Hey! I’m Diona.

  • Family Dynamics

  • Attachment / Interpersonal Relationships

  • Self Image & Esteem

Professional Philosophy

My role is to provide compassionate, open-minded support for clients as they work through life’s challenges and dive into the process of discovering who they are on a deeper level. I also help clients explore their relationships with their family, as these very first relationships shape the way we see ourselves and relate to the world. From a young age, we take in the beliefs, stories, attitudes, and relationship patterns we grow up with at home, internalizing them as truths. Too often, we also internalize family traumas and messages that make us feel unworthy or powerless. It is my goal in therapy to help clients examine these beliefs, eventually releasing those that don’t serve them and making room for new narratives that are based on self-love and acceptance.

As an art therapist, I also offer the use of art making as a creative means of expressing emotions, increasing insight, and developing personal agency. Sometimes it can be difficult to describe our internal world with words alone, but the combination of art and traditional talk therapy can make for a powerful mode of healing. If you are looking to create a new narrative, I am here to collaborate with you.

“We think we listen, but very rarely do we listen with real understanding, true empathy. Yet listening, of this very special kind, is one of the most potent forces for change that I know.”

― Carl Rogers

Personal Background

Making art has always been part of my life. As a child, I drew simply for the pleasure of it, but in recent years I’ve increasingly relied on using art materials to help me process the events in my life, both wonderful, painful, and everything else in between. Now with more than ten years of experience as an art therapist, I am able to offer the therapeutic use of artmaking to help clients express themselves. It is a privilege to support clients as they grow beyond their traumas and manage loss, family, relationships, work, and health, all while incorporating art-making into the process!

Growing up as a Filipino immigrant in Queens also influences my therapy practice. Living in one of the most diverse counties in the country showed me the importance of cultural sensitivity while straddling both the Filipino and American ways of life taught me the large role that culture plays in our identity development. These experiences help me empathize with the potentially isolating feeling of being different on one hand and the appreciation that comes with celebrating one’s uniqueness on the other.

Areas of Focus

All of us here at START address the mental health areas of stress, trauma, and anxiety in our practice. We apply these three topics to unique, specific challenges that our clients are going through. I also offer specialized areas in the following areas:

Family Dynamics

Of the many factors that influence our development, I find childhood experiences and family dynamics to be especially impactful. Our earliest relationships are often with our family. Because of this, the way we interact with our family and the values, beliefs, and messages we hear from them inevitably shape our identity. Understanding how family affect us can bring great insight and serve as one of the first steps towards changing thoughts and patterns that no longer serve us.