Sami Lare

I’m a queer and trans therapist from Tennessee, now rooted in Chicago. I primarily work with queer, trans, polyamorous, and neurodivergent folks, trauma survivors, and people healing from religious trauma and family-of-origin wounds. Much of my work centers those untangling high-control religion, purity culture, spiritual abuse, and complicated family systems—especially Southerners building new lives in Chicago and seeking a deeper sense of belonging. My work emphasizes resilience, healing, and cultivating real belonging. I support clients navigating attachment wounds, anxiety, depression, self-harm, suicidal ideation, grief, negative self-talk, and relationship struggles, while also holding space for the chronic stress of today’s political climate. I create a grounded, supportive space for growth—one where you’re not seen as broken, but as someone who adapted to survive. Together, we build sturdy boundaries, reconnect with your body’s wisdom, and strengthen your capacity to embrace your authentic self and find support in community. Therapy with me is about reclaiming your story. Using somatic, parts work, and narrative approaches, we explore what’s truly yours and what was imposed by family, faith, culture, or survival. Grounded in trauma-informed, harm reduction, feminist, and abolitionist body-neutral frameworks—and shaped by my work alongside communities on Chicago’s South and West sides—my approach is equity-driven and abolition-centered. I value humor, honesty, and intentionality, and I strive to create a space where you can show up fully—complex, questioning, resilient—and grow into a life that feels more like your own.