Therapy for Black and BIPOC Professionals
Empowering
high-achieving
BIPOC professionals to redefine success from the
inside out.
You have the career, the title, the proof. What this practice offers is the clinical work underneath, with a Black therapist who already understands your context, your pressure, and what it actually costs to operate at the level you do. No translation required. Just the work.
It is not just the
stress of a demanding career. Beneath it all, there is a nervous system that has been performing at cost for a
very long time.
And it is not your fault. No one told you that what the culture calls drive and composure in BIPOC professionals is often a survival adaptation, built inside families under pressure, in rooms not designed to hold you, under the chronic weight of systemic racism.
Of course the body is bracing. Of course the wins do not land the way they should. With the right clinical support, this does not have to be the permanent condition. That begins here.
You are in the
right place if:
You have tried therapy before and spent more sessions explaining your context than doing the actual work.
You are succeeding by every external measure and quietly exhausted in a way you cannot fully explain to anyone around you.
You are carrying childhood trauma, racial trauma, and professional pressure simultaneously and have never had a clinical space that treated all three as one connected picture.
Your body is sending signals your schedule has not given you permission to address.
You want a therapist who already understands what it costs to be the exception in every room, so you can skip the explanation and start the work.
Imagine going from:
Performing composure that costs everything to maintain, to carrying your public life from an interior that can actually sustain it.
Sitting in the dark after the win feeling nothing but tired, to having the relief finally arrive in your body where you can feel it.
Performing in every relationship because there is no one in your life you can fully fall apart in front of, to having the intimacy and presence your people have always deserved from you.
A nervous system running on chronic activation and unprocessed racial trauma, to one that has learned what it actually feels like to exhale.
Treating childhood patterns, racial trauma, ADHD, anxiety, and professional pressure as four separate problems, to addressing them as one connected clinical picture at the source.
That is exactly what therapy for high-achieving BIPOC is designed to do.
This work creates space for the full picture, not a curated or simplified version of your experience, but the actual clinical complexity of your life.
We focus on the roots: the childhood and attachment patterns still writing your adult relationships, the racial trauma running underneath the professional performance, the somatic record your body has been keeping, the intersectional load most therapy rooms have never been built to hold.
Here is how the
work unfolds.
Step 01: Arrive without translating yourself
The first sessions are where we establish the clinical picture in full. Because the context you usually have to explain is the floor we start on here, not the ceiling we never get past, we begin where most therapy rooms never reach. We map the full picture together: childhood and attachment history, racial and cultural context, current relational and professional stressors, and what the body has been holding. Nothing is left outside the room.
Step 2: Work the roots, not just the symptoms
This is where the clinical depth happens. Using EMDR, Attachment-Based Therapy, Relational Therapy, Emotion-Focused Therapy, Trauma Focused CBT, and somatic approaches, we address the sources underneath the presentation, not the anxiety as a surface symptom, but what the anxiety is protecting. Not the relationship pattern as a frustration, but the early wound still writing it. Not the composure as a strength, but the cost it has accumulated over time and what it would mean to no longer need it as armor.
Step 3: Build the internal life that can hold the external one
Change becomes visible in the rooms you walk into every day. In the relationships where you begin showing up with presence instead of performance. In the career decisions that no longer require you to sacrifice more of yourself to sustain them. In the moments after the win when the relief, finally, arrives where you can actually feel it. The goal is not a different version of you. It is the version of you that no longer costs so much to live.
Hi, I am
Olivia Sterling, LCSW
A black therapist in New York with over twelve years of clinical experience and a practice built specifically for high-achieving BIPOC professionals.
I built Sterling Counseling because the clients I was meant to serve needed more than a culturally competent therapist. They needed a Black therapist who already understood the rooms they were navigating, the racial trauma, the intersectional load, the cost of being the only one, without requiring translation. What you will find here is a clinical partnership that holds you to a real evidence-based standard and meets you with the discretion and rigor your position requires. Defying impossible odds got you here. The work here is what happens after.
You do not have to
keep carrying the full weight of this on your own.
If you are ready for a clinical space that meets you at your full complexity, treats your context as the starting point, and holds the work to a sterling standard, reach out and let's begin. The consultation is a conversation.
Investment
- Free 15-minute consultation via Telehealth video
- Intake session (20+ minutes): $250
- Follow-up sessions (55 minutes): $225
“Olivia has walked with me from emerging to young adulthood, and in doing so I've become more present and assured due to her therapeutic process. Olivia's deep clinical expertise coupled with her worldliness forge an expansive approach to healing—a journey that's been a worthwhile investment of time and energy. Being under Olivia's care has allowed me to re-imagine life stressors and become reacquainted with joy. If there's any part of you that wants to come home to yourself, Sterling Counseling Services is the space to do so. Olivia's work feels more like a calling than just a duty, and I recommend her wholeheartedly. Thank you!”
— S.T.
“I have worked with Olivia since 2021 and cannot emphasize how transformative of an experience I have had over the last six years. I am immeasurably privileged to have had the opportunity to work with her through some of the most challenging years of my twenties. Olivia is one of my biggest supporters and confidants, and always there to listen without judgement. She has equipped me with tools and techniques to manage my anxiety and navigate turbulent moments and life changes. During a time when I felt truly "stuck," she was patient and compassionate. Through the years, she has encouraged me to develop the confidence to move forward and pursue some of my most lofty goals. We have explored topics like family dynamics, relationships, grief and career changes. One of the best things about my time working with Olivia has been her ability to help me reconnect with parts of myself that I felt like I forgot about. Olivia encouraged me to pursue one of my already existing but somewhat dormant hobbies, including running. I took up running again, which has brought me so much peace and mental clarity and I am pleased to say that I got into the New York City Marathon this fall. I highly recommend her services to anyone looking for trauma-informed care to help them feel "unstuck" and reconnect with themselves.”
— JP.
"Working with Olivia has been such a gift. She’s patient, kind, insightful, compassionate, adaptable, and attentive (aka everything that you’d want a therapist to embody). But something that makes working with her feel really special and safe is her cultural and sociopolitical fluency. She understands that just like trauma, our identities and our worlds are complex, and she does a brilliant job honoring and holding all of those complexities in balance. I feel really seen in her care, and through her guidance and support, I’ve been able to build my skill set and resilience for navigating life’s challenges, and find my way back to reclaiming my voice and sense of self.”
— CB.
“My experience with Sterling Counseling has been transformative. Olivia's style allows me to feel comfortable and safe while working through the toughest moments of my life. Therapy here doesn't feel like a chore, but an active part of my mental wellness routine with tools and recommendations that are easy to act on. No matter what I come into a session with - whether it is grief, depression, fears, work stress, or life changes - Olivia helps me work through it all with such care. I'm so grateful for everything Sterling Counseling has done for me.”
— R.C.
“Olivia has helped me thoughtfully navigate several major transitions in my romantic relationships, familial relationships, friendships, my career, and my mental and physical health. She has skillfully blended different therapeutic modalities to help me address my unique circumstances and challenges, so I always feel like I have a way to approach the things I bring to therapy that is tailored exactly to me. Olivia balances challenging me to think differently when necessary, while also remaining warm and non-judgmental. I have made significant progress with my overall mental health. Thanks to my work with Olivia, I know myself better, I am managing my challenges better, and I feel empowered."
— S.T.
“Olivia has walked with me from emerging to young adulthood, and in doing so I've become more present and assured due to her therapeutic process. Olivia's deep clinical expertise coupled with her worldliness forge an expansive approach to healing—a journey that's been a worthwhile investment of time and energy. Being under Olivia's care has allowed me to re-imagine life stressors and become reacquainted with joy. If there's any part of you that wants to come home to yourself, Sterling Counseling Services is the space to do so. Olivia's work feels more like a calling than just a duty, and I recommend her wholeheartedly. Thank you!”
— S.T.
“I have worked with Olivia since 2021 and cannot emphasize how transformative of an experience I have had over the last six years. I am immeasurably privileged to have had the opportunity to work with her through some of the most challenging years of my twenties. Olivia is one of my biggest supporters and confidants, and always there to listen without judgement. She has equipped me with tools and techniques to manage my anxiety and navigate turbulent moments and life changes. During a time when I felt truly "stuck," she was patient and compassionate. Through the years, she has encouraged me to develop the confidence to move forward and pursue some of my most lofty goals. We have explored topics like family dynamics, relationships, grief and career changes. One of the best things about my time working with Olivia has been her ability to help me reconnect with parts of myself that I felt like I forgot about. Olivia encouraged me to pursue one of my already existing but somewhat dormant hobbies, including running. I took up running again, which has brought me so much peace and mental clarity and I am pleased to say that I got into the New York City Marathon this fall. I highly recommend her services to anyone looking for trauma-informed care to help them feel "unstuck" and reconnect with themselves.”
— JP.
Testimonials
Frequently Asked Questions
How to find an aligned Black therapist?
Finding a Black therapist in New York who is the right clinical fit, not just culturally competent on paper, but actually built for the specific complexity of your life, takes more than a directory search. Start by identifying what you actually need from the work: racial trauma treatment, evidence-based modalities, a practice designed for high-achieving professionals, or all of the above. Sterling Counseling was built for exactly this. You can reach out directly through the contact page to start a conversation and find out whether this is the right fit before committing to anything.
Is it important to see a Black therapist as a Black person?
For many clients, yes, and the clinical reasons go deeper than representation. A Black therapist brings shared cultural context that changes what is possible in the room. You do not have to spend sessions explaining why racial microaggressions affect your sleep, or why being the only one in a room of hundreds carries a specific kind of weight. That context is already in the room, which means the work can begin where it actually needs to, not at the level of education, but at the level of treatment. At Sterling Counseling, racial trauma is not a side topic. It is part of the clinical formulation from session one.
What is a red flag for a Black therapist?
For high-achieving BIPOC professionals, the most common red flag is a therapist who cannot hold the full context. If you spend the first several sessions explaining what systemic racism costs before the actual work can begin, that room is not built for you. Other red flags include feeling judged for your success, having your cultural or racial experience minimized or sidestepped, receiving generic treatment that does not account for your specific life, or leaving sessions more depleted than when you arrived. At Sterling Counseling, the context you have spent years translating is the clinical floor we start on, not a detour.
I have tried therapy before and it did not help. How is this different?
Most therapy rooms are not built for the specific clinical complexity of high-achieving BIPOC professionals. If your previous experience required you to educate your therapist before the real work could begin, or if the treatment felt disconnected from the actual weight you were carrying, that is a failure of fit, not a failure of therapy or of you.
Do I need a diagnosis to work with you?
No. Many of the clients who come to Sterling Counseling are high-functioning by every external measure and have never received a formal diagnosis. What they carry, racial trauma, childhood attachment wounds, unnamed ADHD, the long performance of composure, does not always come with a label. You do not need one to begin. You need a clinical space built to hold the full picture and a clinician trained to work with it precisely.
What does the first session look like?
The first session is a conversation, not an assessment. We use the time to begin building the clinical picture together, your history, your current experience, what brought you here, and what you want from the work. There is no script and no standardized intake form driving the agenda. By the end of the first session, you should have a clear sense of whether this space feels right and what working together could look like. The goal is for you to leave feeling met, not processed.
Do you accept insurance?
Yes. We accept the following insurance plans for grief counseling services. Private pay is also available. If you're using out-of-network benefits, we can also provide a superbill for reimbursement.
We use Thrizer as our payment platform to process out-of-network benefits and payments. Out-of-pocket rates are available as outlined above.
Accepted insurance plans include:
- Aetna
- Oscar
- Optum
- United Healthcare
- Cigna
- Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of New York
- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
- Carelon Behavioral Health
Are sessions in person or virtual?
All sessions are currently offered virtually through a secure, HIPAA-compliant telehealth video platform. At this time, Sterling Counseling does not offer in-person appointments, allowing clients across New York to access care from the privacy and convenience of their own space.
Cancellation policy
Sessions are typically 55 minutes long and are scheduled at a consistent weekly time, although session frequency may be adjusted based on your needs. If you need to cancel or reschedule, please provide at least 24 hours' notice. Appointments canceled with less than 24 hours' notice, or missed without notice, are subject to a $75 cancellation fee, unless circumstances beyond your control prevented you from attending. If availability allows, we'll do our best to help you reschedule. Please also plan to arrive on time, as sessions will end at their scheduled time.
You did not come this far to keep running on empty.
The next level is an inside job. Evidence-based, culturally truthful, held to a sterling standard. When you are ready to do the work that makes everything else sustainable, reach out. We are here.
