3 Questions with Dr. Noel Ramirez, Founder of Mango Tree Counseling

What inspired you to open a counseling center that serves AAPI and LGBTQ communities? 
I live in both and have been healed by both communities. In Philadelphia, I’ve been able to deeply engage in both through programs like Asiac, Philadelphia Asian and Queer, and other fabulous AAPI and LGBTQ programs.

Professionally, I spent a lot of time developing community spaces and knew that a big part of my professional mission is co-creating spaces for people to feel seen.

How do you guide your patients towards that feeling or sense of “home?”

I use a number of therapeutic approaches in therapy, the most notable are relational-psychoanalytic approaches and acceptance and commitment therapy. Both promote a healthy relationship between the client and clinician, creating a space where folx feel emotionally held, and emphasizing the importance of formulating hurt, pain, and joy.

What does it mean to provide culturally competent care?

I think it helps for clinicians to be immersed in the cultures vs. just studying them. And when I say immersed, I mean in community, personal experiences, media, and relationships. Investigating core and nuanced content that interrogates what it means to be a citizen, power, and resilience in different communities. As an Asian-American, there’s a lot of content to cover, but that’s part of the work in working in a diaspora.