CLAUDIA NARVÁEZ-MEZA, MFA, LCSW (CA #83703, NY #079780) is an EMDR certified, bilingual Spanish speaking Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has over 15 years of experience working with individuals of all ages, couples and families.

Claudia was trained at the The William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis & Psychology and the Ackerman Institute for the Family. She takes a multi-disciplinary approach to treatment and is informed by Family Systems, Attachment Theory, CBT, Narrative, Psychodynamic, Spiritually Informed, Buddhist Informed and Mindfulness-Based practices. Claudia believes her purpose as a therapist is to listen with intuition, insight, and curiosity. She collaborates with the client in curating a space that nurtures self-resiliency, strength, and embraces complexity with renewed care and compassion.

Born in Nicaragua, raised in New York City, and LGBTQ+ affirming, Claudia has a unique understanding of the struggles of various populations. Much of her early work was in community mental health and social justice. Claudia provided counseling services and interventions to victims of family violence, before serving as a trauma clinician for children in foster care. She has worked with the Ackerman Institute’s Gender & Family Project as a bilingual family therapist and group facilitator for families of trans and gender non-conforming children and adolescents. Claudia also completed The New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care – Foundations Program, where she trained in Buddhist-informed spiritual care and counsel for sick and dying patients and their families. Claudia is a faculty member at the Ackerman Institute, committed to giving back to the social work profession, and to upholding the promise and vital contributions of therapists of color.

A published writer and poet, Claudia received her MFA from Brooklyn College and her MSW from New York University.

Claudia Narváez-Meza, MFA, LCSW