Not currently accepting new clients (but connecting folks to colleagues who are, feel free to reach out!)
Stacie Fanelli, LCSW
Hi, I'm Stacie (she/her)
I work with neurodivergent adults who are seeking greater understanding of themselves or of others, need space to process or solve a specific problem, or don’t have any goals in mind but feel something’s got to change. Therapy with me is collaborative, trauma-informed, and at your pace. Identity-affirming care is at the heart of my work. I provide services for neurodivergent and LGBTQIA+ clients because I am a part of these communities, and I recognize that no identity is a monolith. I am committed to humbly learning from my clients without assumptions or ego. Together, we can work toward navigating a world that wasn’t built for us with confidence while reclaiming our power.
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I provide online individual therapy throughout California for adults 18+ and teens 16+ on a case-by-case basis
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Who am I?
I am a white, cisgender, asexual, AuDHD (autistic and ADHD) woman using my lived experience with eating disorder recovery and late neurodivergent discovery to help guide my work with clients. It’s so important to me to be able to show up authentically for this reason. I am an anti-capitalist abolitionist and work from an anti-carceral framework because therapy is inherently political.
I have two chihuahuas, Dunkin’ and Rosie, and a goldendoodle, Dallas, whose presence is often more therapeutic than anything I have to say. My special interest is, conveniently, radical mental health, so I spend free time on my Instagram (@edadhd_therapist) ranting and raving about various hot topics within my beloved community of fellow providers. In order to protect against burnout, though, I balance my time with hobbies including roller-blading, being a tourist in my own city, shuffling between podcasts and Taylor Swift, and reading non-fiction.
My approach
I know some things about mental health, and I know what my clients have taught me about their experiences over the years, but I will never claim expertise over your life, your needs, or your best course of action. As a social worker, my clinical training and thus my approach to therapy focused on how the world around us impacts our resources, abilities, desires, relationships, and other layers that make us who we are. When the world is thriving as a whole, so are we. When the communities we are in are doing well, we benefit, and vice versa. We all belong to each other in this way. Unfortunately, I became a therapist because the world hasn’t been thriving in a minute, and I wanted to figure out what to do about it. What can we possibly do to feel better when so many of the things that impact our well-being are beyond our control and seem to be in more chaos every day? This is a question I am continuously working to answer alongside my clients.
I believe non-hierarchical partnerships in therapy are far more beneficial for growth than a dynamic centered on expertise and advice. Most of my clients have been in a position of lesser power in relationships time and time again and are seeking to escape that pattern, so why not start in session? In therapy, I offer unconditional support, nonjudgmental feedback, and alternative perspectives on the stories you’ve been told about yourself. I use an intersectional lens that takes into account the way your unique brain works, the obstacles you’ve faced, and the identities you hold.
I invite you to teach me what you know about yourself and what matters to you to lie the groundwork for healing, to define what healing means to you in the first place. There is no set formula for therapy - every session with every client looks different - but I do have a “style” that is grounded in realism and supports bottom-up processing. In other words, I work by helping you collect all the available information about yourself, others, and a given situation; formulate questions about what information is missing; and access feelings about what you know and don’t know so that we can work toward identification of what’s in your control (and acting on those things) as well as acceptance of what isn’t. Alternatively, a top-down approach starts with an assumption, such as that you should be able to XYZ. As tempting as this shortcut is, I find that going bottom-up - the scenic route - gives us much-needed pit stops at major self-discoveries like your values, past behaviors that did and didn’t work for you, what comprises your authentic self vs. the mask you may have developed for others’ benefit, and so much more. You are inherently deserving of all of that information - it’s yours. Let’s go find it.
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In true ADHD fashion, I tend to weave spontaneously-created, sometimes odd metaphors, activist quotes, TikToks, and other timely resources into sessions or think of my clients when consuming media outside of our time together that can be helpful to use as an exploratory springboard, and I invite you to do the same!
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Speaking of which, this excellent video by Danielle Aubin, LCSW on autistic external processing is a great description of how therapy with me may look.
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Professional background
Clinical settings:
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Eating Recovery Center (VIOP)
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Reasons Eating Disorder Center (inpatient, residential, VPHP, and VIOP)
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Monte Nido’s Eating Disorder Center of Eugene (PHP, IOP)
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Klamath Basin Behavioral Health (community mental health)
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HABcore Inc. (housing case management)
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Mental Health Association of Monmouth County’s family crisis intervention unit
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Various group outpatient practices
In summer of 2024, I created Autonomous Minds Therapy, an outpatient practice based in the principles of collaboration and justice.
Speaking and presenting experience: ​
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MEDA conference 2024: Dueling Diagnosis - the conflicting nature of co-occurring eating disorder and addiction treatment and what we can do about it
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MEDA conference 2023: Neuro-Inclusive Eating Disorder Care
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RDs for Neurodiversity "Neurodivergence, Trauma, Food & the Body" series: Supporting the Neurodivergent Grieving Process in Eating Disorder Recovery
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Valley Federation of Eating Disorder Professionals Table Talk: ADHD in Focus: What’s it Got to Do with Eating Disorders?
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Ample + RootED Community webinar guest teacher: ADHD & Eating Disorders from a Neurodiversity-Affirming Lens
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Neurodiversity, Food, and Body workshop series (you can purchase & view workshop recordings here!)
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Various podcast appearances (listen here)
Recent trainings attended:
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Anti-Carceral & Abolitionist Approaches to Suicide - Community Skills-Based Training with Project LETS
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Working With Dissociative Identity Disorder with Cristina Mardirossian
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Intersectional Approaches to Bodymind Liberation and Body Image Support series by RDs for Neurodiversity
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Collaborative and Proactive Solutions with Dr. Ross Greene
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Politics of Eating Disorders with Dr. Jennie Wang-Hall
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Neurodivergence, Sex, and Sensory Processing with Sarah Selvage Hernandez
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BIPOC Eating Disorders Conference