.
Being the first in your family to navigate life in a new country can feel isolating.
You may carry unspoken pressure, cultural conflict, or guilt.
I offer therapy for immigrants and children of immigrants that addresses intergenerational trauma, identity exploration, and code-switching exhaustion.
You don’t have to choose between honoring your heritage and building your future — together, we make space for both.
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Absolutely. Maryland law allows licensed psychotherapists to provide HIPAA-compliant telehealth statewide.
Whether you live Georgetown, Spring Valley, Foxhall Crescent, Kent, Forest Hills North, Anacostia, Congress Heights, Fort Stanton or anywhere in Washington DC you can start virtual counseling and receive the same level of mental-health support you’d expect from in-office psychotherapy services.
I am also licensed to practice in Maryland.
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Sessions explore acculturation stress, language brokering, and family role strain that many first-gen and second-gen adults carry.
By integrating family-systems theory with culturally competent counseling, we unpack the pressure to succeed, code-switching fatigue, and guilt about “leaving home,” helping you honor both your heritage and your personal growth.
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Life Migration Therapy operates as an out-of-network provider so treatment remains 100 percent confidential and diagnosis decisions stay clinician-led—not insurance-company-led.
We supply superbills for reimbursement and maintain a limited sliding-scale for qualifying Maryland and Washington DC clients who need reduced-fee mental-health care.
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We combine somatic techniques, cognitive reframing, and empowerment strategies to process anger, numbness, or hyper-vigilance triggered by workplace racism.
You’ll learn boundary-setting scripts, self-regulation tools, and career-advocacy plans tailored to Black professionals and other BIPOC employees in Washington DC’s corporate, academic, or healthcare sectors.
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Charika is trained in affirmative therapy and integrates queer-inclusive language, minority-stress frameworks, and identity exploration into every session.
Whether you’re a Black bisexual woman in Washington DC or a queer first-gen man in Rockville, therapy provides a safe space to navigate sexuality, gender, and cultural expectations without judgment.
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Yes. We address perfectionism, impostor syndrome, and over-responsibility—common among high-achieving Black professionals and immigrant entrepreneurs.
Treatment blends cognitive restructuring, values clarification, and lifestyle interventions so you can prevent relapse and maintain balanced mental health while advancing your career.
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First we should schedule a complimentary call.
We’ll discuss your mental-health goals, insurance questions, and whether in-person or virtual sessions work best.
From there, you’ll receive a personalized therapy roadmap grounded in trauma-informed, culturally congruent care.
Services and Rates
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Psychotherapy Sessions
Initial Appointment (55-60 mins)
$230
Follow-Up Sessions (50 mins)
$200
Includes support for anxiety, depression, trauma, ADHD, cultural identity, LGBTQIA+ topics, and more. -
ADHD Evaluations
Comprehensive ADHD Evaluation
$600
Includes clinical interviews, behavioral screening, and culturally informed diagnostics. -
Immigration Evaluations
Standard Immigration Evaluation
$1,000
Covers Extreme Hardship Waiver, Asylum, VAWA, U & T Visa Evaluations
Expedited Processing (optional) — +$500
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Consulting & Speaking Engagements
Consulting, Workshops, & Training Events
Price upon request
Tailored to organizations, schools, and community initiatives. Please contact us for a quote.
Therapy Grounded in Your Lived Experience
Life isn’t one-size-fits-all—neither is healing. As a Black female therapist in DC, I support adults navigating real-world challenges with depth, care, and cultural awareness.
You might be feeling overwhelmed by the weight of your responsibilities, burned out from code-switching, or stuck in patterns that no longer serve you. Whether you're facing anxiety, depression, racial trauma, or identity transitions, our work together will be grounded in your truth and your pace.
What we can explore together:
Stress from work, relationships, or systemic pressures
Emotional wounds rooted in childhood or generational trauma
Life transitions like immigration, coming out, or becoming a parent
Self-doubt, perfectionism, and burnout
Cultivating a stronger sense of self-worth and inner peace
You don’t have to have all the answers—just the willingness to begin. This is your space to feel seen, heard, and supported.
Therapy That Honors Who You Are
At Life Migration Therapy, I offer trauma-informed, culturally responsive therapy that centers Black women and men, LGBTQ+ adults, and children of immigrants.
Your story is unique, and your therapy should be too.
Here’s how I can support you:
Individual Therapy
Explore your thoughts, emotions, and patterns in a safe, affirming space. This is your time to process trauma, unpack anxiety, and begin building emotional clarity and resilience.
Trauma Therapy
Trauma shows up in many ways—overthinking, people-pleasing, shutting down, or always being “on.” Together, we’ll gently work through those protective layers to get to the root of your pain and support your healing.
LGBTQ+ Affirming Therapy
As a queer Black woman, I understand how healing it can be to talk to someone who gets it. Whether you’re exploring your identity or navigating family or faith-based conflict, I create a nonjudgmental space where all of you is welcome.
Therapy for First- and Second-Generation Immigrants
You may carry burdens your family never got to process—grief, guilt, and cultural disconnection. Let’s explore how migration, belonging, and identity show up in your life and relationships.
I don’t offer quick fixes. But I do offer commitment, compassion, and evidence-based tools to help you reconnect with your voice, power, and peace.
Start Therapy With Charika
Rooted in Culture. Centered on You.
Whether you're navigating anxiety, depression, ADHD, trauma, identity, or transition, this space is built to guide you toward care that feels right. Use the links below to connect with culturally-affirming therapy, legal evaluations, mental health resources, and more.