Milagros Chatelain, LMHC(She/Her/Hers)

My path has taken me through very different worlds. I went to high school in Minnesota and later attended college in Pennsylvania. Moving through these environments as a Black woman meant constantly learning how to adapt, how to read a room, how to belong, and how to navigate spaces where I often felt like I had to adjust myself in order to be accepted.

I learned to code-switch, adjusting my language, behavior, and presentation depending on my surroundings. While this helped me move through different spaces, it also contributed to a long struggle with fully accepting my identity. Over time, I internalized limiting messages about race, intelligence, and belonging

Later in life, I was diagnosed with ADHD, which helped me reframe many of my childhood experiences. In school, I was often labeled as disruptive or lacking self-control, and these descriptions rarely reflected my full context or strengths.

These lived experiences deeply inform the clinician I am today. They guide the way I hold space for clients especially those navigating identity development, ADHD, grief, systemic stressors, or experiences of being misunderstood. I bring my full self into the work I do, along with a commitment to seeing beyond labels and behavior to understand the whole person underneath.

At the core of my work is a commitment to helping clients show up as they are without having to shrink themselves to be understood.