Bloom + Grow
Collective
Who We Are
Krista Gaston (she/they)
LMFT + Ecotherapist, Work That Reconnects Facilitator
CA+TX+OH+VT
Krista is an elder queer millennial, certified eco-therapist, and a fractal activist who takes their lead from pulses and patterns of ecosystems she intersects. Krista is most activated to make spaces that generate active hope and uplift the voices and gifts of others. Krista co-founded the Bloom + Grow Collective because there is abundant space for channels of healing-action + advocacy in the fractals of our work as mental health providers.
In addition to their socio-cultural locations, Krista is a restless Sagittarius sun, a visionary Aquarius, and thankfully organized by a Capricorn rising. You can find them in a hammock in small-town Texas, or exploring public lands with her dog, Beans.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​​
Sarah Dardick (they/them)
LMFT + LPCC + NCC
CA+NY
Sarah is a proud nerd with a few specializations that include men’s mental health and identity, trauma, moral injury, consensual non-monogamy, and LGBTQ+. Sarah has over 7 years of experience in community mental health. During this time, they became a fierce advocate for pre-licensed clinicians, a passion that continues to this day and transcends license type (Sarah cares a lot about their ASW cousins). Sarah has advanced training in Narrative Therapy, EMDR, and all the other cool modalities most people learn when they spend such a long-time in community mental health. Sarah opened a telehealth private practice in 2022, and also provides contracted clinical supervision, documentation coaching, and quality assurance. In their spare time, Sarah reads heaps of books, plays video games, learns languages on Duolingo, and geeks out on true crime. Sarah takes astrology with a grain of salt, but is a very typical Pisces sun with enough Virgo in their chart to create a new planet.
​
​
​
Kabir Parikh (he/him)
​LMSW - Texas
Kabir is a South Asian trans man who loves a good guided meditation, taco, and walk in the forest. He enjoys info-dumping about his most recently read nonfiction book and sharing music with his people. Kabir considers himself a co-collaborator in the therapy room where he works with queer and/or neurodivergent people of all ages. He is passionate about building community and creating spaces for people to show up authentically and safely.
https://www.vadacounseling.com/kabir
​
Sara Thorsen (she/they)
LMFT + Ecotherapist
CA
You can find Sara with her head in the clouds, her feet in a creek, and dirt under her nails. Always dreaming of more sustainable ways to practice, she works as a school based therapist and her areas of interest include: liberation, anxiety/depression/trauma, ethics/philosophy, and supporting others live their best lives in the face of this wild, wild world. Other passions include: connecting with joy, writing, herbalism + plant medicine, and community organizing. Inspired by the Kaiser Therapist strikes in 2022, Sara is fired up about fostering the Labor Movement in mental health. Through Bloom + Grow she has connected with the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) to fight for mental health parity and win organizing rights for all mental health providers. She also participated in a foundational training series and Fellowship with the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC). She is a proud California School Employees Association (CSEA ) member and site representative. Sara has a long-standing dream to be a steward of land and is forming a group of collaborators to equitably make this dream a reality. She is a Scorpio sun, Aquarius moon, and Aquarius rising.
Simon Chan (he/him)
LMFT + Life Coach
CA
Simon practices as a Life Coach and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with almost a decade of experience in working with anxiety, depression, trauma, severe mental illness, relationship issues, life transitions, and many more. His life was completely altered by his tour as a combat veteran in Iraq. He came to find meaning in that experience and also came to see the learned skills that he wanted to share with others. Please watch his testimony www.lifestyle.org/shows/serve-protect/ (he starts speaking at 9 minutes and 40 seconds). Recently, Simon has answered his calling to help clients with overcome their porn and sex addictions as a CSAT (Certified Sex Addiction Therapist) program.
​​​​
Megan Hougardy (she/her)
Psychedelic Art Therapist - AZ+CA
Megan Hougardy is a compassionate and skilled Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist providing telehealth services across California. With a deep commitment to holistic healing, Megan integrates mindfulness, hypnotherapy and Buddhist psychology into her practice, offering clients a mindful, grounded and transformative therapeutic experience. She is also a certified Emotional Support Animal assessor, helping individuals find comfort and companionship through animal-assisted support. With a warm and client-centered approach, Megan is dedicated to guiding individuals toward greater emotional well-being and personal growth.
​
Beyond her professional work, Megan is devoted to her beloved dog, Goofy, and embraces a vegan lifestyle rooted in compassion and wellness. She finds balance through qigong, a meditative movement practice, and is currently exploring the joy of learning the ukulele.
​
​
Frankee Carlin (she/her)
LMFT + Advocate
CA
Flibbertigibbet is the word best used to describe Frankee. While she may be very silly, she is also quite serious, often in the same measure. She’s mostly serious about sitting with people in pain; compassion is her highest value. One of Frankee’s greatest skills is bringing her humanity into every situation, quickly disarming those who are wary. Frankee is a therapist with lived experience (trauma, disability, substance use, anxiety, depression, and adhd) specializing in mindfulness, self-compassion, and harm reduction principles that guide people toward anti-colonial, anti-capitalistic, and anti-racist practices. She has 6 years of experience as a therapist, primarily in community mental health, where she learned to be a fervent advocate for people against broken systems. She currently works as a mental health specialist in a middle school and is hoping to be licensed by the next school year. Krista, Sara T., and Frankee attended the same graduate school and since then have continuously been ferocious idealists and change agents. We love a good Lorax quote, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it's not.” So here we are, using all the bravery we can muster to say, “ENOUGH!” In her spare time, she loves to eat vegan food, play video games, make crafts, roller skate, watch tv, and play with cats. She balances a sensitive Pisces moon and fiery Sagittarius rising with a Libra sun.
​
​
Leslie Mueller (she/her)
LMFT + Art Therapist
CA
Leslie is a local artist and art therapist in private practice. Her passion lies in her art practice and she holds the belief that art is a fundamental form of expression available to all. In her practice she aims to create a safe, welcoming space for clients to explore, laugh, create, and deepen their relationship with themselves. She often works with issues related to anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, relationships and sexuality. Leslie is inclusive and enjoys working with diverse clients including BIPOC, immigrants, LGBTQIA, and polyamorous communities. She is a lover of the outdoors and incorporates eco based art therapy in her practice.
​