Meet the Team
Our team strives to be on the forefront of trauma informed LGBTQQIP2SA+ care
Dr. Megan O'Meara
LMFT, Master CASAC, PhD
Executive Director
she/they
Jeremy Bodie-Bromberg
MSW
Life Coach
he/they
Megan is a sex-positive, trauma informed, queer clinician who specializes in working with gender, sexuality, trauma, anxiety, body image/diet trauma, internalized capitalism, fat positive & pleasure positive sex therapy, mood disorders, family and romantic partnerships, substance use, and has worked extensively with adolescents. She believes in a client-centered, empowering, integrative approach to therapy that focuses on safety and the deconstruction and decolonization of the parts of therapy that have been historically harmful to clients of marginalized identities. Their style is inclusive of trauma-focused modalities, queer and feminist theories, and focuses on exploration of social structures of oppression and inequality. Megan has received additional training in trauma, gender & sexuality, and substance use & behavioral addictions. They have with PhD in Human Sexuality, and are a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, Master CASAC, and a certified equine therapist.
Jeremy is a queer, POC, feminist social worker who specializes in working with LGBTQAI+ youth and young adults. Whether it’s navigating life as a queer individual, discovering new parts of your identity, or working through trauma, Jeremy takes a holistic, client-centered and intersectional approach to helping all those in need. They believe in using a multidisciplinary approach to therapy that allows clients to feel safe, seen, and heard.
Jeremy graduated from The College of Saint Rose in 2023 with a Master of Social Work degree. They have a background working with many local non-profits and after-school programs over the last decade to provide better access to services and a safe environment for LGBTQAI+ youth.
In their free time you can find Jeremy playing with their dog, catching up on their backlog of comic books, or painting miniatures for tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons.
Jeremy has immediate openings for life coaching sessions.
Rich Cali
Mental Health Counselor-LP
he/him
Mo (Motier) Haskins
LMHC, Clinical Supervisor
he/him
Rich believes that everyone experiences struggles unique to them and that therapy can provide a safe space to discuss and explore these difficulties. Human connection is a foundational part of our lives and he seeks to build trust with his clients and provide a non-judgmental, safe space to explore their challenges. His goal is to empower individuals to build up their strengths and help them utilize their pre-existing tools to manage the difficulties they face. He is passionate about the importance of mental health and believes therapy can help everyone. He cares deeply about the issues surrounding the LGBTQIA+ community and works to provide that safe space for growth, exploration, and overcoming.
Rich wants to work with individuals to help untangle the influence that societal and familial structures have on their lives so that they can live more fully and feel more free. He specializes in working with depression, anxiety, gender dysphoria/identity issues, and the struggles and stressors of everyday life. He works collaboratively with individuals and utilizes techniques from CBT, DBT, and Motivational Interviewing in order to help individuals gain awareness and develop skills to improve their well-being.
Rich is a graduate of the Counseling and Community Psychology program at the Russell Sage College in Albany. He received his Master’s Degree in Psychology from the State University of New York at New Paltz in 2015 but decided he wanted to return to school for a second Master’s to become a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in 2020. Additionally, he is interested in taking a trauma-informed approach, attempting to carefully understand the ways that trauma influences individuals on multiple levels. In his free time, he loves competing at Magic: the Gathering tournaments, spending time with friends and family, and listening to podcasts.
Rich has immediate openings on his caseload & accepts CDPHP Medicaid.
Mo wants to help those who want to make steps towards their goals but don't know how and join them in their journey even if they don't know where the end goal may be. Mo has worked in various fields from substance abuse to LGBTQ+, from mental health to nutrition and fitness. As a supervisor, Mo believes in helping his supervisees learn by doing and letting them choose their path. He doesn't advise solely from his perspective but rather lets the supervisee create their own identity within their therapeutic experience. Supervision isn't only about reviewing difficult clients but also discussing what's going on in your own life and how that may come into the session.
Avvri Rathsack
LMSW
they/them
Avvri is a Trans, Genderfluid, Bisexual (please read the 1990 Bisexual manifesto) therapist that enjoys working with their community at any level. They have been an advocate, volunteer, a community member, an educator on various community panels, and have led workshops in various settings including one on gender models at Creating Change 2015. Since their graduation in 2013 from MSU Denver with their Master of Social Work degree, they have worked in community mental health, private practice, harm reduction, HIV care, substance use disorder treatment, and acute psychiatric care. Their bread and butter is working with clients from the Queer community, providing space where one doesn't have to explain themselves and can explore who they are and how to flourish with life's ever changing sense of stability. In their spare time, Avvri enjoys studying astrology, raising their twins, and cheering on their wife working on her doctorate.
Meet Our Interns
Supervised by Dr. O'Meara, our interns are committed to serving the LGBTQQIP2SA+ community.
Julian Ramis
Marriage & Family
Therapy Intern
he/him
Julian is a third-year graduate student at Syracuse University who specializes in working with relationship issues, trauma, anxiety, depression, identity, and loss. He is particularly interested in the ways that shame, fear, and grief impact our lives and relationships. Julian is passionate about Rainbow Access Initiative’s mission of expanding access to high quality mental health care to the LGBTQIA+ community and is dedicated to making his sessions a safe space where all of his clients can be heard, seen and understood. Working from a trauma-informed, sex-positive, anti-oppressive stance he seeks to meet his clients where they are while creating an environment of warmth, connection, and curiosity in his sessions. Julian draws from a number of therapeutic modalities depending on his client’s needs, but his approach always centers on his belief in the importance of a strong therapeutic relationship and his attention to the ways in which larger social structures shape our experience of day-to-day life. In his free time Julian enjoys hiking, cooking and going to the movies.
Julian has immediate openings for family and partner therapy.
Shannel Farmer
Marriage & Family Therapy Intern
she/her
Caveat: Curiosity & vulnerability are encouraged, although not required ☺
Pursuing therapy can be accompanied with a variety of emotions; excitement, fear, confusion, overwhelmingness, and sometimes, even those of uselessness when considering the concept of therapy in it's entirety.
As an enthusiastic systems clinician who embraces person centered perspectives in exploring the systems that influence our being, I believe that you deserve a safe space to be authentically you. This includes the therapeutic environment.
The steps of our journeys are intertwined in ways that are meant to help us gain more fruitful understandings of who we are, how we have transformed to get to this point, and who we desire
to grow into, as our lives progress.
As a clinician, providing support to individuals as they navigate through whatever it is that they decide to bring into the therapeutic space, is my intention. My work includes endorsing clients in my care to feel comfortable cultivating a space in which they feel safe to delve into exploration of other areas of their life.
I am not an expert on the lives of others, including yourself, rather, I am a human being who takes pride in learning & continually building upon therapeutic practices. Encouraging folks in my care to strengthen levels of confidence surrounding the abilities to navigate their life paths, challenges, and victories alike, is in my wheelhouse.
Hello all! My name is Shannel, and I am so excited to meet you. Thank you for considering me to be a part of your journey.
Shannel has immediate openings for clients and specializes in partner & family work.
Kiara Maher
Mental Health Counselor Intern
she/her
Kiara believes that therapy is a way to help people on their journey to living a more fulfilling and authentic life. She aims to create a safe and non-judgmental space for every person she works with by listening to people’s lived experiences and validating their stories. Her work in therapy is rooted in understanding the different systems that impact people’s lives and looking at ways to empower her clients. As an asexual/aromantic therapist she has a passion for working with LGBTQQIP2SA+ folx in individual and group settings and providing care that is culturally responsive as well as trauma-informed.
Kiara uses different theoretical modalities but her main approach is validating clients and building a positive therapeutic alliance that allows for collaboration and open communication. Kiara believes in meeting clients where they are at and working with clients to help them with the challenges life throws at them.
Kiara is a third-year graduate student in the Counseling and Community Psychology program at Russell Sage College. She is also part of the Forensic Mental Health program. Before attending graduate school, Kiara received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology with a minor in Women & Gender Studies from SUNY Geneseo. During her free time, Kiara enjoys reading, traveling, spending time with friends and family, and listening to music.
Kiara has openings on her caseload.
Kimberlee Caperna
Social Work Intern
she/her
As a Queer multi racial individual, I’m inspired to provide support to the LGBTQQIP2SA+ community that I wish I had received growing up. With family dynamics, pressure from peers, and uncertainty about living your authentic life, things can be very complex. I believe in creating a safe, non-judgmental space for people to express themselves fully, freely, and authentically. I strongly value cultural humility in practice, as well as a strengths-based approach. I am also very passionate about supporting folks experiencing grief and loss, as it’s very much a part of life.
As a musician, I’ve always believed in the power of music. Through my work in hospice, I’ve been able to witness the healing power of music on many levels. I love connecting with people through art, nature, music, and communication. I also love learning and sharing ideas with folks and taking positive action in the community! Providing education, resources, and offering support to strengthen our communities is a continued goal of mine.
I’m currently a graduate student obtaining my master’s degree in social work at the University at Albany. I also work at The Community Hospice in Albany, where I provide additional support to seriously ill patients and their families.
Kim has openings for case management clients.
Anders Iaconelli
Social Work Intern
they/them
Therapy should be a welcoming and safe space for all and I hope to maintain that. As an agender trans-guy, I have had the unfortunate experience of having a therapist dismiss my identity and had another argue about my pronouns, so I know first-hand how harmful to the client that behavior is. LGBTQIA+ identity should be celebrated, and I hope to help you find queer joy and gender euphoria no matter the current political landscape.
Currently I am a graduate student at the master’s level in the University at Albany’s School of Social Welfare program, being drawn to social work in particular because it includes the impact of our social environment and it’s hierarchical structure of which we reside into our mental health. Our society places a great burden on the shoulders of marginalized peoples that need to be taken into account in the therapeutic process to have a chance to assist.
I am particularly interested in working with narrative therapy through a feminist lens. My space is safe for people with alternative identities as well as those in consensual non-monogamous relationships. I believe deeply in the healing abilities of nature that can be found in our interactions with the world around us as well as what can be discovered about ourselves through self-expression in art. Nature can help root us to the very present, improve our self-awareness and our ability to focus after a long day, as well as a greater appreciation of the flowers that manage to bloom from sidewalk cracks.
Cy Valdez
Marriage & Family Therapy Intern
she/her
As a Queer Afro-indigenous individual who practices therapy from a radically authentic lens, Cy utilizes over ten years of experience working with communities of color into her therapeutic approach. Her strong understanding of gender, socioeconomics, sexuality, and trauma has prepared Cy to analyze your unique challenges with a systems lens; taking into consideration both your environmental circumstances and personal history that influence your identity today. Her goal is to listen to your needs and highlight your options based on your values and proximity to resources. She knows that this process is not linear and as a result designs a safe space for you to collaboratively work through the journey.
She understands that having intersecting identities and working through life issues can lead to compounding experiences that come with various emotions. As a result, she is interested in understanding your 'personal language', emotions and perspective to address your concerns. Her therapeutic style represents affirming a positive self-identity that compliments a strength-based approach, encouraging her clients to enforce their personal agency and trust their inner voice.
Cy is prepared to work with clients around sex/work, alternative relationships, body image and boundary setting. After office hours, Cy enjoys expressing herself through the art of burlesque and large-scale painting.
Cy has openings on her caseload and works with partners, couples, and families.
Emily Beeman
Marriage & Family Therapy Intern
she/her
Emily Beeman is a current graduate student at Capella University working on her Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy. Emily has a background supporting neurodiverse clients and their families in the school, clinic, and home settings. Throughout her internship Emily has worked with clients experiencing anxiety, depression, chronic illness, self-acceptance, and self-esteem issues through a relational lens. She is passionate about working on skills with parents and families that enable them to better navigate family transitions, build emotional regulation, communicate effectively, and meet the needs of their children. Emily is committed to providing a warm, affirming, and safe therapeutic environment to clients with diverse ability, racial, gender identity, sexuality, socioeconomic, and cultural backgrounds. She believes in providing empathetic, strength-based therapy with a focus on how systemic challenges impact the individual.
Emily works with individuals, couples, and families. She uses a variety of relational modalities depending on the needs of each client. Emily’s goal is to use her years of experience with children and families and new graduate school knowledge to provide clients with the support they need to reach their goals. In her spare time, she enjoys playing with her dogs, reading, art, and music.
Emily has immediate openings for partners, couples, and families.
Angela T. Jen
Marriage & Family Therapy Intern
she/they
Angela is a bilingual (Mandarin / English) Marriage and Family Therapist in training attending Syracuse University looking forward to working with individuals, couples, and families of all combinations. She is an ally of the LGBTQIA+, BiPOC, people living with disabilities, ENM/CNM, and kink community.
Her approach to therapy is collaborative and client centric. You will find her down to earth, warm and supportive as you work together towards the goals you set for you, your family, or relationship(s), focusing on you feeling supported throughout your life’s journey, wherever that might be. Angela’s eclectic approach looks to empower you through an anti-oppression framework in a safe space. She is anti-capitalist, anti-racist, anti-sexist, covid-19 affirming, pro decolonization, pro-sex work, and is mindful of various religious practices, spectrum of sexuality, gender identities, and body image issues.
Angela has been trained in Brainspotting Phase I. Outside of the therapy room, she is a cat mom, crafter of many trades, kitchen alchemist, and traveler of the world.
Emily works with individuals, couples, and families. She uses a variety of relational modalities depending on the needs of each client. Emily’s goal is to use her years of experience with children and families and new graduate school knowledge to provide clients with the support they need to reach their goals. In her spare time, she enjoys playing with her dogs, reading, art, and music.
Angela has immediate openings for partners, couples, and families.
Acey Mercer
LCSW
Board President
he/him
Acey Mercer, LCSW is a passionate and driven social worker who has dedicated his career to providing support and advocacy for vulnerable communities marginalized by social inequality and institutional oppression based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Acey studied at Radboud University in the Netherlands where his academic focus was in Gender & Sexuality Studies. These foci ignited Acey’s passion to further explore and examine human behavior, relationships and the intersections of class, race, ability, gender and sexual identity. These motivating factors drew Acey to pursue his Master's in Social Work and ultimately to become a licensed therapist, trainer, consultant, and educator.
Acey is the owner of ACME Advocacy and specializes in providing professional training as well as policy and curriculum development relating to best affirming practices with LGBQQIAAP2S+, transgender, nonbinary, and gender expansive populations across a vast array of disciplines. The consulting services Acey delivers are enhanced and complimented by the strong clinical lens he has as a therapist. In his private practice, Acey supports adults, youth, and their families as they navigate questions, challenges, and celebrations related to the emotional, psychological, social, legal and medical aspects of gender journey and transition.
Acey is a consultant for New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) and the Office of Mental Health (OMH) providing gender-affirming assessments, clinical care, and transition education to incarcerated individuals. Furthermore, Acey teaches affirming clinical practices to postgraduate level students as a lecturer at the State University of New York at Albany, Department of Educational & Counseling Psychology and School of Social Welfare.
Acey has written articles published in print and online and has had various media appearances, been referenced, and given professional statements and interviews for National Geographic, Huffington Post, Doctor Radio on SiriusXM, WalletHub, Giddy, Times Union, Spectrum News, and WIOX Radio.
In honor of truly saving the best for last - Acey is a proud husband and father of a tenacious toddler and bubbly baby.
Bree (Brianna) Gaddy
MSW
Board Vice President
they/she
Bree is a macro social worker who is deeply curious about how we can create and maintain alternative structures and systems that better care for our communities. Bree’s professional experience ranges from working in affordable housing and family shelters to economic security to reproductive justice.
They specialize in organizational development and facilitation. Currently, Bree co-directs a technical assistance department at the National Network of Abortion Funds, where they support abortion funds with growing and tending to their organizations. They take a healing justice and liberation approach, including centering pro-Black, anti-racist, anti-capitalist, abolitionist, and radical feminist principles in all of their work.
Bree's heart work is facilitation and mutual aid. They've helped to open a community free store and co-facilitated political education spaces for social workers. Bree enjoys checking out the library for magic realism, developing their ceramics practice, traveling to see family and friends, and visiting the ocean.
Taylor Edelmann
Board Secretary
he/him
Taylor has worked in community health for the last decade, providing direct service, managing communications, and facilitating trainings on various LGB/TGNCNBI+ health topics. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, children, and three spoiled cats.
He has been featured in USA Today, Out Magazine, Outsports, and the Us & Them podcast, to share his experience as one of the first out NCAA trans athletes in the country. This has helped give his work a unique perspective and trajectory to increase awareness of trans bodies and the community's varying needs.
Taylor oversees the Lighthouse Learning Collective, a program within the National Harm Reduction Coalition (NHRC) focused on supporting the work of queer harm reductionists and LGB/TGNCNBI folks who use drugs and/or engage in sex work.
Additionally, Taylor is a trainer for the NHRC. He engages frontline staff to think about the foundations and intersections of harm reduction, safer drug use, sexual & reproductive health, and queer identities to create a world where everyone can live more authentically.
Marina Franchild
Board Treasurer
she/her
Marina Franchild worked as a Mechanical Engineer and Deputy Project Manager. For the past ten years she has provided strategic financial planning for a small business, and has tutored high school mathematics, physics and chemistry, the latter also on an advance placement college level. In addition, Marina has worked as a volunteer mentor for: Schenectady Working Group on Girls; and as a volunteer pre-college math instructor/tutor at Greene Correctional Facility. Since 2005 Marina has been the Co-Commissioner of a citizens’ group overseeing Park District #2 in Niskayuna to maintain an 8 acre green space.
Teri Wilhelm
Board Member
she/her
For the past eleven years and currently, Teri Wilhelm has held the adjunct position of Mathematics Instructor at SUNY Adirondack College and, until recently, for five years had been a member of the diversity committee, a co-adviser for the student PRIDE/SAGA club and the college transgender liaison with the Hudson/Mohawk Planned Parenthood Center. All throughout that time, Teri had the pleasure of working with young adults in various situations concerning academics, personal health and development, and adjusting to many challenges of living as a Trans/GNCNB or a LGBQ person within the larger cisgender, heterosexual community. Teri has lifelong experience as an activist/advocate for Union representation, political action and advocacy for acceptance, self-esteem and the long-deserved respect of transgender students and adults through her association with GLSEN Upstate, Equality NY and her employment with the Albany Damien Center, MPower Program as the TGNC Employment Navigator.
Brian Farr
CASAC, M.S. Ed.
Board Member
he/him
Brian Farr is employed as a Professor/Coordinator of the Chemical Dependency Program at Hudson Valley Community College and is the owner of First Step Counseling and Consultation. Previously he worked as a Per Diem CASAC/Group Counselor at St. Peter’s Addiction and Recovery Center (SPARC). Brian has extensive experience working as a substance abuse counselor and advocating for changes in existing laws around medical access and care for all.
Jeremy Boyce
LMHC
Board Member
he/him
Jeremy Boyce is a licensed psychotherapist, with a Master’s Degree in Mental Health Counseling from the University at Albany, and a Bachelor’s in Biology and Psychology from SUNY Geneseo. Jeremy has worked in various settings within the mental health, substance use, and healthcare industries, including a counselor at an elementary school, clinician and teacher at a community mental health program for adults with severe mental illness, living skills trainer at a home care practice with individuals with traumatic brain injuries, and various outpatient clinics. For the past several years, Jeremy has worked at CDPHP, a local health insurance company, where he provides suicide prevention and crisis intervention trainings, and oversees the Behavioral Health Access Center, which assists members in locating mental health and substance use providers and resources. In his clinical work, Jeremy specializes in children, families, and trauma-informed care, and holds a certificate as a Child and Adolescent Trauma Professional through the International Trauma Training Institute. Jeremy joined the Rainbow Access Initiative Board of Directives in the Summer of 2019, and is excited to assist in its ongoing growth. Jeremy enjoys running, traveling, cooking (and eating) food, and playing piano.
Dr. Nicole Bromley
PsyD
Board Member
she/her
Nicole is a psychologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Albany Med Health System. There she provides individual therapy to adults with a range of psychological struggles, as well as support for gender affirming treatments. Nicole works to be an ally to the LGBTQQIP2SA+ community, as well as other marginalized groups, especially within a healthcare system. In addition to her clinical role, Nicole provides education and supervision to the next generation of health professionals around cultural humility and culturally competent treatment. She strives to provide a safe, affirming, and inclusive environment for her patients, colleagues, and trainees so that they may evolve into the best version of themselves.
Kitty McLeod
Board Member
she/they
Kitty is a self-described blerd. She facilitates organizational culture change management as the President of the Inclusion Plus Institute, guided by data to coach organizations to maximize inclusive and creative collaboration.
In 2021, she founded Illumine Wellness (@illumine.wellness) to support others as they integrate safety and joy in their bodies through body awareness, play, and sound healing.
Kitty is also a choreographer and dance/yoga instructor (200 Hr YTT). Her style is influenced by movement forms from Hip Hop to Circus Arts, as well as her training as a Dance major at Ursinus College and her current study in Dance Movement Therapy at Rider University.
Dr. Michael Murphy
Board Member
he/him
Michael is a biomedical ethicist with specialties in both clinical ethics consultation and health policy development. He has taught biomedical ethics to both medical students and undergraduates and works as a standardized patient educator at Albany Medical College.
Michael has completed his second doctorate at the Alden March Bioethics Institute and AMC with a thesis that there is a moral duty for educational programs in bioethics to collaborate with vulnerable communities. His focus is on developing trusted messengers and allyships in collaborative organizations as well as educational programs based on collaborative community
needs.
Michael is an openly gay man (he/him) in a nearly 50-year relationship with his spouse, Peter, and is a trauma-informed consultant and educator.
Lauren LaCorazza
Board Member
she/her
Lauren attended St. John’s University in Queens, NY where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies. After a brief venture in Public Relations, she pivoted to pursue a more qualitative path in Marketing. Throughout her career, Lauren has held integrated roles covering strategic planning and investment across various channels including digital, TV, OOH, and print. Her experience spans diverse sectors, from pharmaceutical brands across many specialties, tourism, QSRs, and durable goods. She has advised on UX, creative formats, CRM efforts, and audience verification in some capacity.
Beyond her professional pursuits, Lauren is passionate about fostering a more equitable and inclusive world. Lauren is hoping to create ways to empower anyone that needs assistance navigating the healthcare system and wants to build resources that allow people to become advocates for their specific needs.