Natalia Alas Durán, LICSW, LCSW-S

Hi! I’m Natalia, a Latina therapist who works with adults (18+) navigating chronic illness, disability, chronic pain, and trauma in Texas and Massachusetts. Many of the people I support are balancing complex medical conditions, caregiving responsibilities, and the long-term effects of medical, intergenerational, or childhood trauma.

If you’re used to pushing through symptoms, advocating for yourself in healthcare settings or in the world, or carrying responsibilities for others while feeling overwhelmed yourself, therapy can be a place where you finally don’t have to do it all alone.

My Approach

My approach to therapy is warm, relational, and direct. I believe most of our emotions make sense in the context of our life experiences, so a lot of our work starts with slowing down enough to understand your reactions instead of judging them. I’ll probably say “that makes a lot of sense” often, because usually it does. 

Together, we’ll explore not only why you feel the way you do, but also what patterns are keeping you stuck and what you want your life to look like moving forward. I tend to balance emotional processing with strategies for meaningful change, insight, humor, and gentle accountability. My goal is to ensure that you don't stay feeling stuck.

A lot of the people I work with are used to being the strong one, the responsible one, or the person everyone else relies on. Many are navigating chronic illness, disability, chronic pain, trauma, caregiving stress, and burnout while still trying to function at work, school, in relationships, or for their families. Therapy can become a place where you don’t have to minimize how hard things are or hold everything together alone.

I especially enjoy working with adults who are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), neurodivergent, queer, first-generation, or whose identities shape the way they experience healthcare, stress, relationships, and healing. 

With over ten years of experience in medical and community mental health settings, I bring a holistic, trauma-informed, and culturally attuned approach to therapy. My background includes supporting immigrant communities, first gen college students, working adults, caregivers, and diverse clients within healthcare clinics and hospitals. Alongside my clinical experience, I also bring lived experience as a child of immigrants with chronic illness and disability into my work. 

In my practice, I’ve supported individuals navigating a wide range of chronic health conditions, including:

• Cancer & Survivorship

• Gastrointestinal Illness

• Autoimmune Conditions

• Traumatic brain injury and post-concussion syndrome

• Endometriosis

• Fibromyalgia

• Achalasia

• POTS & Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS)

• Tinnitus

• Dementia/Alzheimer’s disease

• Chronic Pain

Therapies I Use

I don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to therapy. I integrate several evidence-based modalities depending on what best supports your needs.

In our work together, I may draw from EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Narrative Therapy, Culturally adapted Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Cognitive Processing Therapy, and trauma-informed somatic and nervous system approaches.

These approaches can help address concerns such as anxiety, depression, chronic pain, trauma, grief, anger, and the emotional impact of living with chronic illness.

At the end of the day, though, therapy with me is not about throwing coping skills at you while avoiding the hard stuff. I’m not a therapist who shies away from heavy emotions, complicated realities, or even dark humor when it shows up in the room. I can sit with the things you’ve been carrying for a long time without minimizing them, rushing you through them, or making you feel like you have to hold them alone and I do my part to ensure that I have all the clinical tools in my pocket to support you in creating the changes you want to see in your life.

A Little About Me

Outside of therapy, I try to spend as much time outdoors as possible. If the weather is nice, you’ll probably find me in my backyard or exploring a park or hiking trail with my two puppies, Flan and Osito, who seem to believe their life mission is making sure I never sleep.

I also enjoy writing, drawing, and watching my comfort TV shows. And I can definitely be a bit of a nerd when it comes to mental health — I read my first psychotherapy book when I was 15.

Insurance

Aetna

Optum (United Healthcare, Oxford & Oscar) 

BlueCross and BlueShield

Point 32 Health Coming Soon!