Dr. Monica P. Band

Dr. Monica P. Band is a licensed psychotherapist, clinical supervisor, educator, and founder of Mindful Healing Counseling Services in Washington, D.C. Her work explores how culture shapes who we are, how we relate, and where we feel we belong. She specializes in working with adults and couples navigating complex trauma, attachment wounds, cultural and racial identity, intergenerational patterns, intercultural relationships, and major questions around belonging, meaning, and identity. She is especially passionate about supporting people who have learned to move between different cultures, expectations, roles, or versions of themselves and are trying to make sense of what they want to carry forward. Dr. Band’s approach is trauma-informed, relational, culturally responsive, and collaborative. She integrates EMDR, mindfulness and somatic practices, attachment-based work, and narrative approaches while considering the larger family, cultural, and social systems that shape a person’s experiences. Rather than asking clients to separate themselves from their histories or identities, her work creates space to understand how those experiences have shaped their relationships, coping patterns, and sense of self. In couples and relationship work, Dr. Band has a particular interest in intercultural relationships and the places where differences in family, communication, intimacy, values, identity, and expectations can become sources of both connection and conflict. Her goal is not to determine whose way is “right,” but to help people better understand the meaning underneath their patterns and build relationships that have room for both people. As a former counseling professor and experienced clinical supervisor, Dr. Band also trains and mentors mental health professionals. Her teaching, writing, and consultation focus on making culturally responsive, trauma-informed care practical and applicable in everyday clinical work. Above all, Dr. Band believes therapy can be a place to become more curious about the patterns you inherited, understand the ones that helped you survive, and decide more intentionally what you want your relationships and life to look like moving forward.