About Migdalia Valdes

Personally, the history of this work comes from having grown up with social workers as a child, then, as an adult, working with people living on the edge. Originally, I had imagined a life in the arts, in photography and working on the streets of San Francisco, photographing and giving photographs to my subjects. These people became friends, friends whose personal stories often included shame, disappointments, anger, betrayal, various difficulties and abuses. When I married, partnered, and had children, I encountered some similar experiences. Needing to focus on the care of my children, I chose to leave for later the dream of "life in the arts". That decision still needed to include helping others, a strong personality style of my own. So, I became a therapist. I became a therapist with a strength-based approach focusing on women, couples, narcissistic abuse, insight oriented and relational therapy. Those years of training with life as a photographer, in combination with personal tales, lead me to a new art-form, therapy. Ordinarily, therapy is not considered an art. However, using photography, learning to see and understand others by observing and engaging, I grew as a relational therapist driven to help people understand their lives and reach their goals, a rare enough skill to call it art for many of the therapists I know. I became one of a group of therapists in New York, a group of gifted and learned therapists. Together we created a strong group practice. This practice includes the support of working independently. Now, with specialties in place, I am here to continue extending my reach and help others, with growth and kindness as my foundation.