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Anxiety & Depression Help
Garden City Therapy LCSW
Call 516 828 2622 |[email protected]
Garden City Therapy PLLC
233 7th Street. STE 200 Garden City, NY 11530
Living Life in Watercolor™
Navigating Identity in a World That Doesn’t Always See You
Belonging and Identity Therapy
We are all made of layers. Visibility and invisibility, clarity and blur, softness and strength. Identity is rarely just one color. It’s a blend, a wash, a shifting spectrum of experiences that shape who we are.
But living in watercolor in a world that often expects acrylics can feel painful. When society demands sharp edges, fixed definitions, or simple stories, many people feel unseen, misunderstood or 'othered'. The beauty of your complexity can become the very thing others unfairly judge or reject.
At Garden City Therapy, we recognize the layers, the fluidity, the blending, the multiplicity, and the strength it takes to exist in a world that doesn’t always make room for your full self.
Anyone navigating questions of identity or belonging is welcome. This page was created to support clients who have been harmed by discrimination, invisibility, or systemic patterns.
Though we can feel moved by your experiences, and may even relate to parts of them, we also understand that we cannot fully know what your experience is. What we can offer is presence, listening, and a place where your story can be shared and honored.
Struggle is universal.
Oppression is not.
Everyone matters.
But not everyone is marginalized.
Pain is human.
But systemic harm is something very different.
Identity-based pain isn’t about who suffers 'more'.
It’s about how the world responds to you (or doesn't respond at all) based on your identity, and in ways that have profound effects related to groups that, as a whole, have been held back and hurt deeply time and time again.
People without this type of experience cannot relate in this way and while some can empathize others may feel indifference, worry, discomfort, hate, fear, or dread.
Not everyone understands the difference between personal struggle and historical, systemic marginalization. Some people fall back on older ideas of 'acceptance' or feel anxious about saying the wrong thing. That can lead to well-intentioned but ultimately unhelpful statements like “Men and women are treated exactly the same today, continuing to complain makes no sense” or “I don’t see color” which actually minimizes someone’s lived experience and takes us further backwards in regards to progress. It also causes covert acts of hatred and alienation.
When identity-based conversations arise, some people may respond with “everyone matters” or “I struggle too,” and this reaction often first stems from hurt or fear.
For many, it’s a response to a deeper fear:
“If someone else needs support… does that mean I don’t?”
“If their story matters… does mine still count?”
This is a very human instinct: the fear of losing place, value, or belonging.
Some people misinterpret identity language because they have never had to examine themselves through that lens. If you’ve lived most of your life as the 'default', identity can feel invisible until the moment it feels threatened.
When your identity doesn’t fit into rigid definitions and is more like watercolor, the world can respond with misunderstanding, judgment, or erasure.
Oppression is about having less safety, less visibility, or less room because of your identity. It means living with conditions that make the hard times anyone can experience profoundly more difficult, alongside additional hardships that not everyone faces, both historically and disproportionately.
That is a different kind of pain that is older, thicker, inherited, and often unspoken.
This space is for anyone who has ever felt:
- in between cultures, roles, or identities
- unseen or misread because of who you are
- expected to shrink or simplify yourself to fit in
- different from the people around you
- marginalized in your family, community, workplace, or faith
- pressured to be someone other than your full, layered self
- feels like the world sees you in acrylics, but you live in watercolor
This includes people navigating experiences related to:
- gender
- race
- culture
- sexuality
- spirituality or religion
- heritage
- intersectionality
- any identity that the world misunderstands or reduces
Whether your identity feels fluid, complex, or deeply rooted, this is a place where your story can expand, take shape, and be met with care.
If you feel ready to explore your identity, story, or sense of belonging, we’re here.
