curio santamaria, phD | Postdoctoral Psychologist
Dr. Curio Santamaria is a postdoctoral clinical psychologist who provides individual and relational therapy to adolescents, adults, and people in relationship with one another. They have experience working with clients navigating identity development, complex trauma, internalized shame, neurodivergence, gender dysphoria, chronic pain, anxiety, depression, and life transitions.
Autistic and queer himself, Dr. Santamaria’s clinical focus is on working with neurodivergent and/or queer individuals with an emphasis on promoting radical self-compassion, meaning-making, and authentic connection within community. They have a particular interest in supporting clients exploring gender identity and sexuality, understanding that coming out is often not a single moment, but a continual attunement to oneself and openness to fluidity.
For people in relationships, Dr. Santamaria helps partners explore underlying relational patterns, naming unspoken dynamics to deepen insight and connection. Their approach emphasizes boundaries and consent to support people in various relationship formations including but not limited to polyamory, monogamy, ethical non-monogamy, and relationship anarchy. He has a particular interest in working with couples where one or both partners are neurodivergent, with attention to how differences in sensory needs, communication styles, regulation strategies, and pressures to mask may impact relational dynamics.
Dr. Santamaria understands therapy as a space to both learn and unlearn, clarify values and purpose outside of external pressures, and ultimately to come home to oneself. Central to this process is building self-knowledge that equips clients to advocate for themselves and show up with greater depth in relationship with others. He pays close attention to how experiences of power, oppression, and historical and cultural trauma shape a person’s inner life, drawing on psychodynamic, attachment, existential, and liberation psychology frameworks alongside ACT, CBT, DBT, and neuro-affirming approaches.
Dr. Santamaria emphasizes the therapeutic relationship as the foundation from which meaningful exploration and change become possible. They bring warmth, humor, and authenticity to session and work to create a space that is nonjudgmental, attuned, and genuinely affirming. He is also trained in behavioral approaches to migraine and chronic pain management, and they implement this expertise when clinically relevant on the client’s own terms.
Dr. Santamaria earned their PhD in clinical psychology (health emphasis) from Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University, and completed his predoctoral internship at Child Guidance Center of Southern Connecticut within the Gender Diversity and Resilience elective track. He also holds a BA from Columbia University, where he double majored in Psychology and Creative Writing (Nonfiction).
Pronouns: they/he ~ LIMITED PERMIT PENDING and expecting to start meeting with clients by November 2026
Supervised by Dr. Melissa Johnson