Therapist Directory

You feel the pressure to be perfect all the time…with relationships, your job, your appearance. Maybe you’re tired of second-guessing yourself, tearing yourself down every time you mess up, and worrying about what others think of you. At this point, maybe it’s hard to even remember a time you didn’t feel like this. But one thing is certain: you’re ready for some relief. You’re ready to feel more empowered in your life. You’re ready to feel connected and supported in your relationships. Most of all, you’re ready to quiet your inner critic so that you can live the joyful life you deserve. I can help you get there.

Each of us have complicated ways of protecting ourselves from being vulnerable, and those self-protective tendencies are often outside of our awareness. I will help bring these habits into your awareness and teach you to remain kind and open-hearted toward yourself and your loved ones, even in the face of painful emotions. Becoming aware of your habits of disconnection and choosing to do things another way is an unfolding process. I am here to walk with you on that journey with compassion, presence, and perspective.

Currently only accepting couples and families.* Ready to break free of frustrating and confusing patterns in your relationships? What would a life filled with meaning, fulfillment and joy look like for you? I understand that our relationships can be both some of the most valuable and most challenging aspects of our lives. I welcome all formations of relationships including romantic relationships (monogamous, open, polyamorous) and familial relationships (siblings, parent/child, etc.). My aim is to help identify and shift dynamics which are causing stress in relationships as well as recognize the strengths and connections which sustain them.

I enjoy working mindfully and somatically to explore communication and relationship patterns, slowing down at points of tension or avoidance, and expanding and celebrating moments of connection and understanding. This can include deepening understanding of the ways we are explicitly communicating as well as bringing awareness to some of the more implicit or unconscious messages we are sending and receiving.

Our relationships with ourselves can be complicated. Together, let’s better understand how your life circumstances have gotten you to where you are today. What is working for you? What is not working for you? How is your relationship with yourself affecting your relationships with others?

The beauty of therapy is that, despite your familiarity or lack of familiarity with psychology, your entry point is exactly where you need to be. Doing deep personal work is accessible to everyone, as long as you are willing to do it. My role as a therapist is to help you find that access point, no matter how new or unfamiliar this process of self-discovery might be for you.

You might have moved back home to live with your family and are navigating that transition. Or maybe you are adapting to living on your own. Are you a student, struggling to get accustomed to hybrid learning? Perhaps you are non-partnered and are dealing with social isolation. Let's talk about whatever is coming up for you right now.

I identify as a biracial, bicultural woman of color, born and raised in the Bay Area, and a daughter of immigrants. I encourage the exploration of past experiences and cultural and family stories in order to better love ourselves.

Therapy is a place where you can uncover any barriers that may be limiting your relationship with others and, most importantly, with yourself, in order to find your voice. When we can access and understand our inner thoughts and emotions, we become empowered to make better choices, love fully, and live lighter.

I am keen on working with clients with trauma and helping them to uncover how our bodies and minds store traumatic experiences. Exploring the influence of our past experiences and cultural and family stories on how we love and see ourselves and love and see others is a vital part of my work.

I am a compassionate, direct, and bilingual therapist who will provide you a nonjudgmental space to discover what you need and what does not serve you. My practice is influenced by psychodynamic and strength-based perspectives. I am particularly skilled in working with people who are experiencing anxiety, depression, or tackling social justice issues and who are ultimately seeking the tools for self-empowerment. I am open and excited to work with a wide range of people. I specialize in children, teens, young adults, adults, and Black, Indigenous, women of color.

I am currently accepting new clients and I offer direct, confidential, easy online booking. Please visit my website, jeffreylawton.com for more information. I also welcome calls and texts to (415) 650-9900. I look forward to connecting with you.

Are you feeling worried all the time or suffering from pandemic-related stress? Are you someone that has learned to hide your depression or anxiety from everyone around you? Through our sessions, I will support you and help you feel better.

I offer inclusive psychotherapy to the San Francisco Bay Area and throughout California. Using clinically proven treatment methods, I work holistically to get your life back on track. I specialize in working with highly sensitive teens, adults, seniors and couples with anxiety issues and disorders, depression, and relationship/marriage issues. After a complete diagnostic assessment, I am able to combine treatments to address other mental health concerns such as complex trauma, re-parenting, grief, addiction, PTSD, confidence, work/life balance, abuse, and sexual issues.

“You’re the only other person I’ve ever felt safe telling this to”

“I feel so comfortable with you”

I always feel a deep sense of pride when I get this kind of feedback from my clients.

In therapy with me, you are welcome just as you are! I invite you to show up as a real person with all your quirks, inner contradictions, and intersecting identities. I value providing a space where you feel comfortable to openly share your feelings, thoughts, desires, dreams, fears, etc. Especially the stuff that is “sticky” “bad” “wrong” or vulnerable. These are all the different parts that make you human. As your therapist, I can meet you there because I’m a real person too.

Therapy gives you an experience of healing in the context of a strong, safe, and nurturing relationship. The therapeutic relationship is a special kind of relationship, one that promotes growth, self-development, coregulation, maturation, creative exploration, all while processing and integrating past experiences.

Does it feel like nothing is ever good enough and neither are you? You don’t have to feel this way—therapy helps. We will work together so you can learn to calm yourself down, build confidence, feel more hopeful, communicate more effectively, build and have better relationships, feel comfortable in your own skin, feel whole, and much more!

My areas of focus include relationship issues; perfectionism; compulsive behaviors (overeating, drinking, dieting, work, sex...); trauma (e.g. rape, abuse, car accidents...); couples (interracial and interfaith); and cross-cultural issues. I have a warm and direct style and whether you’re seeing me as an individual or as a couple, you will come away from our work with more choice and freedom in your life.

Passion for my work combines my interests in the body/mind connection, love of diverse cultures, and fascination with human nature. I love what I do and truly respect my clients' willingness to bring their inner world to the forefront. Let's talk so you can begin the journey to feel better.

I believe that you are the foremost expert on your own experiences, and I know how difficult it can be to find a therapist who feels like the right fit. While my professional interests are LGBTQ+ identities, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and college transitions, I welcome all teens and adults with a warm, playful, and encouraging style. My approach is integrative, strength-based, and client-centered. Together, we’ll discuss your unique past experiences, and discover how they influence you in the present and can lead to new choices and new outcomes in the future. I hope to help you create meaningful changes, stronger relationships, and a greater sense of self by focusing on your strengths and using a blend of different therapeutic styles that best match your individual personality and needs.

In our work together, your whole self is welcome. This may include feelings and experiences that are hard to talk about. I offer warmth, curiosity, and sensitive listening as we approach your hardships. I work with clients who may have experienced challenging familial relationships, and have complex feelings about "home.” I specialize in trauma work and issues of cultural complexity for individuals, couples, and families. Our work together can facilitate transformation and create new possibilities. It would be an honor to support you.

Is the state of the world making you question your purpose and direction in life? Therapy can help bring more clarity. Video sessions available at this time.

Do you have a hard time speaking up and expressing yourself? Do you have such empathy for others and the world that it can get in your way of knowing what you truly want and need?

When you anticipate a conflict or someone who may have a differing opinion than you, you tend to keep quiet to maintain the peace. Although you embrace this kind and gentle part of you that is what others see, you know there is more to you than these parts. You are capable, accountable, and have achieved a lot. There is more fire in you that wants to come out in the world and make things happen.

I can help you access the other parts of you that the world doesn’t get to see, the parts that you don’t acknowledge in you but can see and admire in others, and the parts that once they are allowed to come out can help you navigate life with less doubt, more ease and clarity.

It can be easy to lose sight of ourselves. As we move through life, we pick up patterns of relating to ourselves, to our environment, and to the present moment. Maybe we go numb, act out, or betray ourselves to please another. These patterns have likely helped us in the past, and yet now they might hold us back or even bring us more pain than relief. The things we once enjoyed may feel empty and our loved ones like strangers.

Whether passing through a difficult time, living with the repercussions of a tumultuous past, or a combination of both, we can find ways to build our own stable footing. With safety, compassion, and curiosity we can review and rework those patterns. We can unearth and tend to our authentic self and, choosing each moment, find our joy and our ease.

In response to California's Shelter in Place, I'm now offering Telehealth/Online Therapy services by video or phone for short-term or long term work.

You’re not broken, though at times in life we can feel that way. Reaching out for support can be difficult, but it is the first step to feeling like life is working again. I help individuals and couples facilitate their process of living a fuller, deeper, more authentic, and balanced life through mindfulness-based and somatic psychotherapy. It’s an honor to sit with my clients and be a part of their journey.

I'm here to help you understand and accept yourself, make sense of difficult experiences, and find more of what makes you truly happy. This might mean working through unprocessed trauma that is holding you back or examining your patterns in relationships. Whatever path our work takes, I believe self-knowing and self-compassion are at its core. Who are you, what is hurting inside you, and what do you need to feel whole? Let’s get curious and find out together.

I became a therapist after going through trauma therapy as an adult, although I first imagined working in this field when I was about 15 years old. I’ve always been highly sensitive and able to empathize with others’ experiences, including deep suffering; being a therapist helps me see these parts of myself as strengths. I enjoy helping others value their own strengths, especially women and young people. In my free time, I like to read, sing, paint, and be near moving water.

I am the descendent of white Europeans (primarily British, French, and German) who felt entitled to colonize North America hundreds of years ago. After settling primarily in the midwest and east coast, my ancestors fought on both sides of the Civil War. I was raised in an upper-middle-class home in Florida, on land the Seminoles fought to retain well into the 19th century.

My role as a psychotherapist is to help clients acknowledge and harness their innate strengths, enabling them to attain and sustain the well-being they are searching for. What holds us back? What keeps us returning to habitual patterns that limit us? How can we heal from past experiences or learn to cope with current life challenges? Together we will examine your life from many vantage points, with compassion and curiosity. By expanding how you view yourself, relate to others, and respond to difficult circumstances, new possibilities will emerge.

My areas of expertise include:
• Cultivating self-compassion to combat shame, self-criticism, and threats to self worth
• Advocating for the unique issues LGBTQ individuals face
• Understanding and coping with depression and anxiety
• Examining the causes and harmful cycles of addiction and codependency
• Exploring intimacy concerns for individuals and couples
• Supporting clients coping with grief and loss
• Building resilience while navigating life transitions
• Embracing cross-cultural differences and attachment patterns in couples
• Working with childhood trauma

Ready to rediscover who you are?

I don't trust myself.

I'm tired of letting opportunities pass by because of self-doubt and tired of the regret I feel afterwards.

I know that changes in actions and beliefs can lead to growth and I realize that greater self-knowledge can help awaken a sense of purpose. But even though I've tried time and time again to develop a sense of empowerment, I'm not reaching my goals.

If any of these statements resonate with you, you're not alone. We live in a society that barrages us with negative external messages that silence our inner knowing— that powerful sense of intuition that rests just beyond our consciousness. When we are disconnected from our intuition, we can lose our sense of purpose.

Rediscovering your inner knowing can be hard work, but I'm here to help. Let’s work on making changes in a way that feels right and supports your process. You’ve been holding on to fear and negative messages. It’s time to let go. Let me help you on this journey.

If you’re here, I imagine you are considering finding a journey partner. I’m happy to start this
conversation with you and to support you along the way. There are moments we can feel as if
something is wrong, we feel stuck and experience emotions that can feel unmanageable. Life
disruptions and transitions can feel overwhelming and extremely hard. I'm here to be with you
through life transitions and challenging seasons.

Regardless of our circumstances, we are all capable of healing. I know this because I have experienced it myself and because I have witnessed and accompanied people in untenable conditions deepen awareness about their patterns and access the agency and choice necessary to change. I see therapy as one way to heal backwards through the harm and trauma of our family systems, socialization, and systems of oppression and supremacy that have shaped our behaviors and beliefs. All parts of ourselves deserve to be treated with dignity. I offer a warm, collaborative, grounded and creative space to get curious about how you have been shaped by your experiences, while learning new strategies and skills to move towards acceptance and integration.

The therapy I provide is especially supportive of people experiencing codependency, issues related to identity, depression, anxiety, attachment concerns, addiction (their own and others), and relationship struggles. I specialize in working with people to heal attachment trauma, navigate relationship difficulties and complex family histories, recover from violence, develop boundaries, and take accountability for past harms. In addition to working with individuals and couples, I love working with teenagers, families, queer people, and activists.

I am client-centered and strength-based and integrate a variety of approaches in my work including Gestalt, Somatic, Internal Family Systems, and Narrative Therapy. Past clients have described me as attentive, insightful, strong, direct, and collaborative.

I sincerely believe you are the expert in what feels right and true to yourself. My role, as I see it, is to be by your side as you examine parts of yourself that are difficult to face alone. I shine a warm light—respectfully and at your pace—on experiences, emotions, and beliefs that have yet to be examined. I seek to deepen the understanding of emotional and relational pain and to expand upon sources of strength, expression, connection, and beauty.

Being a human being is complicated, complex, and can sometimes be overwhelming. I can meet you where you are, and together identify where you would like to go, and what parts of yourself you would like to call forward. I can help you explore your inner world, and help you connect your internal experiences to your external experiences. I work well with depression, anxiety, developmental trauma, inner-dynamics, and relational dynamics. I hold space for intersectional identities. You don' t have to be one thing, or move through the world in just one way. Together we can remember your inner richness, and bring those forward.

I am an inclusive, queer person of color who feels comfortable working with adults, couples, and children from all different backgrounds. If you are interested, please contact me for a free 20 minute consultation. Thank you!

I work with individuals and couples who are ready to make changes in their lives. You may be dealing with new and difficult circumstances or you may be ready to confront issues that have been bothering you for some time. Wherever you are, I am prepared to meet you there and to help you discover and move towards where you would like to be.

Personal growth comes from examining and sometimes re-writing our life stories; it also comes from attunement to the present and awareness of how our minds and bodies respond to our immediate context. The complex poetry and harmony of our lives is revealed and enhanced through interpretation, attention, and open communication, and I am here to help you develop and practice those skills in a welcoming, non-judgmental space.

The focal point of my private practice is to prioritize the vast and unique experiences of adolescent & adult transracial adoptees of various racial, gender, and sexual identities and adoption configurations (e.g. domestic or international; open or closed). My ultimate hope is to create a familiar and safer space for transracial adoptees to cultivate compassion, clarity, and belonging while navigating various intersections of self, family, and community.

Is there something you've always hesitated to say out loud, because if you did, nothing would stay the same?

Or…

Like in that serenity prayer, are you looking for the difference between what you can change and what you have to accept?

Wisdom's hard to come by in these ominous times, and serenity can be fleeting. This is your one shot here, so you may as well speak your truth. Let’s figure out what you need and what you already have, so you can accept yourself even when it’s hard, and participate fully in your own life. What you believe is your Kryptonite may also be the root of your superpower. I'd even bet on it.

Therapy with me can be talky, weepy, a laugh riot, companionable silence. It's my job to understand your world as you see it. We’ll make use of my professional training, life experience, imagination, and intellect to find new perspectives on your relationships, your past, and your present. We’ll experiment with ways for you to manage difficult emotions, feel more compassion toward yourself and others, and live with integrity and purpose.

I serve as a guide for people who want to create meaningful change and live in alignment with their values.
My approach is primarily somatic(“body-based”), meaning I bring curiosity to one’s felt experience—a
fluttering in the chest or muscle tightening—as a way to get to know oneself more deeply. I offer
mindfulness-based tools for both exploring one’s felt experience as well as building skills for coping with
stress. I appreciate how practical this approach is and how quickly tangible solutions to life’s problems can
be revealed through listening to the body.

During this time, caring for our mental health is essential to get through this together. To do our part to flatten the curve I have moved all of my sessions to either over the phone or a HIPAA compliant online video service. Be well, Be safe.

Are you in transition? Struggling with anxiety, depression, self-criticism, or low self-esteem and tired of simply surviving? Wanting to feel more empowered in your life, relationships, and at work? Are you seeking a warm, caring therapist who will listen and help support you? Who is devoted to your wellbeing and can offer both the practical help and emotional support to help you to thrive? If so, I'd like to help.

I work with adolescents, women, men, and couples desiring new opportunities for themselves and their lives. Often at a crossroads, struggling with the aftermath of their early family lives, coping with overwhelm or loss, or trying to find ways to live more at peace with themselves and their loved ones, my clients come from all walks of life.

As my client, I will treat you with respect, thoughtfulness, and compassion. Whether you want to learn more about yourself and your feelings, develop new skills, cope with life's challenges, or pursue a journey of self-discovery, we will work together to create an experience tailored to your specific needs and goals.

If you are struggling or simply want an ally in creating a better life, I invite you to call me.

We are all seeking greater knowledge and understanding of ourselves and the world around us. The more we can create inner peace and joy, the more joy we will see it reflected back to us. I would love to support you in the journey of self-acceptance and self-love. Your wellness journey is unique to who you are and where you are at this moment. I am here to listen deeply, explore your inner world and notice how your belief system manifests in your external world. I believe in embracing the light and the shadows.

I am a queer Afro-Latina with experience working with children, adolescents, adults, and families. I am bilingual in Spanish and English. I am comfortable working with BIPOC, Queer, beings seeking to heal or continue healing from imposter syndrome, burnout, dissociation, feeling disconnected to self, and those recovering from childhood and past traumas.

Please contact me for a 15 minute consultation. I look forward to supporting you.

I specialize in psychospiritual integration, personal growth, and ushering along the path of awakening. My strength is in clearly seeing blocks and identifying and teaching shamanic and mindfulness-based techniques that can help. I deeply honor each soul's individual path. Using self-empowering spiritual practices such as vipassana meditation, tensegrity, qigong, and soul retrieval, I will help you to identify and create habits and behaviors that will lead you in the direction that matters to you most long after the therapy is finished.

I am committed to guiding my clients toward a deeper experience and understanding of themselves and their lives. I assist with the unfolding of their own natural processes of change and growth and work to foster a sense of self-acceptance and curiosity as they begin to open up to themselves more and more.

In this process of opening up, great distress and pain often accompany possibilities for connection and joy. Therefore, I find it crucial to help clients befriend the difficult places inside of themselves in the service of developing a sense of wholeness and integration.

I find that all of this lends to a way of experiencing life that is more centered, grounded, and resilient. While guiding clients in this manner, I help them to access a newfound connection to their own empowerment and choicefulness. By engaging with the utmost respect for the ways in which my clients decide to respond to and shape their lives, I help to instill in them the courage to be who they are.

I believe (and research supports) that the best predictor of successful therapy is the quality of the working relationship between the therapist and the client. Like any relationship, much of that bond is based on a hard to pin down sense of “fit”. Finding this fit isn’t always easy, and I encourage any potential client to shop around a bit before selecting a therapist. Should you choose to work with me, I will honor the weight of that choice and endeavor to foster a space where your whole self feels welcome.

I support individuals and couples who are exploring a wide variety of challenges and goals. Some areas of focus in my practice include:

*Anxiety
*Depression
*Grief and Loss
*Chronic Pain and Illness
*Creativity and Creative Blocks
*Relationship and Communication Challenges
*Disordered Eating and Challenging Relationships with Body/Food/Movement
*Major Life Transitions
*Highly Sensitive People
*Seeking One’s “Voice” in Life and Relationships
*Sexuality and Gender Exploration and/or Challenges
*Preparing for and Integrating Expanded State Experiences (psychedelics)
*Impacts of Oppression (racism, ableism, fatphobia, etc.)
*Complicity in Systems of Oppression (contending with harm-causing; engaging action-oriented and reflective anti-oppression work)

I am a somatic therapist who focuses on relational, attachment, and childhood trauma issues. I work with individuals and couples to address relationship ambivalence, codependence, anxiety, depression, major life transition, PTSD and trauma, shame and low self-esteem, and poor communication and conflict, among other issues. I help you build awareness of your thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations, allowing you to develop greater insight and uncover new choices.

I embody a warm, anchored, accepting and male-identified presence. In therapy, I seek to create an environment where you feel safe to share what matters most…your feelings, fears, sadness, hopes, and dreams. Together, I seek to collaborate with you to move beyond coping to a more connected sense of yourself.

I use my adaptive instincts to tailor my approach to your unique needs. To create long-term transformation I primarily use a psychodynamic approach with individuals (understanding how the past is impacting the present and paying attention to our relationship) and Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) with couples. EFT is an evidence based approach the helps couples to deescalate their conflict and rebuild their bonds with each other.

I help Individuals:

• With anxiety and depression to understand the causes of the symptoms, develop strategies to increase functioning in the present and then collaborate with you to address the root causes.
• To manage life transitions including grief and loss, changes in job and life circumstances.
• To address relationship challenges between romantic partners and family members; and to help people feel more connected to themselves and others.

I help Couples:

• To change how they manage conflict, improve communication and increase their connection.
• To heal from instances of infidelity and attachment injury.

We all want to feel at our best and as we weave through the years and experiences we do not always show up as our “best” selves. As your therapist, I will provide a confidential, loving, and empathetic space using tools that are compassionate, encouraging, and client-lead. During our sessions together, I want my clients to feel they are moving in a direction that is empowering and leading them down the path to feeling their best self again.

Are you overwhelmed with life’s experiences? Do you feel like you are trying your best but nothing is working out? Do you feel like you need a little perspective?
As an existential-focused therapist, I’ll walk with you as you navigate life’s experiences while identifying your purpose. Purpose is something that is unique to us all, but the satisfaction of identifying, living in, or working towards our purpose is universal.
So, I can walk with you and be part of your life’s journey as you find, work through, or clarify your purpose... or we can just talk.

You may be looking for help healing from a troubled past, facing fears and uncertainty about the future, or coping with the everyday challenges of your present life, work, and relationships. Help can take many forms. Support from family and friends, your faith, nature, pets, actions you take to advocate for your health and wellbeing, and encounters with healing places or people can change your life and shift your perspective. Help can also come through the authentic relationship you develop with a therapist who is a reasonably right fit for you.

My somatic psychotherapy practice is collaborative and trauma-informed. I work with adults and couples who want more satisfying, authentic relationships with themselves and others. I provide support dealing with interpersonal and emotional challenges, managing stress and anxiety responses, and facing the intensity of change, loss, and life's uncertainty.

I engage with you as a compassionate, therapeutic companion, work with you to lift burdens of past traumas, and transform internal patterns that interfere with being present in your life and relationships. I integrate training in trauma and touch into my psychotherapy practice and want to help you live in more accordance with what really matters to you.

Life can present adversity and challenges in identity, work, health, and relationships as well other troubling inner and outer symptoms. These difficulties and traumas can contort and distort us; blocking our capacity to creatively express and love freely. We unconsciously develop patterns and coping styles that stymie our deepest longing for true belonging, authentic connection, and expansion. We become shackled to re-enactments of painful aspects of the past. I will assist you in developing keen insight and awareness into your unique adaptive style and to harness this awareness toward life-affirming changes in the now.

My style is forthright, lively, creative, warm and inclusive. I will champion your well being and your wholeness that is your birthright. I work in a Trauma-informed, Mind/Body Interface with Anxiety, Depression, Past and Current Trauma, Grief, Personality Disorders, Eating Disorders, and Substance Challenges. I work with those who suffer from anger issues, self-defeatist thoughts and behaviors, and those who struggle to know who they really are. I work relationally with friends, families, couples, and other unique constellations of relationships.

Let’s admit we all have broken places. It is part of the human condition. We all have situations we just can’t figure out on our own. In my 20 years as a social worker, most of my clients start therapy saying some version of “I just don’t know what to do.” Together we cultivate the emotional safety necessary to examine where you are and where you need to go, as well as the courage to get there step by step.

Do you feel paralyzed when facing a major life transition—deciding a career path, stepping into adulthood, becoming a couple or separating, becoming a parent or not? Perhaps your relationship is frozen and you and your partner can't talk without fighting or can't agree on a shared vision for your lives. By working together we can shed a kind light on the dark places and approach them with safety and curiosity. You determine the pace as we make sense of things and find the places where movement and change can happen.

In my office, you will find a safe and comfortable space where curiosity and compassion guide us towards your self-discovery and healing. Depending on your specific needs, we will shape our time together using creativity and what you already know about yourself. I respect your self-knowing and prioritize your pace and agency to guide our therapeutic dynamic and movement towards positive change.

Together we can increase your tolerance of anxiety, anger, and other overwhelming emotions and create more choices for you to feel empowered rather than stuck or reactionary. We can monitor and learn from your stress responses (fight, flight, freeze, etc.) in order to improve your communication with others, self-care, and general functioning. I can also guide you towards more self-compassion and wisdom, rooted in the body, where you can revisit and recharge when you need it.

Through our work, you’ll heal and move toward inner strength and wholeness by reclaiming disowned parts of yourself, parts you have othered or exiled, knowingly or not. We will make room for your multi-dimensionality and the intricate complexities within you. I believe in the work we can do to make peace possible for you.

I specialize in grief counseling and helping older individuals and couples navigate the challenges of aging.

We live in a world that has no time for grief and no patience for the physical and emotional challenges of aging. Because our culture has so little tolerance for these experiences, people are forced to push down their feelings and pretend that they’re not in any pain. As a result, it's easy to become lost in your grief and frustrated in your efforts to find meaning and joy as you age.

I also work with the families of substance abusers, helping them get their lives back on track and find a level of happiness whether their loved one is using or not.

Are you struggling to connect to your partner or important people in your life? Would you like to have deeper, more fulfilling relationships? Maybe you and your partner feel like you are trying to connect and just keep missing each other? Whether you come to therapy on your own or as part of a relationship, I can help you discover deeper connection and more fulfilling bonds.

I invite you to embark on a journey to explore the ways your relational history, multiple identities, past and current relationships, and struggles weave together and impact the way you interact with the world around you. It would be an honor to travel alongside you. I will support you as you find what it means to show up authentically in all aspects of your life. I will be there with warmth, compassion, some guidance, a bit of humor, and a lot of curiosity.

Our relationships can be the most fulfilling part of our lives and, in moments, they can feel exhausting, specifically if you haven’t had the guidance in recognizing or communicating needs in relationships. As a result, one can feel overwhelmed by the constant misunderstanding they experience in relationships. Some of the patterns that may come up in relationships are attracting the same person that is anxious, distant, or in general unable to be there for you. These patterns may lead to disappointment, disconnection, and burnout of relationships.

Together we can take the time to investigate how you show up in relationships. I will support you with this process by deeply listening and by giving you my honest feedback in regards to what I see and hear. My goal is to help you feel less burdened in the process of cultivating healthier relationships with yourself and others.

The journey in cultivating healthier and more fulfilling relationships can be extremely vulnerable and I am here to support you with this process. If you're interested in working together please contact me for a free consultation.

I will partner with you in addressing your concerns in a safe, supportive, and confidential space. I provide psychodynamic therapy with holistic tools for anchoring heart and mind, deepening self-discovery, and tending to psychological wounds that are still in need of healing. I work with the following goals: to help you gain more clarity, encourage and challenge you, and guide you in finding your way back home to yourself.

Have a particular life obstacle you’re trying to overcome? Are you feeling overwhelmed in your situation? As a committed, professional associate Somatic Psychotherapist in San Francisco, your well-being and mental strength is my number one priority. Forming the connection between body and mind is the path to wholeness and healing.

I am a trauma-informed, somatic psychotherapist offering telehealth sessions to clients throughout California.

I strive to create a space rooted in trust, where you will feel safe to slow down and explore all parts of yourself, your strengths, and your challenges. As you share what troubles you, I will follow your lead with curiosity and compassion. Together, we will seek to understand why things are as they are so that you can know yourself more fully. This understanding is the beginning of acceptance, healing, and change.

Liberating people of color & couples from cultural, sexual, & religious trauma through
trauma informed approaches, decolonized cultural practices, and art & dance
movement therapies. You CAN reclaim your multicultural identities, womanhood, body,
sexuality, & spirituality, so that you can reclaim your power and live your life. What
blocks you from stepping into your power? I will listen to you:

● “My cultural upbringing & painful past experiences hold me back…I just want to
feel safe enough to be myself”
● “I want to make my immigrant parents proud but I also want to live my life &
dreams…am I worthy of love?”
● “It feels like I’m a bridge between multiple lands & cultures but belong to
neither…I feel alone and want my community.”
● ”Sex, sensuality, my body, & intimacy bring me discomfort & shame…but I want
to feel connected to my body & sexuality.”
● “ My toxic partners & extremist religions always told me I was wrong…now I
always feel like I’m doing something wrong and want to trust myself more.”
● “Being a woman with fluctuating cycles & hormones in a hustle work culture is
overwhelming …I just want to slow down & feel more feminine.”

As one can observe in nature, our innate impulse is to heal. Sometimes our access to this resiliency is along an ever-winding path. Life—relationships, behaviors, community, culture—impacts our ability to fulfill this impulse. In our sessions we will creatively collaborate to rediscover and widen your access to the path toward healing. We will hold your innate wisdom and resiliency alongside the parts of you that feel incongruent, sticky, stubborn, and shameful, honoring that each part deserves to be listened to without judgment. We will learn how to find balance in the fullness of you.

I help others live their truth and the life they desire. Each of us has had something stand in the way of reaching our full potential. I help my clients create meaningful changes, stronger relationships, and a greater sense of self by focusing on their strengths and using a blend of different therapeutic styles that best match the client’s individual needs and personality.

While my top professional interests are working with LGBTQIAA+ identities, depression, anxiety, and life transitions, I welcome all adults, couples, and families who are wanting an integrative and client-centered approach.

In my work with couples, I integrate traditional modalities with experiential techniques to gain a deeper understanding of what is beneath the relationship challenges. I work collaboratively with couples to interrupt and prevent conflict patterns and to strengthen the existing bond.

Are you interested in cultivating insight, self-trust, calm, freedom, and a sense of being enough?

Do you want relationships that feel supportive, honest, authentic, mutual, and inspiring?

Or perhaps, are you hoping to find support for a child, teen, or your family as a whole and are not sure what to do next?

I aim to create a space of radical presence in which to explore these questions and more. I work with adults, teens, children, and families using mindful approaches to healing. Whether there have been experiences of harm (recent, distant, and intergenerational) that you’re seeking understanding of and liberation from, or perhaps you feel stuck in an unhelpful and unfulfilling cycle, I hope to facilitate a therapeutic space and trusting relationship for this important work.

Restarting your life? Feeling directionless or immobilized by life’s challenges? Are you feeling lost, overwhelmed, isolated? Do you feel stuck in the past as you try to recover and learn from previous relationships? Are you concerned about a lack of motivation in your life? Or maybe you think you are powerless, too old, too young, too different, or low energy?

Scary emotions are often part of the process of change. As a compassionate, supportive, experienced, and trustworthy therapist and guide, I can help. I specialize in life transitions, whether you are leaving a long-term relationship, facing career changes, or the loss of a partner.

I offer a supportive sounding board as you invite change into your life such as:
• Trusting yourself in intimate relationships
• Identifying your right work
• Healing from old wounds
• Learning to put yourself first

Real courage is moving forward when the outcome is uncertain. First steps are hard, but change is possible. Let me help you navigate your journey!

As a person of color raised in the U.S. and of immigrant parents from Mexico, it has been a healing journey for me to process the impact of social-cultural trauma and break the cycles of intergenerational trauma. I am here to help you address issues pertaining to your past, present, and future self to heal and begin to take the steps in breaking negative generational cycles.

I offer sliding-scale teletherapy to adults of all ages throughout CA.

At this moment, you might be feeling loneliness, grief, anxiety, strain in your relationships, a desire for deeper meaning, a sense of being lost. You might feel a need to minimize your pain, or maybe you feel unseen when you do share. At a pace that feels safe for you, therapy can help you become less isolated in these feelings and move toward a deeper connection with yourself and others.

With warmth and humor, I offer a down-to-earth, non-judgmental space. Together, we can build awareness of your full experience and practice gentleness/compassion toward yourself. We might discover how your patterns connect to both current hardships and old wounds (e.g., childhood experiences, loss, major life changes, oppressive systems). Drawing upon your innate healing powers, we can transform patterns that no longer serve you.

Please reach out for a free consultation. Together, we can decide if I am the right person to walk beside you.

Not currently accepting new clients.

I help clients transform patterns; increase tolerance for uncertainty and fear; cultivate self-compassion; and deepen in relationship.

I believe that we suffer because of the world, culture, and systems in which we live, not because we are broken. At best these systems around us mean well but often don’t support us in the ways we need; at worst, they oppress, violate and even kill us. To survive, we must adapt. At creation, our adaptations are brilliant, but often we outgrow them, or they control us. These adaptations may impact you through chronic anxiety, symptoms of depression, a fierce inner critic, loneliness, or shame.

Clinical Expertise:

• Pandemic-related depression, isolation, or overwhelm
• Grief and loss
• Anxiety, including social anxiety
• Self-doubt, insecurity, perfectionism, inner critic
• Struggling with the day-to-day, desiring increased coping skills
• Difficulty in intimate relationships
• White folks addressing systemic racism, internalized white supremacy and white fragility
• Burnout, career or otherwise
• Persons recovering from traumatic experiences

Looking for a couple's therapist is stressful, because both of you need to like this person enough to be willing to talk to them about the intimate details of your partnership. Add in the fact that this may be a point in your relationship where the two of you are having difficulty coordinating or agreeing about anything.
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I get it. No one wants to go to couples therapy. It often means that the couple as a unit is in danger. One or both of you are unhappy, and you're uncertain of how things are going to play out, and that's a scary and frustrating place to be.
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I want to help you gain clarity about what is going wrong in your relationship and what you want to do about it.

When we feel threatened and vulnerable, we resort to desperate behaviors to get us through the day: numbing out with screens or drugs, revving up with anger, and a hundred other fight/flight/freeze responses. The problem is that these behaviors can become calcified, and we get stuck in a pattern. What starts out as protective becomes a prison.

I work with teens and adults to explore new behaviors and develop insights into these psychological snags. The aim is to build executive functioning and emotional intelligence while facilitating the transition to healthy independence. In my conception of therapy, these “upward spirals” are both supported by and promotive of a more loving relationship with the self.

My style can be directive or non-directive, depending on the needs of the individual, but is always warm and engaged, with a healthy dash of humor.

Relationships can bring us the greatest joy and support, and the deepest pain and loneliness. We are wired to connect, but sometimes need support around how we connect with others. I work with clients who are looking to heal within themselves, their relationships with their partners or families, or experience new ways of being in the world.

I work with teens, individuals and couples experiencing loneliness, shame, anxiety, communication issues, self-criticism, depression, burnout and complex trauma.

As a psychotherapist, it is my desire to help you live your life to the fullest and healthiest potential. I believe attending to one’s mental health is a central step in leading the “successful life” most people desire. I want my clients to know there is hope for positive change and that they do not have to be stuck in unhealthy patterns or states of mind.

When a person desires to attend therapy, I believe they are already on a road to healing. Whether an individual is seeking help with anxiety, depression, self-harm, anger, relationship improvement, life transitions, or various other difficulties, it is my desire to provide an empathetic ear and to treat each person with dignity. I consider it an honor to be a part of an individual’s mental wellness journey as they find their inner strength to work through whatever symptoms or problems they may be facing.

I work with youth, adults, and families who are seeking a greater sense of wellbeing in their lives. I believe that each of us has the innate ability to heal, adapt, and thrive. I provide a safe, nonjudgmental space to explore, process, and thrive. I can support you in investigating patterns, deepening self-awareness, healing from old wounds, increasing self-compassion, and experimenting with new ways of being in relationship to yourself, others, and the world. Therapy is also a place to cultivate your sense of joy, confidence, meaning, energy, and ease. Together, we can work on parts of life that matter to you.

Everyone encounters feelings of dissatisfaction and confusion in their lives, questioning their choices, their direction, or even who they are at the core. I provide a calm, nonjudgmental space for you to share the things that trouble you, especially the things that are hard to share or the parts of you that you may not feel good about. I work to help you see how what you feel makes sense, making connections to past experiences, and coming to new self-understanding and acceptance.

Are you considering cutting down or quitting drinking?
Are you struggling to maintain sobriety?
Do you wonder whether you can live a happy life without drugs or alcohol?

Losing control over alcohol or drug use is scary; letting go of the remedies of our hidden pain could be even more terrifying, and the daily white-knuckle ride of abstinence is exhausting.
You are not alone, and you don’t have to fight this battle all by yourself.
You can heal, and I am here to help!
Schedule a free 15-min consultation by calling me directly or email me right now, so that you can find out whether I am the right person to support you in your healing journey.

If you are feeling lost, broken, overwhelmed, or in need of something more from your life, therapy can help reconnect you to yourself. I provide depth-oriented individual psychotherapy to adults and adolescents in the East Bay. I enjoy supporting people who feel stuck due to depression, anxiety, difficulties in relationships, and distress related to past and present trauma. I have experience working within the LGBTQI+ community and welcome people who occupy non-conforming gender and sexual identities.

Together we will work to connect to your authentic thoughts and emotions, build insight into the origins of your struggles, highlight your strengths, and make space for the things that bring you meaning. This process of exploration can promote greater self-awareness, increased confidence in navigating challenging situations, and a deepened relationship to self and others.

I offer trauma-informed psychotherapy to adults across the lifespan. My areas of focus include, but are not limited to, individuals who are undergoing major life transitions, recovering from traumatic events, experiencing grief or loss, and navigating career or school-related issues. I also specialize in working with those who are directly or indirectly impacted by disability or illness.

As a therapist, I am warm, authentic, understanding, and direct. I use a collaborative and integrative approach rooted in person-centered, biopsychosocial, attachment-focused, trauma-informed, and existential frameworks. I tailor my approach to meet your specific needs as we work together to identify and navigate your path forward.

How do you deal with change? Whether it be a relationship beginning or ending, pregnancy and parenthood, death, physical injury/illness, graduation, or moving, these and other life events will require us to reexamine our lives and make the necessary changes to accommodate them. Sometimes we seek out this change and sometimes it lands in our lap uninvited. Whether we embrace change or not, it is certain that life brings a constant stream of transitions.

I am passionate about supporting clients through the process of discovering their authentic self as they move through life transitions. We will embark on this therapeutic journey with curiosity, awareness, and authenticity. In support of finding your most authentic self, I will guide you in developing empathy and compassion for all parts of yourself, especially the parts that you may have hidden away from yourself or disconnected from, the ones that feel shameful, scary, or overwhelming. Through cultivating love and acceptance for your entire experience without judgment, new possibilities and more choices will reveal themselves. As you develop trust in your experience the hope is that you will meet these life transitions from a place of confidence.

I work with clients to help better understand how their childhood impacts them today and work with them to better understand and heal their relational wounding. Did you grow up in a chaotic household? Maybe one or more of your caregivers/parents suffered from addiction, abuse, mental illness, illness, or were absent- so you stepped up and became the responsible one. Being parentified from a young age can lead to many different behavioral outcomes, amongst them are: perfectionism, people-pleasing, codependency, poor boundaries, low self-worth, difficulty identifying or asking for one's needs, and many more possibilities.
My approach is client centered and unique to each person. I believe that the deepest healing comes from integrating the body’s experience with the mind’s thoughts. By strengthening communication between the body and the mind, the entire body system moves into harmony and out of survival mode, opening to a new world of possibilities, and less stress.
True to my Buddhist and humanistic training, I guide with compassion-based mindfulness and use a variety of contemplative and somatic practices to help one better understand their unique experience and its many expressions. In my practice, I welcome and work with all types of humans from a diverse variety of backgrounds. It has been said that it only takes one positive relationship to heal from relational trauma, and I hope to be that for you.
In the end, I hope you feel empowered to live your life fully, unapologetically, and have the courage and safety to love with a heart that is wide open. Whether you decide to work with me or not, I hope you find the support you are looking for on the courageous path of self-exploration and healing.

The therapy I provide is particularly helpful for those working through depression, anxiety, stress, burnout, interpersonal relationships, and life transitions. My practice is open to all, and I most enjoy working with queer, femme, transgender, gender non-binary and gender expansive individuals, teenagers, young adults, organizers, and creatives.

The core of my practice is to support you in exploring the places where your life experiences and authentic self have met and been at odds with each other. For many, particularly those existing outside of dominant culture, this place can be the site of wounds and survival strategies that knock you off your center. Just as significantly this space can hold cultivated resilience, awareness, and intentional community and connection; perhaps healing strategies you already embody. We will work together to better understand your multifaceted, authentic self and create space for you to move towards a place of choice and alignment. 

Life can be very confusing sometimes! My understanding is that each of us is different and there are no easy answers for most of life's questions. I am happy to be engaged in the mystery of life with you. Using my humanistic and transpersonal approach, my goal is to help you create meaning out of life and develop coping skills. I acknowledge all spiritual and religious traditions, including atheism. At the end of the day, I don't know the "right" answer. All I know is that being kind and brave is important. I want to honor the things that are important to you too.

There comes a time when we want to make a different choice for ourselves: sometimes we need some extra support, a voice outside of ourselves to help us navigate choices in our life experiences. I honor the courage it takes to explore this uncertainty, and I am here to help. Together we can co-create a place in your life where I accompany you in a journey of self-discovery. Meeting you where you are, honoring your wisdom and supporting your own knowing are important to me.

Through a therapeutic relationship we will bring attention to the places where repeating patterns or beliefs exist that may no longer serve you. Whether you are experiencing doubts, anxiety, loneliness, loss, transition, or struggles in relationships and your communication, I trust that together we can create a space where you hold yourself with compassion and generosity of spirit. From that place, the possibility of new choices will emerge.

Seeking support for life's inevitable challenges is a courageous and powerful choice. Consider me a partner on your path of increasing empowerment.

Therapy can offer a safe space for exploration and acceptance of a wider range of your life experience, which can lead to positive change. From my end, I will bring to our relationship a sense of non-judgment, warmth, and humor along with professional expertise.

I strive to be flexible, open, and inclusive, and thus draw from varied psychological and philosophical orientations. I am actively engaged in anti-oppression work, both personally and professionally. I honor diversity and welcome people from all walks of life.

I am currently offering therapy by phone and via the online video platform Zoom. If you would like to talk with someone during this time, please feel free to reach out to me.

Sometimes our bodies send us messages that we don’t want to receive so we distract ourselves with food, drugs, alcohol, sex, and social media to drown them out. These methods of avoidance are deeply human and sometimes even necessary but when we allow them to go on for too long, eventually our inner voice outsmarts us and forces us to pay attention. This is when chronic pain, depression, anxiety, and relational conflict start to set in.
 
Seeking therapy is the first step towards finding your way back to yourself. In our work together, we will navigate that path side by side, at whatever pace you need. Along the way, you will rediscover lost or forgotten parts of yourself and uncover old wounds that have been quietly shaping your life into one that you may no longer recognize. We will also laugh, look back in amazement at the genius of your younger self, and share in the delight of exploring new ways of relating to and knowing yourself.

Life can be hard at times and not having the right tools can be challenging. Whether you are struggling with past trauma, relationship issues, depression, anxiety, addiction, or events in your life that are emotionally draining, we can work together to figure out the best way to live your fullest life. I have a direct, honest, and compassionate style of communicating that allows us to focus on your goals in a collaborative and constructive way, but most importantly in a way that makes sense to you. Let therapy guide you in the direction you want to go.

I specialize in working with people who struggle with complex trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Complex trauma is often the result of growing up with a caregiver who was abusive, neglectful, and/or suffered from mental illness or addiction. Complex trauma can also be a result of growing up in an environment where there was poverty, frequent incarceration, violence, and oppression. Symptoms of complex trauma include anxiety, depression, difficulty with relationships, chronic pessimism, fear of success, and a sense of feeling broken or that something is wrong with you.

I am trained in various techniques that specifically work with trauma and I work with an anti-oppression perspective. I have a diverse caseload and include you and your family’s particular socio-political-historical context when considering the impact of intergenerational trauma. You do not have to identify with, or have suffered from, complex trauma to contact me. I also work with attachment and relationship issues, perfectionism, giftedness, gender and masculinity, and issues around immigration, acculturation, and belonging.

Whatever reason has brought you to seek therapy in this moment is no doubt unique to you. It is my firm belief that you are the authority on your life and that each one of us deserves support. My goal is to offer support on your distinct healing journey. As a trauma informed somatic practitioner, I take into consideration your mind and your body, specifically how your nervous system is responding to whatever it is you are bringing to therapy. In a collaborative way we will find ways to bring more ease into your being.

In our frenzied, accomplishment-focused world, it is easy to lose touch with who we are, and how we want to show up in our lives. We may have reached our goals, yet find that we are not as satisfied or as joyful as we had imagined we would be. The therapeutic relationship is a great opportunity to slow down and examine our lives, and ultimately make choices that feel more aligned with what we want and how we want to feel.

I hold a non-judgmental space where all of you is welcome, even the ugly, scary, and forgotten parts. My goal as a therapist is to allow you to more fully experience yourself, and begin to let go of anything that does not feel like the most authentic, true version of yourself. I truly believe in the therapeutic relationship, and the value of a trusted witness in our healing process.

My approach is client-led, relational and humanistic. I integrate the body, mind, and spirit and work in collaboration with you as a whole person. While my training is grounded in psychodynamic theory, I draw from a variety of traditions. Above all, I treat each client as an individual and the therapy is ultimately led by your needs and intentions in doing this work.

I am an art therapist who takes a creative approach when working with my clients. I like to do art therapy with couples, families, adults, teens as well as children over 3 years old. I have over 20 years of experience working with children and teens. I use age-appropriate art directives to engage my clients. I identify as black and female, and I am willing to work with anyone.

I became a therapist because I love to listen to people's stories. By listening deeply and allowing space for curiosity, I can support you in connecting the dots in your patterns and then we can spend time exploring them together. If you're dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, relationship issues, or unresolved trauma, I'm here to move through those with you. I use an integrated approach, including but not limited to the following modalities:

• Brainspotting
• Person-centered Therapy
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Motivational Interviewing (MI)
• Mindfulness

I'll cater my approach to you as an individual, based on your personality, preferences, neurotype, and any number of other factors. You're in the driver's seat, but I'd be honored to be your co-pilot!

I am located in San Diego and offering teletherapy throughout California.