Zae Palmer, LMFT | Wild Heart Therapies
Meet Zae
LMFT & Ecotherapist
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
Zae Palmer (he/they) is a Licenced Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT). Zae specializes in parenting, parent-child issues, sibling relationships, multigenerational family dynamics, and lifespan transitions.They have a particular interest in childhood trauma, spiritual trauma, grief and loss, identity formation, consensual non-monogamy, and sexual health. They see problems as purposeful creative adaptations to a family system, however these patterns often come from generational patterns that may no longer suit the current needs of the family or relationship. They are trained in Symbolic Experiential, Narrative, Contextual, and Feminist Family Therapy, Adlerian Play Therapy, Positive Discipline, and Depth Psychology.
Zae is democratic and promotes mutual respect in the culture of the therapy room. They feel that everyone's contribution is important to the process of unfolding and reforming relational patterns. With Zae you will gain insight, practice role flexibility, and attune to the emotional interplay of the relationship. Zae is dedicated to cultivating a culturally attuned atmosphere understanding that each individual is socially embedded and holds both positions of privilege and oppression.
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Ecotherapist
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Trained in Nature-Based interventions, Zae provides Eco-therapy to help clients nurture their relationship with the natural world by learning to listen and tune into the many wisdoms stored in our other-than-human kin. Ecotherapy is an affective method for anxiety, stress and emotional regulation, decreasing depression and loneliness, and addressing phobias. Learn more on the Ecotherapy page.
Scholarship
Zae holds an M.A. in Couple and Family Therapy from Adler University (Chicago, IL) and a B.A. in Psychology and Intercultural Studies from Houghton University (Houghton, NY). In 2023, Zae started teaching Adlerian Fundamentals and Interventions at Adler University and is in collaboration with the Director of the Center for Adlerian Practice and Scholarship pursuing publication on Environmental Feeling and Environmental Interest in the Journal of Individual Psychology. Zae is a member of Delta Kappa, the International Marriage and Family Therapy Honors Society and KPACT, the Kink and Poly Aware Chicago Therapists.
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"Tell me, what is it that you plan to do with your one wild and precious life"
-Mary Oliver
Ecotherapy in the
Valley of the Blue Ridge Mountains
Originally based in Chicago, IL, Wild Heart Therapies has migrated to Charlottesville, Virginia to foster and expand Ecotherapy services. Located on the land of the Monacan Nation, the air and spirit of Charlottesville and the mountain range surrounding are full of gifts of healing. I encourage clients to learn with and from the land and build reciprocity. As you grow in relationship to place, you foster a significant sense of belonging and purpose. Together we will transfer the skills and lessons learned with the land and our more-than-human relations to aid in the health and well being of your human relationships as well as your relationship to self.
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Wild Heart Therapies donates a portion of profits to the Monacan Nation to honor the originial stewards of this land and their current day livelihoods and continued care for this amazing area.
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Let's Connect
In-Person: Charlottesville, Virginia
Virtually: Serving Illinois and New York
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A Wild Heart
It takes a Wild Heart to live on this earth.
The kind that Sings at sundown,
Dances with pain,
Grieves into growth,
and slows down enough to
find breath amongst the constant rush of modern life.
A Wild Heart lets control go
Allows the internal and relational to unfold.
It craves awareness,
Participates in the world with
agency, accountability, and solidarity.
A Wild Heart is bold and courageous.
Piercing the barriers that challenge
your movement
as it slowly uncovers the mysteries of
your sweet and wild self.