Dr. Aeriel Grace Halstead

PhD, Psychological Assistant

I believe clinical psychology is a vehicle to help you answer meaningful questions, find increased alignment with the life you value, and connect to community. As a postdoctoral fellow, I provide psychological services to adolescents 16+ and adults including counseling (individual, group, and couples therapy) and comprehensive psychological assessment. As a generalist, I work with a wide range of mental health concerns, but I have special clinical interest in the following areas:

Interpersonal Violence (Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Identity-Based Trauma)
Trauma
Religious Trauma
LGBTQ+ Affirming Care
Identity Development & Exploration
Relationship Concerns
Couples Therapy

Therapeutic Approach

My therapeutic style is an evidence-based, assimilative integrative approach that combines Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with Feminist Multicultural Counseling: big words that explain simple concepts. Therapy is a co-created space that combines your expertise from lived experience with my knowledge about psychology to help you move closer to a life that aligns with what you value. This generally requires you to open up to your experiences (e.g., feelings, sensations, thoughts), be present with life as it happens around you, and find strategies to do what matters to you, even when things are difficult. Opening up, being present and doing what matters, requires us to understand you, the world around you, and how it may impact you in that process.

What do you value?
What messages have you received from your family, friends, faith-communities, and the broader culture?
Do you agree with those messages or do they interfere with your ability to live by your values?
What strengths do you have?
What strengths does your community have?
How does existing in a world that includes violence, discrimination, and prejudice influence you?
What do you need to heal?

Our experiences and identities deeply impact our lives, most obviously when we experience marginalization and oppression based on who we are. Therapy is a space to better understand how to navigate the systems that affect you based on your existing strengths. This also requires that therapy is a safe environment, focused on giving you space to explore and heal without judgment.

Education and Experience

I began to pursue a career in psychology as pre-med undergraduate student who realized that we had learned to extend the length of human life without improving the quality.

I earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in Psychology and Communication studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). I worked for four years helping nonprofit organizations find ways to communicate about the good they did in the world. One of my clients was the Rape Crisis Center (RCC). After volunteering to be a victim advocate for the RCC, responding to the hospital when survivors had sexual assault exams completed, I became aware of the need for more research, clinical providers, and advocacy at various levels (e.g., public policy) to address the impacts of interpersonal violence. This led me back to graduate school where I received a PhD in Clinical Psychology from Brigham Young University. As a queer woman of color, I feel passionately about ensuring that my professional life serves to increase access and healing for historically oppressed groups. My research in graduate school focused on the efficacy of primary prevention programs to reduce intimate partner violence for adolescents and young adults, with a particular lens to increasing access through novel methods of disseminating information (e.g., apps, booklets, and recordings). I completed my graduate school career through an internship at UNLV's Counseling and Psychological Services, serving the most diverse student body in the United States.

I have had the privilege of serving clients in a variety of settings including a domestic violence shelter, the Utah State Prison, BYU's Counseling Center, Salt Lake City VA, and community mental health clinics.

For more information on Dr. Jakob Mauer's research, click here.

Personal Interests

My name, Aeriel (she/her), is a combination of my Korean and American heritage: named after the Little Mermaid, but spelled phonetically Korean. I am a biracial, bisexual, cisgender woman who grew up on the eastside of Las Vegas as the second oldest of five children. I consider myself a Broadway gay and enjoy my season tickets to the Smith Center, salsa dancing, and savoring any good meal I don't have to cook. I believe that enjoyment is a radical act of resistance and do whatever I can to reduce suffering for myself and others through the pursuit of pleasure. Part of that is the joyful participation in advocacy and social justice.