About Bree

Image description: Bree gently smiles in a cemetery. Bree is a fat white person wearing a black baseball cap and a black sweatshirt with a black and grey plaid collar.

My Spiel

Sure, I’ve got a master’s degree in psychology, but helping people was already in my blood. My grandma was a social worker, my mom went to college for child psychology, and I’ve been helping people in a fuck ton of different ways for as long as I can remember. Between my roles as a sex educator, roller derby coach, the friend everyone confides in, and more, I pull from my variety of experiences to help whoever needs it. My personal experiences—especially as a fat person who is neurodivergent and chronically ill—are valuable aspects of my perspective and how I relate to others. So, it’s important to me to recognize that my lived experiences, as well as my professional and academic backgrounds, are all stirred up in a big bubbly cauldron to create the offerings you find here today. 

Fat Liberation 

I’ve always been fat. I was only, like, 3 or 4 years old when I first learned to hate and fear my own body—and finding fat liberation around 18 or 19 changed my fucking life. It improved my body image, my mental health, my self-esteem, and even my perspectives of other people. As a peer counselor, I strive to support other fat folx who are seeking or already living a life of fat positivity and body neutrality. While a majority of my peer counseling clients are fat, I’ve observed how fat liberation impacts virtually every body, and I’m open to working with anyone who seeks body liberation. 

Mental Health & Self-Care 

I may have a master’s degree in psychology, but my knowledge of mental health and self-care primarily stems from being someone who has bipolar I and anxiety. My lived experience with neurodivergence has given me the understanding and compassion that I don’t get from others who just don’t fucking get it. In my work, I hold space for others to share and process with no judgment. (For real though, I’ve seen and heard a lot. I promise your secrets are safe with me.) I also offer opportunities to collaborate on reasonable steps towards reaching mental health and self-care goals of any magnitude. 

Tarot Readings

My spiritual practice is a major part of my self-care routine, and one way I engage it is through tarot readings. Tarot helps me get out of my own head and offers me perspectives and feedback beyond the walls of my own mind. I always seek direct feedback, looking for tangible strategies for navigating everyday life. I read tarot for others the same way I read for myself, offering gentle and specific guidance to anyone who needs it. (PS: I read tarot using UNO cards—yes, really! Learn more about that here and here.)

My Resume

Professional Experience

Bree is Helpful AF, 2022-Present 

  • Provides sliding scale 1-on-1 peer counseling and UNO tarot readings

  • Created and facilitates sliding scale peer support space, Fat AF!

  • Produces and hosts monthly fat affinity space in association with NAAFA

  • Created and teaches “Easy Tarot for Self-Care” class for the LA LGBT Center’s Trans* Lounge

National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA)

Founder and co-organizer — San Fernando Valley Zine Fest, 2017-Present

  • Organizes annual zine fest alongside team of 5 co-organizers 

  • Facilitates workshops and virtual events

Sex educator and writer, 2012-2020

  • Created educational content about sex toys and sexuality 

  • Provided individual consultation about sex toys 

  • Facilitated trainings about sex toys

Resident assistant — Columbia College Chicago, 2009-2010

  • Responsible for 50+ dorm residents 

  • Provided one-on-one support to residents

  • Hosted regular community gatherings for residents

  • Created and hosted campus-wide events including open mics, drag shows, and a sex education event

Academic Experience

M.A. in Psychology - Antioch University, 2020

  • Specialization: community psychology

  • 1 year in clinical psychology (LMFT track)

    • I left the clinical program for a variety of reasons, including an interest in research and a distaste for the limitations of licensure. 

  • Thesis: I conducted a 40-person study analyzing positive and negative influences on fat people’s body image, plus everyday strategies for fat empowerment. My study resulted in a qualitative report, as well as the development of an intimate workshop for the empowerment of fat folx as informed by the results of the study.

Trainings & Workshops

Eating Disorder Harm Reduction 101 with Gloria Lucas, 2023

Cycle of Radical Sexual Acceptance with Mx. Ezra, 2022-2023 

Empowered Witches Summit, 2022 

All-In: Partnering for Fat Representation in Google Marketing, 2022 

Right to Be Trainings

  • Bystander Intervention: How to be an Ally When You Witness Online Abuse, 2022

  • Resilience: This Moment and Beyond, 2022

  • Bystander Intervention to Stop Anti-Asian/American and Xenophobic Harassment, 2021

  • 8 Tools to Mitigate Implicit Bias, 2021

  • Bystander Intervention to Stop Police Sponsored Violence and Anti-Black Racist Harassment, 2021

Lived Experience

Private coven organizer, 2020-Present

12 Step recovery, 2014-Present

  • Does service by sponsoring fellows, taking on service positions, and speaking at meetings

  • Organizes and facilitates a committee that strives for conscious inclusion within the fellowship by developing a workshop for our recovery community

House Open Mic, 2014-2020

  • Organized and hosted a free monthly open mic for LGBT2QIA+ and BIPOC writers and musicians

Roller derby coach and trainer, 2013-2023

  • Developed and facilitated on and off-skates practices

  • Coached and empowered teams during competitive bouts

  • Organized and facilitated business meetings