Sylvan Tovar

My Background and Approach

I took a meandering path to clinical work, starting with a bachelors in philosophy and a passion for guiding children and adults through outdoor adventure. I transitioned into the mental health world through wilderness therapy guiding with troubled teens and young adults, finding a passion and talent for holding therapeutic space, from there exploring many different unique populations as I pursued my graduate degree, including working with homeless youth, returning citizens, and foster care children. I transitioned into outpatient therapy in 2024 and have enjoyed the variety of clientele that I have been able to work with. I use a client-centered approach, and tailor interventions to my individual clients to help each of them learn to identify and shift their relationships to themselves, to their past traumas and their current problems. As an LCSW, I also see each of my clients in the intersectional context they exist in, and understand each struggle as existing within systems.

My Values as a Therapist

I hold a strong values of compassion and honesty, which inform every intervention that I utilize with my clients. Truth and honesty allow us to see what is at the heart of our suffering, the parts that have happened to us and the parts that we continue to perpetuate through behavior and negative self-talk, and to be accountable to ourselves about what we really are responsible for in our lives. Compassion allows us to hold that truth gently, to have understanding and love for what we've been through, and why we have responded in the ways that we did. I also believe that each person deserves the opportunity to understand the ways that violent systems of oppression have affected their worldview, whether they be economic systems, racial stratification, or patriarchy. These systems hurt everyone, even those that also benefit from them, and by being compassionate with how we have each been impacted by these violent narratives, we can heal ourselves and each other.