AJ Sadler (they/them)
Providing psychotherapy under supervision of Grateful Heart Holistic Therapy Center

About Me:

Hi, I’m AJ — a queer, non-binary, and neurodivergent (Autistic/ADHD) therapist of European ancestry, with roots in the fjords and highlands, which has shaped my sense of connection to ancestry, land, resilience, and a felt understanding of the world as animate and interconnected. I offer trauma-informed and relational care for adults, teens, and counterparts navigating identity, trauma, and life transitions.

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I believe therapy works best when it feels connective and collaborative, not cold or distant. I show up with curiosity, compassion, and a grounded presence to help you reconnect with your body, emotions, and sense of possibility.​ I’m especially passionate about supporting queer and trans clients, neurodivergent folks, and those healing from trauma, chronic stress, or systemic harm. My approach balances acceptance and change — honoring your lived experience while supporting growth and resilience.

 

Outside of session, I find grounding and renewal through time in nature, my close community, and creative practices like painting and ceramics — maintaining connection with rhythm, curiosity, and expansion. I’m happiest when I’m learning something new, whether through audiobooks, podcasts, or staying present to the realities of our world — from ongoing struggles to movements of joy and resistance — exploring a new skill or hobby, or out on the water in my kayak, soaking in the quiet and sun.

 

I live and work on the unceded lands of the Awaswas-speaking Ohlone people, the Popeloutchom (Amah Mutsun) Tribal Band, the Esselen people, and the Tachi Yokut Tribe. With awareness of my own European ancestry and position as a settler living on unceded Indigenous land, I aim to stay in accountable relationship with the legacies of settlement and colonization that shape the present. This includes continued practice of connection, reciprocity, accountability, and responsibility.

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I believe that decolonization is an embodied practice — one that begins within the individual and extends into relationship and community. It involves noticing and unlearning the internalized patterns of entitlement, urgency, and separation that uphold systems of harm. I strive to remain accountable to this process through ongoing relationship, and participation in Indigenous-led efforts toward rematriation and repair.

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For those interested in exploring this work further, I recommend whitesupremacyculture.info, a project conceived by Tema Okun and now maintained with contributions and collaboration from many writers and facilitators. It explores how patterns of colonization function on individual, cultural, and systemic levels — and how they shape our ways of being, relating, and participating in community.