I offer writing, peer support, & spiritual consulting for people—especially queer, disabled, and chronically ill folks—trying to build a life inside systems that weren’t built for us. Through language, listening, & presence, I create space for reflection, connection, and collective transformation.

I offer writing, peer support, & spiritual consulting for people—especially queer, disabled, and chronically ill folks—trying to build a life inside systems that weren’t built for us. Through language, listening, & presence, I create space for reflection, connection, and collective transformation.

  • Through writing, peer support, workshops, and care, I offer space for others to feel things, get curious, and make meaning.

    I grew up in waiting rooms on as a settler on Native Hawaiian land, raised by Filipino immigrant parents. By 16, I was diagnosed with my first chronic condition (PCOS) followed by Type 2 diabetes at 20, and I now navigate chronic pain and other reproductive issues. Finally, after half my life dealing with chronic reproductive health issues, I got diagnosed with adenomyosis and had a hysterectomy.

    I’ve spent decades learning how to advocate for myself and I want to help you do the same (with less suffering and way more support!)

What I Do:

After years of working in academia, healthcare, and clinical research, I shifted toward work that serves others: patient advocacy, death work, writing, education, peer support, etc. I offer workshops and consultations centered on access, consent and care. I speak and write about my intersectional identities to bring further representation to the mainstream

What I Believe:

You don’t need to be fixed to be worthy of love or care. Your body isn’t broken—the systems we live in are. Fat liberation, disability justice, and health at every size are frameworks that inform everything I do. See Ethos below for further details.

When I’m Not Working:

I live in Brooklyn with my spouse and our two dogs, Mayo and Kaia. I love to dance, sing, dote on my chosen family and evangelize the gospel of Shrek to those who will listen. If you’ve found your way here, welcome.

My ethos:

Above all things, I lead with love.

As someone who belongs to intersectional marginalized communities, I want to build safer, more equitable futures for us. I hold abolitionist, anti-racist, anti-fascist, anti-oppressive, anti-capitalist, and anti-colonial values. I believe in collective liberation through radical means. We do not exist in isolation, and my work focuses on facilitating care for all of us because we are not free until we are all free. Black lives matter. Imperialists built our systems to oppress those of us who are not cisgender, heteronormative white men. I approach both my creative and community work as acts of disruption and devotion. Whether I’m writing, facilitating, offering peer support, or practicing spiritual care, I root into what is relational and reparative. I am committed to dismantling the systems that dehumanize us—white supremacy, ableism, imperialism, fatphobia—and to building alternatives where healing and joy can take root.

As a student social worker and longtime death worker, I hold space for grief, uncertainty, and becoming. I practice trauma-informed care that centers transparency, accountability, and slowness. I believe that honesty and integrity are essential not just in theory, but in practice. To truly live a good life, people must lead with integrity, honesty and empathy. I also think people must be communicative and transparent, and I lead my life and business with these values.

If you are looking for a CV or a resume, please e-mail me. I will send it to you upon request.

  • Christa Lei (they/them) is a writer based in New York. They are an editor at Blood Tree Literature and are Anodyne's Community Curator. Christa is a regular Matador Network contributor and their work has appeared in The Seventh Wave's On Separation anthology, Door = Jar, New Words Press, HerStry and Vast Chasm, amongst others. Their work has been supported by Kenyon Review Workshops, McCormack Writers' Center (fka Tin House), Studio Luce Guatemala, and DISQUIET, amongst others. When not writing, they are traveling and wrangling their two dogs. Find out more at christalei.me

  • Christa Lei (they/them) is a queer, disabled, non-binary Filipine-American writer, speaker, consultant and perpetual grad student. Their work bridges literary practice, care labor, and community engagement, centering the lived realities of chronically ill and marginalized individuals navigating systems not built for them. Drawing from personal experience in clinical research, death work, and peer support, Christa approaches storytelling as both a site of resistance and a tool for relational healing.

    They are insane and currently working on three different projects. A memoir following their journey through relational trauma via a chronically online and pop culture infused lens; in addition to a short story collection reframing Greek mythology into the confines of the modern world. They also have a secret third project in progress. Christa is a Creative Non-Fiction editor at Blood Tree Literature and the Community Curator at Anodyne Magazine. Their work has been supported by Tin House, DISQUIET and Southampton Writers Conference, amongst others. Christa also facilitates workshops and speaks on topics including disability justice in relationships, community-based models of care, and the intersections of trauma, grief, and identity in QTBIPOC communities. Their facilitation style is trauma-informed, accessible, and grounded in harm reduction, transformative justice, and embodied practice.

    Christa’s work is shaped by fat liberation, health at every size, and a commitment to unlearning medical and societal narratives that pathologize differences. They strive to create spaces where vulnerability is met with care, and survival is honored without being romanticized.

    Based in Brooklyn with their spouse and two dogs, they bring a lived ethic of slowness, tenderness, and mutual care into every aspect of their practice. You can learn more at christalei.me, read their work at isthiswhatyouwant.org, or connect on Instagram @supchrista.

  • I am lucky enough to count numerous professionals as influences, mentors and teachers.

    My former mentor Amaya Rourke’s work has been invaluable and shapes mine. I continue to take classes and workshops to hone my skills.

    I can provide a full resume or CV upon request.

    Here is a sampling of select classes and certifications:

    • Kenyon Review Workshops (2026): Fiction

    • McCormack Writers’ Center Workshop (fka Tin House) (2026): Fiction- Short Story

    • Tin House Workshop (2025): Speculative Fiction- Short Story

    • Death Doula certification from Going with Grace (2023)

    • DISQUIET International Literary Program (2025): Nonfiction & Memoir

    • Southampton Writer’s Conference (2025): Memoir

    • Certified Patient Leader from HealthUnion

    • Level I & II, Holy Fire Reiki certification from Inner Sense Healing Arts/Kelsey Rose Tortorice

    • Psychological First Aid Certification

    • G.R.O.W Cohort for TransTech Social

    I belong to several professional organisations in various fields: Psychology, High Intelligence/IQ, Healthcare and Writing. These include Intertel, AWP, Poets & Writers, IWGG, SCRA- APA Division 23, and NATJA. I also belong to TransTech Social and Fat Rose.

    My understanding of disability, healing and transformative justice comes from the teachings of Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Stacey Park Milbern, SINS Invalid, Esmé Weijun Wang, Chloé Cooper Jones, Patricia Berne, Audre Lorde, Octavia Butler, Eli Clare, Mia Mingus, Alice Wong, Mariame Kaba, and Alexis Pauline Gumbs, amongst others. Honouring this lineage is important to me and the work that I do.

Kind words

  • Image of two blue rabbits facing each other with front paws touching, sketch-style

    "I felt at ease with Christa immediately and appreciated her own openness, which made me feel seen and transformed the experience into more than just a reading"

    —Anagtha

  • Blue illustration of two overlapping jaguars, one walking and the other running, on a black background.

    "It was truly wonderful. Christa was warm and engaging. Sometimes I feel a little more reserved on Zoom, but Christa managed to make me feel very much at ease and encouraged lots of questions."

    —Katie

  • Purple line drawing of a winged animal, a hybrid between a deer and a bird, on a black background.

    “Christa was very friendly and warm from the start. She was very detailed throughout the reading and when something came up that I had no prior knowledge of, she explained it well and in a very expressive way.”

    —Grace

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