l.a. therapy for chronic illness & disability
When living in your body has required far more resilience than it should
Relational therapy for people living with chronic illness and disability.
We welcome disabled, chronically ill, undiagnosed, queer, trans, and BIPOC folks.
Your experience is real — even when it’s been questioned or dismissed.
Many people living with chronic illness or disability come to therapy after years of trying to be understood. You may have been told your symptoms were “just anxiety,” encouraged to push through pain, or left feeling like you had to prove what your body lives with every day.
Over time, this kind of dismissal doesn’t just affect your health. It can erode trust in yourself, your body, and your right to need support.
At Kindman & Co., we start from the belief that your experience is valid, even when answers are incomplete or systems have failed you.
We offer therapy for chronically ill and disabled folks in Highland Park, Los Angeles and throughout California via telehealth.
A low-pressure conversation to talk about what you’re navigating and whether working together feels right.
What living with chronic illness or disability can look like
Living with chronic illness, chronic pain, or disability often means navigating a reality that others don’t fully see.
The impact of chronic physical distress isn’t limited to physical symptoms. It also shows up in relationships, work, identity, and the constant mental and emotional labor of anticipating what your body might need next.
Many people we work with describe feeling caught between what their body is asking for and what the world expects of them. Over time, that tension can create isolation, self-doubt, and a sense of always having to explain or justify your experience — sometimes even to yourself.
How chronic illness or disability can shape daily life
Adjusting to a recent diagnosis, ongoing symptoms without clear answers, or long-term physical conditions that require constant attention
Grieving the life, energy, or ease you once had—or imagined you might have
Navigating limitations that shift day to day, or feeling overwhelmed by unpredictable symptoms
Carrying the impact of medical trauma or gaslighting after not being believed or taken seriously
Experiencing anxiety or depression that makes sense in the context of chronic illness and ongoing physical stress
Holding big feelings about what you’re living with—anger, sadness, unfairness, disappointment, or numbness
Feeling disconnected from purpose or fulfillment as your relationship to work, rest, or identity changes
Feeling alone, invisible, or unsure where to find people who truly understand
Carefully managing limited energy (counting “spoons”), constantly calculating what you can do without overdoing it
Feeling burnt out by the ongoing labor of self-advocacy and managing your health
Noticing how much harder it can be to access joy, humor, or contentment when your body requires so much care
If any of this feels familiar, you’re not imagining it — and you’re not alone in it.
You’re not as alone as it may feel
Living with chronic illness or disability can be deeply isolating, especially when the impact of your body isn’t visible or widely understood. Many people move through the world carrying significant pain, fatigue, or limitation while feeling unseen or misunderstood for the effort it takes just to get through the day.
While chronic illness and disability are far more common than many people realize, we consistently hear how lonely it can feel to live with them, and how often experiences are minimized, misunderstood, or brushed aside.
This isolation is not a personal failure; it’s a reflection of how little space our culture makes for disabled and chronically ill lives.
At Kindman & Co., we believe that increasing disability visibility matters — not to label or explain away your experience, but to remind you that what you’re living with is real, shared, and worthy of care.
You don’t have to be extraordinary or articulate your pain perfectly to be taken seriously here.
You don’t have to explain yourself here
A number of therapists on our team live with chronic illness, chronic pain, and/or disability themselves. This work is shaped by lived experience as well as clinical training and we know firsthand how demanding it can be to navigate a body that requires ongoing care, flexibility, and advocacy.
We understand how often people in our community are expected to educate providers, justify their needs, or push past their limits to be taken seriously. We also know how exhausting it can be to seek medical care, pursue diagnoses or treatment, and manage the ongoing labor of advocating for yourself in systems that weren’t built with disabled bodies in mind.
Because of this, we are intentional about offering therapy that is steady, respectful, and consistent.
We don’t minimize your experience, shift suddenly into “it’s just anxiety” explanations, or ask you to prove that what you’re living with is real.
We’re here to help you create a space where you can begin to trust your own experience again — without bracing for dismissal or withdrawal.
Here, your experience is not an exception.
It’s something we recognize, respect, and know how to hold.
Chronic illness affects relationships — not just bodies
Living with chronic illness or disability doesn’t only shape how you experience your body, it often reshapes how you relate to others and to yourself.
How It Shows Up
Medical trauma, dismissal, and chronic uncertainty can create deep ruptures in trust: in providers, in loved ones, and in your own internal sense of knowing.
Many people we work with describe feeling misunderstood or alone in their relationships after repeated experiences of not being believed. Others find themselves pulling away to protect their energy, struggling to ask for help, or feeling guilt and shame for needing care. Over time, these patterns can quietly strain even the most supportive relationships.
Our Relational Approach
Our work is rooted in a relational approach to therapy. That means we pay attention not only to what you’re experiencing internally, but to how systems, power, and repeated invalidation have shaped your relationships, boundaries, and sense of safety. Therapy becomes a place to name those ruptures, make meaning of them, and begin to rebuild trust at a pace that’s comfortable for you.
caregivers need support too
Caring for or loving someone with chronic illness or disability can bring its own grief, fear, and exhaustion. Many caregivers and family members find themselves navigating how much life has changed, worrying about the future, and struggling to recognize or prioritize their own needs while trying to stay present for someone they love.
Medical trauma doesn’t only affect the person receiving care — it often ripples outward into relationships.
Caregivers may feel overwhelmed, unsure how to help, or stretched thin by the emotional and logistical demands of supporting someone through chronic illness.
We recognize the need for caregivers and loved ones to have their own space to process these experiences. Support doesn’t mean doing more, it means having somewhere to name what this is like, without guilt or comparison.
Our team regularly works with caregivers, partners, and families navigating chronic illness or disability. Therapy can offer a place to strengthen communication, tend to relational strain, and find ways to care for yourselves and each other with more clarity and compassion.
Support is not a zero-sum resource.
Your needs matter here too.
For those who want shared support, we also offer a caregiver support group grounded in connection, validation, and mutual care.
You belong here
At Kindman & Co., we work with people whose lives don’t fit neatly into boxes.
Chronic illness and disability are not side notes in our work — they are experiences we understand, expect, and know how to hold without rushing to simplify or fix.
You don’t have to minimize your needs, organize your story perfectly, or worry about being “too complicated” here. You are not an exception to accommodate, you are part of a community we already serve.
Belonging here means having space to take up room, move at your own pace, and be met with care that reflects the complexity of your lived experience.
We also offer a Spoonies Thriving support group for chronically ill and disabled folks who want shared community alongside individual or relational therapy.
You’re allowed to need what you need
You don’t need a diagnosis to deserve support.
You don’t need to be productive to be worthy of care.
You don’t need to justify rest, limits, or accommodation.
You don’t need to prove how hard things are to be taken seriously.
Living in a body that has been questioned or dismissed can make it hard to trust your own needs. Therapy can be a place to gently unlearn that pressure and begin listening to yourself again, without shame, urgency, or expectation.
Here, care is not something you earn — it’s something you innately deserve to receive.
If you’d like to take the next step
Starting therapy doesn’t have to be a big leap. We begin with an orientation call — a low-pressure conversation where you can ask questions, share what feels relevant, and see whether working together feels like a good fit.
There’s no obligation to continue, and no expectation that you have everything figured out before reaching out.
A gentle first step to explore support,
at your pace.
If now isn’t the right time, you’re welcome to explore our individual therapy, caregiver support, or Spoonies Thriving group when it feels accessible.