
With Glen, delve deeper than thoughts.
Release stuck emotions.
Glen Bradley (they)
LPC (DC), LPCC (OH)
Board Certified, NCC

A different kind of therapy with
A different kind of therapist.
I’m Glen Bradley (they/Glen), a queer, gay, neurodivergent, somatic, Gestalt psychotherapist in Washington, DC.
I help people who feel “different” or “out of place” reclaim a sense of safety in their body, tap into the wisdom of their emotions, and reconnect with their vitality.
Why “Gestalt” Glen?
It’s a bit of a story. I’ve been a client too—stuck in years of therapy focused on fixing my thoughts, but that never reached the root. Part of me believed there had to be a different way.
I found that “different” in Gestalt psychotherapy.
What Makes Gestalt Different?
“Gestalt” is an old German word meaning “form” or “whole.” In therapy, it means that you are more than a diagnosis or a story about your past. It means the whole of you—your body, emotions, sensations, contradictions, longings, and moments of awareness—matter. You cannot be reduced to just one aspect. It’s the concert of your parts and how they interact that bring meaning to who you are and the life you live.
Gestalt therapy doesn’t try to label or fix you. It’s experiential, embodied, and rooted in liberation. Rather than pushing away your feelings, we learn how to be with them, speak through them, and move with them.
This is not about becoming someone else. It’s about coming home to who you already are—underneath the masking, the fight-flight-freeze-fawn, and the burnout.
Why Do This Work With Me?
Because I live it; Gestalt had become a way of life for me. My approach is direct, relational, embodied, and spacious. I don’t sit back and nod. I join you in the work.
My clients are often navigating identity, burnout, grief, trauma, or big transitions. Many have spent years in survival mode. In our work together, we slow down enough to notice what’s actually happening inside—not just what you think should be happening. We build from there, with compassion and curiosity.
Together, we move from:
Overthinking → embodied clarity
Coping → connecting
Numbing out → coming alive
You need support that helps you come alive again.
Together, we won’t try to suppress your feelings—we’ll harness them.
Look below to learn about what makes my and my approach so “different!”

What’s so “Different”?
Learn More
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Not Straight Lines, But Spirals
I didn’t become a therapist because I had all the answers — I became one because I needed to ask deeper questions. As a queer, gay, neurodivergent person who has worked through complex trauma, religious shame, internalized bias, and the disconnect between mind and body, I know what it’s like to feel stuck, numb, or out of place in a world that wasn’t built for all of us.
For about a decade, I tried the types of therapy most often recommended — structured, linear approaches to talk therapy that focused on shaping thoughts, controlling behaviors, and labeling emotions. For many people, these frameworks are supportive and effective. But for me, they often left me circling the same “why” questions, trying to organize a mind that doesn’t move in straight lines.
Eventually, I realized I wasn’t broken — I was just trying to do therapy built for a different kind of thinker. I needed an approach that honored my nonlinear process, my felt sense of things, and my deep need to connect body, mind, spirit, and energy.
It was through my training — and through modalities like Gestalt, somatic therapy, mindfulness, and queer liberation frameworks — that I began to come home to myself. I’m here to help you do the same. Not by fixing you, but by walking beside you as you reclaim what’s already yours: your voice, your body, your power, your energy, and your zest.
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Pain Isn’t a Pathology
Not everything painful is a diagnosis. Much of what brings people to therapy doesn’t show up in the DSM — but that doesn’t make it any less real.
Maybe you’re recovering from a life of holding yourself back, pleasing others, limiting yourself to fit in. Maybe you’ve been feeling lost in how you show up in relationships.
Maybe you live in your head — overthinking everything, doubting yourself, replaying conversations, analyzing instead of feeling. Maybe you’ve spent years trying to think your way out of pain, pushing through with achievement and perfectionism, only to end up more disconnected.
You might feel numb or stuck, uncertain of what you want, exhausted by self-criticism, or cut off from your own body. You might long to feel safe inside yourself, but instead feel scattered, anxious, or like you're always “too much” or “not enough.”
I work with people carrying complex trauma, attachment wounds, internalized bias, religious shame, spiritual tension, and a deep sense that something’s missing. People who’ve been told to manage symptoms but never had space to feel and trust what’s actually happening inside.
You might be ready to stop overthinking and start experiencing. To stop fixing and start feeling. To reconnect with joy, energy, and choice — not just cope, but come alive.
You don’t need to pathologize your pain to deserve healing. You just need a space where your body, mind, and energy are welcomed as they are — and support in finding your way back to yourself.
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More than Words — Therapy That Moves with You
I don’t believe in therapy as behavior management or symptom suppression. I believe in therapy as liberation — a process of remembering who you are beneath the masks, roles, and systems that taught you to disconnect.
I use approaches that honor your body, your story, your intuition — and that center power, presence, and possibility:
Gestalt therapy helps you reclaim your here-and-now experience — not by analyzing the past endlessly, but by feeling what’s alive in the present.
Somatic & bioenergetic therapy bring the body into the room — because trauma doesn’t just live in memory, it lives in the nervous system.
Polyvagal-informed & mindfulness-based practices help you build a sense of internal safety, regulate your nervous system, and shift from survival into connection.
Zen Buddhism & compassion-focused work help you cultivate curiosity and non-judgment — especially when you’ve been taught to silence or punish your inner experience.
Queer liberation & Adlerian psychotherapy recognize that identity, power, community, and meaning are not optional — they are essential parts of healing.
My work is grounded in anti-fascist, anti-colonial, anti-authoritarian, and anti-oppressive values. That means we name power. We notice where systems have shaped how you see yourself — where shame, guilt, or stuckness may not be yours to carry.
It means therapy isn’t just about “coping better.” It’s about resisting erasure, rebuilding trust with your own body and instincts, and reimagining how you want to live, love, and exist — on your own terms.
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You’re Not “Too Much.” You’re Ready.
I work best with people who feel like they’re too much or not enough.
The ones who’ve been told to tone it down, toughen up, or just “get over it.”
Folks who’ve spent years masking—shape-shifting to survive—only to feel disconnected from themselves.You might be tired of overthinking everything, tired of questioning whether your feelings are valid, tired of doubting your own gut.
You might be done trying to fit into systems that gaslight, dismiss, or erase you—and finally ready to trust yourself again.This is therapy for people who want more than symptom management.
You want depth, clarity, transformation—not to be fixed, but to finally feel like yourself.You might be:
Queer and navigating identity, burnout, family trauma, and queer joy
Neurodivergent and unpacking internalized ableism & reconnecting with their own rhythm
Burnt out from caregiving, activism, holding space, or just being alive
Feeling stuck in relationship patterns shaped by trauma, attachment wounds, or internalized shame
Navigating the emotional complexity of polyamory or ENM—longing for connection but hitting roadblocks around self-trust, communication, or needs
Processing trauma that never got a name—but lives in your body
Looking for a therapy space that’s affirming, embodied, and real
Whether you’re grieving, regrouping, unraveling, or beginning again—this work meets you where you are.
We don’t rush insight. We build capacity to feel. And we let your whole self come back online.You don’t need to show up as your “best self.”
Show up as you are. That’s where we begin. -
Not Just Relief—Reclamation
I’m not here to help you feel “less.” I’m here to help you feel more fully.
More clarity. More agency. More alive.
Therapy with me is a space to notice what you’re carrying, and decide what’s still yours to hold.Whether you’re unraveling inherited beliefs, healing from identity-based harm, or wanting to live more awake in your own skin—this work can support you in making the next move that’s truly yours.
We don’t bypass pain here.
We build capacity to feel it, respond to it, and move with it.
Work with Me
Healing isn’t linear, and you don’t have to do it alone.
I offer virtual therapy for clients in Washington, DC.
(Ohio is coming soon!)
Disclaimer: a consultation is not a therapy session.
Schedule an Intake
After our consultation call, the next step is to schedule an intake with the office at SMR Counseling Services. They can be reached at 240-389-1487.
Learn more about SMR Counseling Services at https://www.smrcounselingservices.com/
Values
Queer Affirming
Polyamorous/ENM Affirming
Kink Affirming
Neurodivergent Affirming
Social Justice Informed
Anti-Fascist & Anti-Colonial
Inspirations
I am influenced by a long lineage of teachers, healers, and writers, including Laura Perls, Fritz Perls, Esther Perel, Thich Nhat Hanh, Alexander Lowen, and Wilhelm Reich, John Daido Roshi, among many others.

Therapy Groups for…

Cost of Therapy
I am now in-network with Carefirst plans in Washington, DC. Please confirm your benefits with the SMR Counseling office. Clients often have a co-pay that depends on their health insurance plan. My out of network rate is $150. I have applied for others plans and hope to be approved and in network soon. If you’d like to wait till I am in-network with your plan before getting started, please still reach out and you can join a waitlist.
Glen Bradley, LPC, at SMR Counseling Services
I work at and am part of the team of therapists at SMR Counseling Services.
Learn more about the SMR philosophy and team.