Joanna Flamm, MA, LPC

About

  • Pronouns: She/her

  • Occupation and Specialty: Therapist specializing in neurodivergence and OCD

  • Location (Clinic/hospital): Vivid Mental Health

  • Location (City): Chanhassen (Western suburbs)

  • Offers Telehealth: Yes

  • Contact Information: vividmentalhealth.com, (612) 444-2303

  • Bio: If you are fat, funny, queer, brash, bold, thoughtful, anxious, searching, or a little bit “different”, we’ll have a lot in common. I love working with anxiety, OCD, and neurodivergence. Former gifted kids, perfectionists, queer, trans, and neurodivergent clients welcome and celebrated! I’m a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and creative who spent 17 years living and working in NYC. I work from a Health at Every Size and LGBTQIA-affirming framework.

Approach to care

  • What does it look like for you to provide care to patients in larger bodies? How is, or isn’t, your approach different from how you care for patients in smaller bodies? If you work with children, how is or isn’t your approach different when working with children?

    I'm a feminist therapist, which doesn't just mean I value equality among genders. It means I see each client's personal challenges in the context of the systems we live within, including racism, sexism, ableism, and fatphobia. I work to make sure my office is a comfortable place for people of all sizes, and I acknowledge the very real barriers we fat people face in getting quality care of all kinds.

  • What is your perspective on how weight is or is not related to health?

    I'm a "Maintenance Phase" and Christy Harrison devotee, and I don't believe that a number on a scale tells me anything about someone's physical or mental health. It does tell me something about how they may have been treated by others, and I trust and validate my client's personal experiences of their health and their interactions with the healthcare system.

  • Finish this sentence: “Fat people are…” 

    Deserving of thoughtful, nuanced, informed care.

  • How do you, your clinic, and the healthcare system you work in use BMI (i.e BMI cutoffs for accessing certain services, BMI on charts and printouts, etc)? Is this flexible?

    N/A

  • If a patient declines to be weighed, how do you and/or your staff proceed?

    N/A

  • If a patient declines to discuss weight loss, nutrition, and/or exercise, how do you proceed?

    N/A

  • Do you offer weight loss as a service, and if so, how much of your practice is this? What do you do if a patient requests your assistance with losing weight?

    No.

  • What does the physical accessibility of your office space look like? What kinds of accommodations are present for people in larger bodies? Are there things you wish were in place that are currently not? 

    My office building has ample free parking. To reach the second floor, clients can choose to take the stairs or an elevator. My personal office has a sturdy comfortable couch for clients to make themselves at home.

  • What do you do to allow fat people to feel comfortable and welcome in your office? 

    First of all, I just exist in my own fat body. I make sure seating is appropriate and comfortable for people of all sizes. I make sure to mention my HAES-alliance and body neutrality in every consult.

  • If you’d like to use this space to talk about any identities (gender, race, size, sexuality, etc.) you hold and how this relates to your care, please do so. 

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