(they/them), Founder & Executive Director
Licensed Therapist, Board Certified Art Therapist
Meet Renae
You deserve a therapist who gets you.
I founded Open Space Therapy Collective because mental health care should be built with intention, rooted in community, and shaped by the people it's meant to serve. With over 15 years as a therapist and non-profit leader, I've worked at the intersection of clinical practice, creative expression, and community organizing, and OSTC is where all of that comes together.
I have a deep commitment to advancing mental health care for the LGBTQ+ community and our allies. My team and I built OSTC because we believe mental health care should be unapologetically affirming, deeply inclusive, and centered on the unique needs of queer and trans folks. We deserve therapy that actually gets us.
Queer-informed care isn't an add-on here, it's the foundation. Our clinicians and staff are resourced, relational, and deeply rooted in care, and our clients see themselves reflected in the people supporting them. That kind of trust doesn't happen by accident. We invest in it through how we hire, how we train, and how we show up for our community.
At my core, I'm a connector, a creator, deeply curious, and a relentless advocate for making queer and trans informed care the professional standard, not the exception.
Community as Care
Healing doesn't happen in isolation, and neither does OSTC. I believe a vibrant, healthy life needs both individual care and collective connection, so community building has always been as central to our work as clinical practice.
I serve on the board of the LA Queer Coalition, which keeps me rooted in the broader ecosystem of queer organizing here in Los Angeles, and connects OSTC to the people and projects shaping our community's future. That same spirit lives in Queerly Connected, OSTC’s signature event that brings people together for joy, connection, and celebration in community space.
We also bring our therapists and volunteers directly into LGBTQ+ community events, offering on-the-ground care and support where people already are. Whether that's a quiet conversation at a resource table, a moment of grounding in a crowded space, mental health workshops, or an epic DJ set to dance to at Queerly Connected, we get to meet people with the same intention and care they'd find in our therapy rooms, just outside the walls of a traditional practice.
This is what community-centered care looks like to me: showing up consistently, building relationships beyond the therapy room, and creating spaces where people can find each other and support in whatever form they need it.
“Building OSTC has meant learning to hold both the clinical and the communal: the rigor of good care and the warmth of a space where people get to dream, organize, and grow. That balance is what I’m most proud of, and it’s what I hope every person who walks through our doors, virtually or in person, gets to feel.”
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