Therapy for People of Color in Wilmington, NC - Care That Sees Your Whole Experience
Culturally responsive therapy for BIPOC clients across the Cape Fear coast - racial trauma, identity and belonging, family expectations, code-switching, anxiety, and depression. You won't have to explain the basics.
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Free 15-min consultation - no commitment needed.
Therapy That Doesn't Ask You to Leave Half of It Outside
A lot of therapy asks People of Color to do extra work: explaining the family dynamic, justifying why a comment at work actually mattered, or quietly deciding to skip the racial part entirely because it's easier than being doubted. In a smaller coastal community, where you may be one of few, that gets heavier.
Therapy at Fresh Breath Therapy is culturally responsive: your race, culture, family expectations, and faith are treated as part of your whole experience rather than background noise. You shouldn't have to spend paid sessions explaining why something landed the way it did.
We'll also be straightforward with you. Cultural humility means we ask rather than assume, and if something we say misses the mark we'd rather you tell us than manage us. If seeing a therapist who shares your background matters to you, say so at your consultation and we'll be honest about who's available.
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What We Support BIPOC Clients With in Wilmington
Sometimes the work is about race and identity directly. Sometimes it's anxiety or grief, and you simply want a therapist who won't make identity the awkward part.
Racial Trauma & Race-Based Stress
The cumulative weight of discrimination, bias, and vigilance - which shows up in the body and mood, not just in memory.
Microaggressions
Everyday slights that are hard to name and exhausting to carry, plus the second-guessing that follows every one of them.
Identity & Belonging
Bicultural identity, assimilation pressure, and never feeling fully at home in either space.
Intergenerational Patterns
How family history, migration, and inherited survival strategies shape what you feel allowed to want or say.
Family & Cultural Expectations
Duty, respect, and honour weighed against your own needs and boundaries - without treating your family as the enemy.
Code-Switching & Workplace Bias
The mental load of being "the only one," imposter feelings that aren't irrational, and deciding how much of yourself to bring to work.
Anxiety & Depression
Treated in the context of systemic stress, not in spite of it - because the environment is part of the clinical picture.
Self-Worth & Healing
Reconnecting with your identity, your culture, and your worth outside of what systems have told you about you.
Being One of Few
UNCW students, healthcare and hospitality workers, and residents in predominantly white spaces - and the specific isolation that comes with it.
Evidence-Based, Culturally Grounded Approaches
Culturally responsive care isn't a separate set of techniques - it's proven approaches applied by someone who treats your context as part of the clinical picture.
Culturally Responsive Care
Race, culture, and family context aren't set aside to get to the "real" issue - they're part of understanding your whole experience, and they shape the work.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Work on the thought patterns feeding anxiety and self-doubt - while distinguishing what's a distortion from what's an accurate read on a biased environment.
Narrative Therapy
Separate your story from the one systems and stereotypes wrote for you, and reclaim authorship of how you understand yourself.
Trauma-Informed Care
Safety, choice, and pacing in every session - including for race-based stress and trauma that accumulates rather than arriving as one event.
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
Spend your limited energy on what actually matters to you rather than on managing everyone else's comfort or expectations.
Strengths-Based Practice
We start from your resilience, your community, and the cultural wisdom you already carry - not from a deficit model.
Your First Session: What to Expect
Why BIPOC Clients Choose Fresh Breath Therapy
Cultural Humility, Not Assumptions
Your therapist asks rather than guesses, and treats your read on a situation as data - not as something to correct.
Race Isn't Set Aside
We don't treat identity as a detour from the "real" work. It's part of understanding what's happening to you.
Trauma & Recovery Support
Cay Fulop, LCSW, LCAS covers trauma and substance use together - useful when coping strategies have become their own problem.
Teens, Students & Adults
Our Wilmington clinicians work across ages, including UNCW students and teens navigating identity in mostly white schools.
Insurance & Self-Pay
We accept major insurance plans including BCBS, Aetna, Cigna, and United Health. Call us to verify your specific benefits before your first appointment.
Telehealth Statewide
Privacy matters, especially in a tight-knit community. Connect from anywhere in North Carolina via secure video.
Serving Wilmington, Leland, Hampstead & the Cape Fear Coast
Our Wilmington therapy office is located at 140 Cinema Drive, Unit E - easily accessible from across Wilmington and nearby communities including Leland, Hampstead, Carolina Beach, and Brunswick and Pender Counties. Telehealth available statewide.
In Wilmington you'll work with Lisa McCormick, LCMHC, who works with kids, teens, and adults on worry, fear, and trauma using CBT and mindfulness; Shelby Paske, LCMHCA, supporting anxiety, depression, and neurodiversity; Kailyn Mattingly, LCSWA; Catherine (Cay) Fulop, LCSW, LCAS; and Jenna McGinnis, LCSWA, a trauma-informed therapist offering a safe, non-judgmental space for children, teens, families, and young adults.
Each therapist is licensed, supervised, and committed to ethical, compassionate care. Sessions are available Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 7 PM.
Book Your Appointment →Meet the Wilmington Team
Meet the clinicians at our Wilmington office. Tell us your preferences at your consultation - including on background and approach - and we'll be honest about the best available fit.
Lisa McCormick
Client-centered counselor helping kids, teens, and adults navigate worry, fear, trauma, and life challenges with CBT, mindfulness, and coping strategies.
Shelby Paske
Compassionate counselor creating a supportive space for adolescents and adults navigating anxiety, depression, neurodiversity, life transitions, and interpersonal challenges.
Jenna McGinnis
Creates a safe, non-judgmental space for children, teens, families, and young adults navigating trauma, anxiety, depression, and self-esteem concerns.
Kailyn Mattingly
Compassionate therapist creating warm, welcoming environments for anxiety, depression, and personal growth.
Catherine (Cay) Fulop
Experienced addiction specialist providing comprehensive support for substance use, co-occurring disorders, trauma, and recovery.
Serving These Needs Across Wilmington & the Cape Fear Region
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a therapist of my own race or background?+
Not necessarily - though for some clients it matters a lot, and that's completely valid. What matters most is a therapist with genuine cultural humility who doesn't make you the teacher. Tell us your preference at your consultation and we'll be honest about who's available rather than talk you out of it.
Will I have to explain racism to my therapist?+
No. Race-based stress is treated as real and clinically relevant here, not as a perception to be corrected. Your therapist may ask about your specific experience - because your context is yours - but you shouldn't be doing unpaid education on your own therapy time. If something we say misses, name it; we'd rather adjust.
Is this only for certain communities?+
We welcome all People of Color - Black, Indigenous, Latino/a/x, Asian, South Asian, Middle Eastern, multiracial, and anyone else who identifies as POC. And plenty of clients come for anxiety or grief and simply want a therapist who won't make identity the awkward part.
What if therapy itself is frowned on in my family?+
That's common, and it's worth talking about rather than ignoring. Plenty of clients come without telling family, and we handle appointment reminders and scheduling accordingly. Your therapist can also help you think through what, if anything, you want to share and when.
Is everything I share confidential?+
Yes. Protected by HIPAA and NC law, with the same narrow legal exceptions as all therapy. Nothing is shared with family or employers without your written consent - and if you use insurance, the insurer may receive a diagnosis code for billing, never session content.
Do you serve Leland, Brunswick County, and Hampstead?+
Yes. Our Wilmington office on Cinema Drive serves clients from throughout the Cape Fear region, including Leland, Brunswick County, Hampstead, Carolina Beach, and Pender County. Telehealth is also available anywhere in North Carolina.
You Deserve a Therapist Who Gets It
You already do enough explaining. Therapy should be the one place you don't have to. Start with a free 15-minute consultation, no commitment required.