I am Niesa White, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC #015471) in New York, and the founder of Aurora Psychotherapy. I am also a Black, queer, New York native who enjoys tea, video games, music of every genre, and a good sitcom or reality show when the day is done.

I came to this work because I know what it feels like to be the only one in the room. To be the high achiever on paper and the person quietly wondering, in private, whether you really belong here. To carry the pressure of being a credit to your community and a reassurance to everyone else, while your own doubt has nowhere to go.

My clients are Black and queer high achievers who look fine on the outside and are exhausted on the inside. Some are mid-career professionals carrying imposter syndrome. Some are navigating identity and belonging in spaces that were not built with them in mind. Some are doing it all and quietly running on empty. Together we work on the inner voice that says you are not qualified, the pressure of being the only one in the room, and the cost of holding it together for everyone else.

My approach is strengths-based and solution-focused. I earned my MA in Mental Health Counseling from Adelphi University in 2022, and I am currently completing a certification in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, which means we spend less time on what is wrong and more time on what is already working, and we build from there. I also draw on CBT, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, and Narrative tools when they help. Sessions are collaborative. You bring what is on your mind. I bring the questions, the framework, and the cheerleading.

I am a partner in The Loveland Foundation’s Therapy Fund, which covers therapy for Black women and nonbinary clients. The partnership is not incidental. It reflects how I think about who deserves access to this work, and what it means to build a practice that takes the cost of that access seriously.

Aurora Psychotherapy is virtual-only, serving adults across New York. I am building this practice with intention because the clients I work with deserve a space where they do not have to perform. That is the work.