Gemma Barriteau Psychotherapy, PhD

I was born in Brooklyn, New York as the youngest of four to religious West Indian parents. Being the only gay child, I grew up feeling different, from the complexion of my skin to the color of my eyes to my sexual orientation. In addition, my family struggled with issues of alcoholism and drug addiction. My childhood experience is how I learned codependency. The last 10 of my 26 years of academia helped me become the caring, empathetic, humorous, and, sometimes, challenging therapist I am today. While I once believed that being Black, female, and gay were strikes against me, today I know that they are my superpowers. It is my honor to help others find theirs.

Clients should know that I will not work harder than they do. With that said, I ask lots of probing questions and use a gene-o-gram, a therapeutic tool that resembles a family tree to understand the client’s history and familial relationships and patterns. I may assign readings, worksheets, movies, and music to foster the process of furthering one’s emotional growth. I do not work with anyone who is active in their addiction to drugs or alcohol; some therapists do and that’s fine. My belief is that the things we talk about can become triggering and may lead to the need to use a substance, which can be detrimental for the client.

As stated earlier, I am an African American lesbian who grew up in a very religious household. I have had to deal with racism, sexism, and homosexism (homophobia) both inside and outside of my home. As a result, I’ve learned who I am at my core, which is a very liberally-minded person who values treating ALL people with kindness and respect; this is at the core of my practice because my practice is ME.