Tired of therapy and healing spaces that weren’t built for you?
So were we.
We know what it feels like to walk into a room and wonder if you’ll truly be understood. We know what it’s like to be met with blank stares when you share your truth. That won’t happen here.
Let’s name it: Most mainstream therapy approaches were developed by straight, white men–and it shows. Traditional therapy in the U.S. often centers on individuals, makes assumptions about what “normal relationships” look like, and treats gender as fixed and binary.
If you’ve ever felt like therapy and wellness services weren’t designed with you in mind, you weren’t wrong. But that doesn’t mean healing isn’t for you. It just means you needed a different space. A space that fully sees you.
This is that space.
This is your space.
We’re so glad you’re here.
Welcome to Open Space.
Welcome Home.
Welcome to Open Space. Welcome Home.
What We Stand For
Open Space Counseling, Consulting & Wellness wasn’t created just to fill a gap—it was built to change the landscape of mental health care for those who have long been overlooked. Founded in 2018, Open Space was born from a deep recognition that traditional therapy wasn’t designed for everyone—and that needed to change. The need was greater than what existed. The system wasn’t working. And we were determined to build something better.
What Led Us Here
From a tiny practice to a thriving team of 30+ mental health clinicians and support staff, Open Space grew into the largest provider of LGBTQIA+ affirming therapy in the greater Pittsburgh area. We expanded to two physical locations and provided virtual therapy across the entire state of Pennsylvania. We developed a graduate-level internship program to train the next generation of affirming therapists. We built a robust leadership team that worked tirelessly to help support our mission. We extended our impact beyond therapy—offering consulting and training to therapists, schools, agencies, and businesses that want to do better.
You could say it’s a collapse. We call it a rebirth.
Open Space has never followed the traditional path. From the beginning, we built something bold—an affirming, equity-driven practice that redefined what LGBTQIA+ mental health care could look like in Pittsburgh.
We became known for serving the people other practices didn’t know how to hold. We built trust with clients who had been deeply failed by the system. And we grew fast—because there was such a deep need for what we offered.
But the truth behind the scenes was more complicated.
While the practice rapidly expanded, I (Sam, founder of Open Space) was quietly navigating private trauma, public scrutiny, and the emotional weight of holding it all together. A lawsuit. Grief. Guilt. A nervous system in overdrive. For years, I kept leading—but from survival. And deep, deep shame.
And now?
Every person on our team has chosen to leave, and we are in transition.
That’s the truth. One that could feel like the end.
But it’s not.
Because for the first time in seven years, I’m leading with clarity—not chaos.
We’re still here—boldly. On purpose. And we’re rebuilding Open Space from the ground up.
So where are we now?
Right now, Open Space is in transition.
We’re in the quiet, but exciting space between eras. And while that might scare some people, we see it differently.
We see it as an invitation—to build something even stronger, more sustainable, and more aligned than ever before.
We aren’t starting from scratch. We’re rebuilding on the legacy of what made Open Space special from day one:
Our deep roots in Pennsylvania’s LGBTQIA+, neurodiverse, and marginalized communities.
Our unwavering commitment to inclusion, equity, and truth-telling.
And our belief that mental health care should be a place of radical authenticity—not assimilation.
We’re not interested in quick fixes or performative rebuilding. We’re doing this intentionally—with honesty, transparency, and a commitment to doing it right.
Growth isn’t just about numbers. It’s about changing what’s possible. It’s about making sure people who have spent years feeling unseen in therapy and wellness spaces—both the clients and the providers themselves—never feel that way again. It’s about creating an environment where clients and providers are valued, supported, and treated like humans first. It’s about disrupting harmful norms and refusing to settle for surface-level inclusion.
Therapy and wellness spaces should challenge harmful systems—not reinforce them.
We provide care that disrupts outdated mental health and wellness norms and puts you first.
About Our Team
We are more than just a group of providers—we are disruptors, advocates, and changemakers in the mental health and wellness space. We don’t just talk about inclusivity and authenticity—we live it. Every provider in this space, along with our founder and support team, are here because they believe in something bigger: care that truly affirms, spaces that genuinely support, and healing that doesn’t ask anyone to change who they are.
At Open Space, we believe this work is sacred—and that the people doing it deserve care, too.
Our mission is to inspire unapologetic authenticity, dismantle barriers to affirming wellness services and entrepreneurship, and create lasting impact for our clients, our providers, and our communities.
This isn’t just a job. It’s a community. It’s a shared vision for what mental health and wellness care can look like when we center liberation, equity, and collective well-being.
We created Open Space because we were done with systems where burnout was normalized, authenticity had a ceiling, and providers were praised for self-sacrifice and running on empty. Instead, we’ve built a space grounded in equity, flexibility, transparency, and next-level business support. We’re not here to replicate the structures that wear people down. We’re here to disrupt them.
If you’ve been looking for a space to take your career to the next level, where you don’t have to compartmentalize your values, your identities, or your needs — you may have just found it.
