Beth Cortez-Neavel (they/them)

Welcome! I am a Latinx, neurodivergent, queer, and nonbinary native Austinite. I also am a writer, speaker, performer, and therapist. I bring my experience with these identities into all of my work. My writing - and performances based on my writing - explore themes of mental health, intergenerational trauma, interpersonal violence, gender identity, and sexuality. In my speaking engagements, I focus on educating the public and other professionals about mental health.

Click here if you are looking for counseling and therapy services.

I enjoy cooking, going on long walks (mountains, not beaches), advocating for social justice issues in my community, and making deep personal connections with others. I am a secret introvert and my favorite thing is to curl up on a comfy chair with a good book. In my creative spirit, I am a writer and poet. I am not the best at understanding board game rules, but I love playing them anyway! Studio Ghibli movies are my calm place.

Feel free to poke around my blog, Body Liberation resource, resume of my work, and my socials. Contact me if you would like to discuss speaking or performing engagements.

This is not a therapy website.

I am now seeing private practice clients at Austin Family Counseling.

Musings on Mental Health

Featured
New Blog Post Up: My Teen Might Be Transgender. What Do I Do Next?
New Blog Post Up: My Teen Might Be Transgender. What Do I Do Next?

POV: You’re a parent or guardian and your kid is becoming curious about their gender or has already come out. Maybe you yourself haven’t had much exposure to queer and trans communities, but you still want to be as supportive as possible as your kiddo navigates their gender identity.

Queer Love: Learning About Intimate Partner Violence in Queer Relationships
Queer Love: Learning About Intimate Partner Violence in Queer Relationships

The Ultimatum: Queer Love has spurred a lot of conversations over the past month on queerness, love triangles, who’s still dating who, who put their hand where and when, etc. The show took a step forward in inclusion, showing the world queer relationships are real and have real problems too. Then the reunion episode dropped, and it was a dangerous moment for queer people; the lack of safety on set for the participants and the potential red flags of abuse that were present also mimics how intimate partner violence (IPV) in queer relationships is often handled in the real, untelevised world. Queer folx don’t like to talk about IPV existing in queer relationships, especially queer folx with marginalized gender identities.