In Practice With
John Sykes, MSW, LSCW, CTP (He,They)
John Sykes is a trauma-informed therapist and educator whose work centers on identity, relational healing, and navigating the emotional impact of systemic and cultural stress. His practice integrates clinical insight, somatic awareness, and a deep commitment to social justice.
A Letter from the Founder
People often ask me how I became a social worker.
The truth is, my path didn’t begin in therapy rooms or classrooms—it began in the late 1980s working in human resources. At the time, I was part of what I now often call the mental health industrial complex, navigating systems that were structured around people but often felt distant from the real human experiences those systems were meant to serve.
Everything changed in the early 1990s.
While working at Heartland Alliance, I began volunteering at one of their youth residential drop-in centers. There, I met young people who were unhoused—many of them navigating life after being pushed out of the child welfare system, family conflict, or circumstances far beyond their control. At that time, I remember thinking: How could there be something called a “homeless youth”? The idea that children could be discarded or forgotten by the very systems meant to protect them was something I simply couldn’t reconcile.
What began as a weekly volunteer commitment soon became something much deeper. More and more young people started showing up. Conversations turned into informal mentoring, community circles, and small groups where youth could speak honestly about their lives, their fears, and their hopes. Those moments changed me.
Witnessing their resilience—and their need for consistent, compassionate adults—made something very clear to me: I wanted to do more than volunteer. I wanted to become a therapist and a social worker so that I could help create spaces of healing and serve as a vehicle for change within systems that too often fail the very people they are designed to support.
That realization set me on a new path, one that has now spanned decades of work alongside young people, families, and communities navigating trauma, injustice, and healing.
According to Sykes was born from that same spirit—the belief that people deserve spaces where their stories are honored, their dignity is protected, and their healing is supported. It reflects a commitment not only to therapy, but to advocacy, relational care, and building communities where no one is treated as disposable.
The young people I met in those early days taught me something that continues to guide my work today: healing begins when someone is willing to show up, listen deeply, and believe that every life holds value and possibility.
For that, I remain grateful.