Therapist for Women, BIPOC & LGBTQIA+ Professionals | Trauma-Informed | Career & Identity Empowerment | Grief & Relational Healing
I’m Jonay Boylan (she/her), a Licensed Graduate Professional Counselor, and I help people who’ve been carrying the weight of their world for far too long—especially women of color, LGBTQIA+ adults, and working professionals who feel like there’s no space left for themselves.
Whether you’re navigating a career that’s plateaued, grief that no one else sees, or relationship patterns you’re desperate to break, I offer a culturally responsive, affirming space to pause, process, and heal.
Clients often come to me feeling emotionally depleted and stretched too thin—managing caregiving duties, climbing professional ladders with no upward momentum, or silently enduring the emotional aftermath of trauma and loss. I specialize in helping women who’ve always put others first—mothers, managers, educators, and healers themselves—finally turn inward and reconnect with their own needs, identity, and direction.
Let’s Begin Together
I believe therapy should feel like a soft landing. My goal is to make it easier to start—even when everything in you feels like it should keep going.
Whether you’re working through grief, career exhaustion, or the echoes of trauma, you deserve a therapist who gets the complexities of your story and honors them.
Let’s talk. Book a free consultation today.
Who I Help
Some of the clients I work with most often include:
- Women in leadership or management roles who are also single parents, exhausted from carrying the emotional and logistical load at home and work
- Black and Brown women navigating burnout, blocked career mobility, identity fatigue, and intergenerational trauma
- Clients grieving family estrangement or loss, especially those with complex PTSD or emotionally unavailable caregivers
- LGBTQIA+ adults exploring gender, sexuality, and relationship dynamics in spaces that haven’t always been safe or affirming
- Educators, accountants, and professionals in high-stress careers looking for better emotional boundaries and self-care that actually sticks
- Women who’ve experienced sexual trauma or relational harm and want to reclaim agency in their bodies, desires, and partnerships
- College students and young adults overwhelmed by the demands of adulting, academic pressure, and identity exploration in real time
If you’ve ever thought, “I’m doing everything right but still feel wrong,” I get it. And you don’t have to carry that alone anymore.
What Our Work Looks Like
My approach is collaborative, flexible, and client-led. Together, we’ll identify where your pain lives—emotionally, physically, and relationally—and find ways to build new patterns rooted in self-trust and resilience.
I draw from evidence-based practices like:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for unlearning old beliefs and thought cycles
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for finding alignment between values and actions
- Narrative Therapy to help you rewrite the stories you’ve inherited or internalized
- Grief Work & Trauma-Informed Care for healing complicated losses, including the loss of familial systems due to CPTSD
- Mindfulness & Exposure Techniques for regulating anxiety and building emotional tolerance
Whether you’re new to therapy or returning after a break, I meet you exactly where you are—without pressure, without judgment, and always with compassion.
Professional Expertise
My practice is grounded in rigorous training and a deep commitment to ethical, affirming care. I’m an active member of the American Counseling Association and aligned with its leading divisions:
- ACSSW – Counseling Sexology & Sexual Wellness
- AMCD – Multicultural Counseling and Development
- IARTC – Resilience and Trauma Counseling
- SAIGE – Sexual, Affectional, Intersex, and Gender Expansive Identities
I offer secure, HIPAA-compliant virtual therapy to clients throughout the state of Maryland, including residents in Potomac, Rockville, Kensington, Columbia, Ellicott City, Towson, Chevy Chase, and North Bethesda. In Washington, DC, I work with clients from neighborhoods such as Northwest DC, Capitol Hill, Dupont Circle, Logan Circle, Cleveland Park, Tenleytown, and Woodley Park—including professionals in high-performance careers, LGBTQIA+ individuals, trauma survivors, and caregivers seeking grief-informed support. My approach is ideal for clients who value discretion, flexibility, and deeply personalized mental health care from the comfort of their home or office.
Let’s talk. Book a free consultation today.
Academic Background & Professional Edge
I often work with clients with advanced degree who are data-driven, or achievement-oriented professional, and are seeking a therapist who can keep up with them at their levels of depth, analysis, and accountability. My academic path spans neuroscience, language, human development, performance, and advanced clinical care—allowing me to connect the dots between brain, behavior, culture, and lived experience in a way that feels both validating and actionable.
- M.A. Clinical Mental Health Counseling – Northwestern University
Intensive graduate clinical training with a strong evidence-based orientation. My work integrates research-backed interventions with the cultural and relational realities of real life. - M.A. Cognitive Linguistics – Case Western Reserve University
Training in how language, meaning, and cognition shape identity and emotional experience—powerful in Narrative Therapy, trauma recovery, and cross-cultural communication. - B.A. Cognitive Science (Pre-Med Track) – Case Western Reserve University
Foundation in brain-behavior relationships, biological bases of emotion, and integrative mind-body frameworks that inform treatment planning for anxiety, burnout, and trauma. - B.A. Music – Cleveland Institute of Music
Performance discipline meets emotional attunement. I draw on creativity, rhythm, and regulation—especially helpful for stressed professionals, perfectionists, and clients rebuilding self-expression after trauma.
This multidisciplinary training lets me translate complex inner experiences into clear next steps—something my high-performing professional clients especially value. Whether you think in data, deadlines, research, or results, I can help you turn insight into meaningful change. In addition, I’ve completed specialized trainings to ensure I can serve my clients with the nuance they deserve.
- CBT Core Training – Cognitive restructuring & behavioral activation for anxiety and mood issues
- Trauma & Grief Work – Treatment of trauma including relational and developmental trauma (CPTSD)
- Family, Couples & Systems Counseling – Understanding how family dynamics impact identity and emotional wellness
- Multicultural & Ethical Counseling – Grounded in cultural humility, intersectionality, and social justice
- Career & Lifestyle Development – Tools for navigating burnout, professional stagnation, and values-based vocational alignment
- Cannabis & Mental Health – Supporting clients who use cannabis with clinical and ethical nuance
- Working with Immigrant Families – Designing interventions that honor both micro and macro system stressors
- Partner-Inclusive Therapy – Knowing when and how to integrate loved ones in individual therapy
