Meet Josie

Individual Mental Health Care

I am a compassionate and dedicated mental health therapist specializing in working with individuals who have experienced trauma. Through telehealth therapy, I take a holistic and person-centered approach, ensuring that each client feels seen, heard, and empowered in their healing journey.

My work is deeply rooted in the integration of cultural strengths, ceremony, and the wisdom of traditional practices alongside modern clinical social work. I honor the ways in which ancestral knowledge, storytelling, and connection to land and community can serve as powerful sources of healing. By weaving these elements with humanistic and postmodern social work theories, I help clients explore their inherent worth, self-growth, and the ability to make choices that align with their authentic selves. I also challenge traditional power structures and embrace multiple perspectives, recognizing that each person’s experience is shaped by their unique cultural, social, and personal narratives. This approach is especially valuable for individuals who have felt marginalized, silenced, or disconnected from their sense of self due to trauma, societal pressures, or systemic barriers.

I am committed to providing non-discriminatory, equitable, gender-affirming, and LGBTQIA+ friendly care to all individuals, regardless of legal status. My goal is to create a safe, affirming space where clients can express themselves authentically, explore their identities, and receive support without fear of judgment or discrimination. I firmly believe that everyone deserves access to compassionate, culturally responsive mental health care.

With a warm and nonjudgmental presence, I am dedicated to walking alongside my clients as they navigate their healing journey, helping them build resilience, self-acceptance, and a sense of empowerment.

Advocacy & Consulting

I am a Deg Xinag Athabascan woman from Alaska, and my work is deeply personal to me. I believe that how we care for every member of our community is a reflection of who we are, and that all people deserve to be nourished—through good food, genuine connection, and deep respect. My advocacy is shaped by my lived experience and by the stories of those who have been silenced, overlooked, or left without the care they deserve.

My passion lies in creating and implementing holistic and decolonized practices within service organizations so that Alaska Native and Indigenous people receive care that truly honors who they are. I am especially driven to bring awareness to the prevalence of human trafficking in rural communities and the ways it intersects with the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP). My work is about collaboration—coming together with communities to understand risk factors, build regionally specific prevention programs, and empower service providers to have meaningful conversations about trafficking. I also use my own experiences to inform policies that support survivors in real, lasting ways.

For years, I have worked in advocacy, systems navigation, and direct care for youth experiencing homelessness, exploitation, and trafficking in Alaska. I have served as a mental health clinician, a subject matter expert on human trafficking prevention, and a researcher examining the data gaps in how trafficking is tracked and addressed in our state. In 2022, I founded Signify Consulting, LLC to use my voice, experience, and knowledge to support communities engaged in anti-trafficking work.

In addition to my direct service and advocacy work, I have spent many years consulting at the federal level, advising agencies such as the Department of the Interior (DOI), the Department of Transportation (DOT), and the Department of Justice (DOJ) on various anti-trafficking and MMIP initiatives. I believe that systemic change requires a multi-layered approach, and I am committed to ensuring that federal policies and programs are informed by the voices and lived experiences of those most impacted.

I have been honored to serve as a Presidentially appointed member of the United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking, where I worked to influence federal policy, and in 2023, I received the FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award for my collective stakeholder approach to human trafficking prevention and intervention.

I do this work in memory of my great aunt, Linda Miller, who was murdered in Anchorage in 1973. Her case remains unsolved. I do this work for all the girls we have loved who are still waiting for justice.