Dr. Joi R. Burnham

Hi there, I’m Dr. Burnham :)

Philosophy

My therapeutic approach is strengths-based and integrates evidenced based interpersonal-relational, multicultural, liberation-oriented, values based perspectives. I believe that people are best understood within the context of their relationships, identities, communities, cultures, and lived experiences rather than in isolation from them.

As a clinician, I view the therapeutic relationship as one of the most important aspects of treatment. I strive to create a space that is affirming, collaborative, culturally responsive, and grounded in trust. My goal is for clients to feel seen, understood, and respected while exploring both the challenges they face and the strengths they bring with them.

A central goal of therapy is developing a deeper understanding of ourselves. Together, we explore the experiences, relationships, assumptions, environments, and patterns that have shaped how you view yourself and navigate the world. Understanding why we developed certain patterns does not always mean those patterns continue to serve us.

At the same time, growth often requires discomfort. While validation, affirmation, and self-compassion are important parts of the therapeutic process, therapy is not solely about feeling understood. It is also about identifying patterns, beliefs, and behaviors that may be contributing to distress or preventing us from living in alignment with our values. Some conversations may feel supportive and affirming, while others may involve challenge, accountability, and a willingness to consider new perspectives. I believe both are essential to meaningful and lasting change.

Ultimately, my goal is to help clients cultivate greater self-awareness, self-compassion, authenticity, and empowerment while building lives and relationships that feel more connected, intentional, and aligned with their values.

Specialty Areas

evidence-based therapy for anxiety, depression, & relationship stressors

As humans, we are wired for connection. However, relationships can also be a source of significant stress, particularly when we have experienced difficult family dynamics, attachment injuries, cultural pressures, discrimination, or patterns of relating that no longer serve us. These experiences can contribute to anxiety, depression, loneliness, self-doubt, and difficulty navigating important relationships.

My work is grounded in an interpersonal-relational framework, which recognizes that our emotional well-being is deeply connected to our relationships with others and ourselves. Together, we explore recurring patterns, strengthen communication skills, develop healthy boundaries, and identify ways to create more fulfilling and supportive connections. Through a strengths-based, multicultural, and liberation-oriented lens, I help clients better understand how personal experiences and larger social systems may influence their emotional well-being and relationships.

therapy for Adjustment, Stress, and Life Transitions

Life is filled with transitions, many of which challenge our assumptions about ourselves, our relationships, and the future we envisioned. While some changes are welcomed, even positive transitions can bring uncertainty, stress, grief, and self-doubt. Other transitions may occur unexpectedly, requiring us to adapt to circumstances we did not choose.

Whether you are entering college, beginning a new career, navigating professional burnout, relocating, ending or beginning a relationship, becoming a parent, receiving a medical or mental health diagnosis, caring for loved ones, or redefining your sense of identity and purpose, these experiences can feel overwhelming and destabilizing.

I enjoy helping clients navigate periods of change with greater clarity, self-compassion, and confidence. Together, we explore the emotional impact of transitions, identify personal strengths and sources of resilience, and develop strategies for coping with uncertainty. My goal is to help clients move through life's inevitable changes in ways that remain grounded in their values, support their well-being, and foster meaningful growth.

I am especially passionate about helping adults gain clarity later in life regarding longstanding questions about their experiences and identity. Throughout the assessment process, I carefully consider cultural context, lived experiences, strengths, and environmental influences to ensure that findings and recommendations are individualized, meaningful, and empowering.

Young Adulthood, Self-Acceptance & LGBTQ+ Affirming Therapy

Identity is not something we discover once and for all—it is an ongoing process of exploration, growth, and self-definition. Young adulthood in particular often brings questions about who we are, what we value, how we want to live, and where we belong. These questions can become even more complex when navigating cultural expectations, family influences, gender identity, sexual orientation, neurodivergence, spirituality, or other important aspects of identity.

I enjoy working with individuals who are seeking a deeper understanding of themselves and their place in the world. Many of my clients are exploring questions related to self-acceptance, authenticity, relationships, career direction, cultural identity, gender, sexuality, or the tension between who they are and who they feel expected to be.

My goal is to create a warm, affirming, and nonjudgmental space where clients feel safe to explore these experiences openly. Together, we work to develop greater self-awareness, challenge internalized messages that may no longer serve them, strengthen self-compassion, and cultivate a life that feels more authentic, intentional, and aligned with their values. I believe that meaningful growth occurs when individuals are empowered to define themselves on their own terms rather than according to the expectations of others.

Adult ADHD, Autism & neurodivergent affirming therapy, masking and authentic living + their loved ones

Many neurodivergent individuals, including those with adhd, autism, spend years feeling misunderstood, exhausted, or disconnected from themselves as they attempt to navigate environments that may not align with how they naturally think, communicate, process information, or experience the world. Over time, these experiences can contribute to anxiety, depression, burnout, relationship difficulties, and challenges with self-esteem or identity.

I enjoy working with neurodivergent adults, including those who are newly diagnosed, exploring the possibility of neurodivergence, or seeking a greater understanding of themselves. I provide neurodiversity-affirming therapy and psychological testing for adults. My approach is neurodiversity-affirming and strengths-based, recognizing that differences are not deficits and that meaningful growth begins with self-understanding and self-acceptance.

In therapy, we may focus on communication and relationship skills, emotional awareness, self-advocacy, sensory needs, executive functioning challenges, boundaries, identity development, and navigating social expectations. My goal is to help clients cultivate meaningful relationships, develop confidence in who they are, and build lives that align with their values and authentic selves rather than feeling pressured to fit into expectations that may not serve them.

I also enjoy working with partners, spouses, parents, and loved ones of neurodivergent individuals. While neurodivergence is not something to be "fixed," navigating differences in communication, emotional expression, sensory needs, or expectations can sometimes present challenges within relationships. Therapy provides a space to foster greater understanding, strengthen connection, and develop strategies that support the well-being of everyone involved.  

comprehensive, neuroaffirming psychological testing and evaluations

I provide comprehensive psychological evaluations for children, adolescents, and adults using a strengths-based, culturally responsive, and neurodiversity-affirming approach. I believe assessments should do more than identify diagnoses—they should provide meaningful insight into how individuals think, learn, communicate, and experience the world.

My assessment interests include Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), learning disorders, executive functioning challenges, mood, anxiety, trauma, and diagnostic clarification across the lifespan. I have a particular passion for evaluating individuals whose experiences may have gone unrecognized due to masking, compensation strategies, cultural influences, socialization, gender expectations, or high achievement. I also am passionate about assessing neurodivergence among women and individuals from historically marginalized communities whose  experiences have often been overlooked, misunderstood, or underrepresented within diagnostic and clinical frameworks.

young adulthood, self-acceptance, lGBTQ+, discovering your identity

I work with many young adults who are seeking to better understand their identities and values in life, and who are struggling with self-acceptance and questions related to identity. This transition can be particularly difficult if you feel there are limited places where you feel safe to explore or to share certain aspects of your identity and the struggles that you experience because of it/them. Therefore, it is my hope to create a safe, secure, non-judgmental space to process concerns that arise, uncover how these experiences can impact your overall health, and increase your sense of autonomy.

BIPOC and global majority Mental Wellness & Empowerment

As a psychologist and graduate of a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), I am deeply committed to supporting the mental health and well-being of individuals of the global majority, and historically marginalized communities.

Our cultural identities, family histories, communities, and lived experiences shape how we understand ourselves and move through the world. For many people, this includes navigating race-based stress and trauma, discrimination, cultural and familial expectations, questions of belonging, intergenerational experiences, underrepresentation, and other systemic barriers that can impact overall quality of life and long term well-being 

I strive to create a therapeutic space that is affirming, culturally responsive, and grounded in respect, collaboration, and genuine curiosity. Central to this work is recognizing that emotional, psychological, and physiological responses to racism, oppression, exclusion, and invalidation are often understandable reactions to difficult circumstances—not signs of weakness or personal failure.

Together, we can explore how these experiences have shaped your identity, relationships, self-worth, and well-being while also honoring the resilience, strengths, cultural wisdom, protective factors, and sources of resistance that exist within you and your communities. My goal is to support you in cultivating greater self-understanding, healing, empowerment, and connection while honoring the fullness and complexity of your lived experience.

Couples Therapy and Relationship Counseling, emotion focused therapy (EFT)

Relationships can be one of our greatest sources of connection and fulfillment, but they can also present challenges that leave partners feeling misunderstood, disconnected, or stuck in recurring patterns of conflict. I work with couples seeking to improve communication, strengthen emotional connection, rebuild trust, navigate life transitions, and better understand one another's needs and experiences.

Drawing from Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), interpersonal-relational approaches, and evidence-based couples interventions, I help partners identify patterns that contribute to distress while fostering deeper emotional understanding and connection. My goal is to create a safe, respectful, and collaborative space where both partners feel heard, valued, and empowered to work toward a healthier and more fulfilling relationship together.

Certifications & Professional Distinctions

• National Register of Health Service Psychologists

• Certified Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinical Specialist (ASDCS)

• Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) Intensive Training

• Women's Mental Health Specialist Certificate

Clinical Supervision

In addition to my clinical work, I provide clinical supervision to psychologists pursuing independent licensure in Virginia. My approach is grounded in the Integrative Developmental Model (IDM) and informed by interpersonal-relational, multicultural, strengths-based perspectives.

I view supervision as a collaborative process that supports both clinical competence and professional identity. I strive to create a supervisory relationship that is warm, affirming, culturally responsive, and grounded in trust, where supervisees feel supported in exploring clinical questions, strengthening case conceptualization, developing confidence in their work, and building their professional identity.

While I value affirmation and recognizing supervisees' strengths, I also believe professional growth requires thoughtful feedback, self-reflection, and, at times, discomfort. My goal is to balance support with challenge, helping supervisees develop greater clinical insight, confidence, and an authentic professional identity while providing ethical, culturally responsive, and evidence-based care.

Additional Areas of Expertise

Academic Stress and Pressure
Adjusting to Life Transitions
Anxiety
Attachment Concerns
BIPOC/POC Related Concerns
Boundary Setting
Clinical Supervision
Developing Autonomy and Confidence
Discovering Your Identity
Divorce/Separation Stressors
Family of Origin Concerns
General Stress of Being Human
Identity
Identifying Values
LGBTQ+ Concerns
Life Stress
Life Transitions
Mid Life Crisis
Multicultural
Neuropsychological Evaluation
Personal Growth
Personality Assessment
Psychoeducational Evaluation
Relationship and Communication Difficulties
Self-Care
Self-Criticism
Self-Esteem
Stress Management
Quarter Life Crisis
Work Stress
Young Adults

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