Hi, I’m Makira Holder, a Licensed Professional Counselor in Washington, DC and Virginia and a National Certified Counselor. I provide culturally responsive telehealth therapy for children and/or adults navigating anxiety, burnout, identity transitions, and the pressure to hold it all together.

I created The MH Word Therapy Without the Taboo because in many minority communities, mental health has been treated as something unspoken, something to push through quietly. I believe healing begins when we name what we have been carrying.

My professional background spans both clinical practice and school based mental health leadership. I have extensive experience designing social emotional learning initiatives, supporting families, collaborating with educators, and helping individuals build practical coping tools that translate into real life. This systems based perspective allows me to look beyond symptoms and explore identity, family patterns, cultural expectations, and long standing narratives that shape how you see yourself.

My therapeutic approach is structured, collaborative, and direct while still grounded in empathy. I integrate evidence based practices with emotional insight, helping clients strengthen boundaries, regulate anxiety, process difficult experiences, and move toward clarity and alignment.

Many of the clients I work with are high achieving professionals or first generation adults who feel competent on the outside but overwhelmed internally. If you are used to being the strong one, the dependable one, or the person who figures everything out, therapy here is a space where you do not have to perform.

You deserve support that honors both your ambition and your humanity.

At The MH Word, we say the hard things out loud without shame.