Culturally Responsive Therapy
for Families with Very Young Children
in Houston, TX
For Houston Families with Children 0-5 years old wanting to strengthen their precious parent-child bonds, together
Supporting Houstonian families with babies, toddlers, and pre-schoolers (0-5) navigate difficult experiences of stress, emotional pain, and loss without letting overwhelm compromise their parent-child connections so they can cultivate deep, lifelong relationships from an embodied, responsive and authentic place.
You love your child deeply.
But right now, parenting feels harder than you expected.
Instead of building the beautiful early childhood memories you had hoped to with your family, like riding the train through Hermann Park on a crisp November morning, strolling through nature at the Houston Arboretum during springtime, or hitting up Discovery Green’s Summer Concerts to picnic and jam in a mid-summer evening, you find yourself feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, angry, nervous, withdrawn, and wondering if you're doing enough or being a good mama.
Maybe you're carrying the weight of a difficult pregnancy or birth, postpartum anxiety or depression, grief, relationship stress, or a hard life transition. Maybe your child is struggling with big emotions, tough behaviors amidst big changes, or complex medical needs. Maybe the heaviness of all the targeting, fear, and suffering of families and children across Houston is adding another painful layer to everything you’re already going through. Or maybe you can’t quite pinpoint it yet, but you know something is “off” and you don’t feel like yourself.
As a mother, you want to be patient and connected with your child (or children) and partner. You want to be able to rejoice in motherhood and enjoy the times spent together even through busy schedules in terrible Houston traffic, and despite (or in spite of) terrible things happening across our community and world… but you’re really struggling to feel steady and present with yourself, let alone anyone else. Things are hard.
The good news is you don't have to navigate this alone.
Together, we'll help you understand what’s happening beneath the surface: the situations, circumstances, and relationships where you struggle with intense emotions and difficult thoughts.
We’ll build your body and mind’s capacity to feel and process all that's showing up without it being overwhelming, so you can renegotiate and shift sensation patterns that are distressing to you.
Through this work, you will gain new coping strategies for when things get to be too much and this will help you feel more like yourself even when things get challenging.
As you feel more steady and grounded, we will help you strengthen your relationship with your child so you can build the secure foundation your family needs to continue to heal and grow.
Imagine feeling more connected to yourself and to your child. Instead of reacting from stress, fear, or old wounds, you'll learn to respond with presence and intention.
Your parenting will feel more confident and intuitive. Your child will feel seen, understood, and supported - secure - as they navigate big transitions and emotions in their earliest stages of life. All while you gain tools to strengthen your bond, build resilience, and nurture a deep parent-child relationship that lasts far beyond childhood through life’s ups and downs.
Hi, I’m Luana!
LCSW-S,
SEP, PMH-C, IMH-E
I'm a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, Perinatal Mental Health-Certified and Infant Mental Health-Endorsed therapist with over a decade of experience supporting BIPOC, multicultural, and gender expansive families through trauma, grief, anxiety, depression, and the everyday challenges of parenting and growing up in Houston.
I'm especially passionate about this earliest window of life, infancy, toddlerhood, and early childhood, along with the perinatal, matrescence and parenting journeys that come with them, because these early years lay the foundation for everything that comes after. Our H-Town families’ wellbeing matter!
My own path has taken me across cultures and countries, and brought me to Houston, where I became a mother of three amazing children that are my whole heart.
My multicultural identity and experience has shaped how I show up with every family: without assumptions, just genuine curiosity about who you are. I don't believe in one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter therapy, either.
I bring my training and experience, you bring your knowledge of yourself and your family, and together we walk the path of healing in relationship.
Therapy that Honors
Your Unique Story
as a Houston Family
Healing doesn't happen through judgment, blame, and misunderstanding.
Drawing on training and experience working with families of diverse backgrounds, I help adults and children heal and strengthen their bonds using culturally-responsive and relational somatic approaches.
How Parent-Child Therapy Helps You and Your Child
In an ever changing world, it matters that your child will grow up feeling emotionally safe with you. Building the communication skills and confidence to face challenges, with the trust that you'll always be there to support them.
And you'll gain practical tools of your own: ways to reduce conflict, strengthen your bond, set boundaries without shame, and stay consistent, even in the hardest moments, so your relationship keeps growing as your child does.
And, let’s face it, becoming a parent - a mother, a father, a primary caregiver - can often bring up a lot of memories and reflections about your own childhood, how you were parented, what worked and didn’t work, and what you want to do different.
You will gain more insight on how your past is showing up in your life now in your relationship with your child, and learn skills to notice when you are reacting from your own childhood wounds and needs so that you can be intentional about the choices you make with your child today.
We'll help you find emotional steadiness in the hard moments: the colicky nights, the fussy stretches, the times you don't know what your baby needs. We won't rush past how hard this is, either. The worry, the exhaustion, even the anger, those feelings are real, and they're welcome here.
And underneath all of it, we'll help you find your own way of showing up for your baby, through touch, eye contact, the small moments of connection, while working through what's hard about being needed so much, whether that's exhaustion, feeling touched-out, or something you can't quite name yet.
These small moments of connection matter more than they might seem: a baby's brain forms over 1 million neural connections every second in these earliest years (ZERO TO THREE).
The baby stage
(0-12 months)
The toddler years
(12-36 months)
We'll help you stop spiraling in guilt when your two-year-old is screaming or throwing themself on the floor. Underneath the behavior is something they're trying to tell you, and we'll help you hear it, respond in a way that strengthens your bond, and brings more ease to your day.
Because loving your child doesn't mean you never lose your patience, or that difficult behavior doesn't wear you down. It's not a sign you're doing something wrong. And with the right tools, even the hardest moments can become chances to grow closer, helping your child move through big emotions while staying steady for yourself, and for them along the way.
The preschool years
(3-5 years)
As your child grows and starts asking "why?" about everything, even the hardest things, like why a loved one died or why mommy and daddy don't live together, we'll help you meet them with curiosity, in a way that's honest, safe, and rooted in connection.
We'll also work on what happens after the hard moments: the times you snap, or miss what they needed, or just get it wrong. Coming back afterward and taking responsibility teaches your child that relationships can experience ruptures, and shows them what real repair looks like, building emotional safety and deeper connection along the way.
Your Own Story:
Healing Generational and Childhood Trauma
We'll make space to hold the harder memories from your own childhood or family relationships, not to dwell there, but to renegotiate them in a way that lights up your own values and intentions as a parent now, in the present. Maybe it's how you were disciplined, a time you didn't feel truly seen, or didn't feel safe enough to fully express yourself or trust the adults around you.
Parenting can also bring up grief, isolation, or fear about the world your child is growing up in: the dangers you can't always predict or protect them from. We'll make room for those feelings too, so you don't have to carry them alone.
Culturally Responsive
Your family's culture and lived experience all shape how healing happens.
Therapy is a place where you feel safe to be fully yourself, not misunderstood. Therapy is also a place where the unjust systems of our world are not ignored in their contribution to your family’s experiences of pain and hardship.
Trauma and Grief Informed
Painful experiences, recent or long past, are often at the root of a family's struggles. We'll approach these topics with care and your consent, never avoiding what matters, and never overwhelming you in the process. Understanding the past helps us understand our choices in the present and our vision for the future.
Relationship-based
Healing happens in relationship.
Our work centers not just each person individually, but the relationships between you as a family, building understanding, communication, and empathy that lasts. We cultivate a trusting therapeutic relationship that allows us to do this work together.
What People Are Saying
“Luana is an incredibly kind and insightful therapist. She is warm, nonjudgmental, and creates a space where clients feel safe. Her ability to think outside the box, along with her commitment to continuous learning, makes her an exceptional therapist.”
— Iris Beshara, LCSW, SEP | Child and Family Therapist
Schedule a Free Consultation
Let's talk. Schedule a free 25-minute phone consultation.
No pressure, just a chance to connect and see if this feels right for your family.
Click below to fill out a short form, and I'll be in touch soon.