Hi, I’m Anole Halper

I am a genderqueer poet, facilitator, and social worker. Deeply committed to social justice values, I enjoy the complexity of disentangling arbitrary social norms from authentic well-being, and am committed to working alongside you through that process. At the same time, I recognize the insufficiency of an individual intervention like therapy to bring about collective liberation. I seek to hold this dissonance by sitting with clients through the pain of injustice and naming it plainly, enacting ritual in session, discussing activism, and shifting the power dynamics in the room. I am also open to many possibilities other than talk therapy, and I enjoy the process of supporting my clients in figuring out these options. In my sessions, we go on nature walks to connect with the land, make big diagrams to make sense of big things, and read poetry to explore our values. Anything can be a tool to get well and I enjoy the messy process of working with my clients to find theirs because I see that as part of liberation.

Creativity and radical acceptance are equally central to my approach to the work. As such, I work with artists, activists, queer folks, neurodivergent people, those with mood disorders and instability, folks seeking identity and meaning, folks with trauma including complex trauma, and people with personality disorders and relationship challenges. I work with people ages 16 and up. 

I am certified in ecotherapy and DBT and incorporate those modalities into my work. I am also currently pursuing an Expressive Arts Therapy certification and facilitating expressive arts sessions at Wolf and Willow. Expressive Arts Therapy is unique in that it interweaves many modalities of creative expression, such as movement, visual art, writing, music, and drama– reclaiming our innate right to creativity. I believe deeply in the possibilities embedded within crisis for healing, connection, and transformation, and see the arts as a tool of this transformation. 

My background:

I grew up hanging out with reptiles in the strange land of Florida. While completing a bachelor’s degree in sociology, I co-founded a community land trust and urban farm there. I came to the Triangle for their graduate work and received a dual master’s degree in Social Work and Public Health from UNC Chapel Hill in 2016.

Since then, I’ve focused much of my career on violence prevention and response. I’ve run a support group program at a rape crisis center, promoted LGBTQ-inclusive trauma-informed care as a trainer and consultant, done communications for a national transgender antiviolence organization, and provided therapy to youth and families struggling with violence as an Intensive In-Home Therapist.

I live in a converted log cabin in rural Orange County with errant insects. I enjoy walking in nature, talking with friends for hours, writing poetry, cooking with my partner, swimming in the summertime, and listening to nerdy educational podcasts all year round.