Therapists in Fruitvale, Oakland, CA

I have been in private practice since 1981 and I am a Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UCSF Medical School. I am dedicated to working collaboratively with people to efficiently address their clinical issues with warmth and compassion.

I have worked for the past thirty-five years to help people change the self-defeating habits that interfere with good relationships, health, success and happiness. Since so many of these problems stem from early traumas and neglect in childhood, I help an individual to identify these psychological traps and change them. By learning to speak to yourself in a positive manner and by eliminating old reactions of fear and shame, I help you to live a more creative life. I like a client to form a partnership with me to eliminate negative behaviors and build new ways of being.

I am a licensed clinical psychologist providing psychotherapy and ADHD/ADD assessment services for adults. I have a warm, outgoing therapeutic style and provide a safe, intimate relationship, while challenging you with care and compassion to live a more satisfying life. I help clients better understand their own relationships and behavior patterns, manage strong emotions, increase mindfulness and purposefulness, and cultivate greater compassion. I see clients for both short-term, solution-oriented therapy, and longer-term, exploratory therapy. Thank you for you interest, and I wish you the best of luck in this process.

WELCOME to Gaylesta: The Psychotherapist Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity. Our members provide mental health services including therapist referrals, education, and consultation. We offer a wide range of specializations, allowing us to serve as a unique resource both the LGBTQ communities and to other service providers. Explore our site to find a therapist, learn more about us, or become a valued member.

As an experienced Licensed MFT, I offer a full range of psychotherapy services for men, women, adolescents, couples, and families. I founded The Men's Center for Counseling and Psychotherapy in 1984 in order to focus upon the psychological and emotional lives of men and boys. I particularly enjoy helping folks struggling with cross-cultural issues. My practice also includes work with women, girls, and couples of all persuasions. As an interactive therapist, I join my clients as they explore complex, often contradictory, intrapsychic forces. I bring humor, warmth, empathy, common-sense, and a genuine curiosity to the therapeutic encounter.

I approach the concerns that bring somebody into the consultation room with the humanistic belief that therapy can best take place through a respectful dialogue that fully utilizes the resources of both the therapist and the client. I regard the blocks that make such a dialogue difficult a worthwhile topic of exploration that can yield a strengthening of the capabilities for problem solving and growth. I am a native Spanish speaker from Argentina, and I offer therapy in that language. I also see multicultural couples that need bilingual intermediation. I have a special interest in couples.

My therapeutic training has been centered on experiential, culturally sensitive, and inner work necessary for becoming a healer. I focus on assessing individual client needs and providing compassionate therapeutic interventions to families, couples and children. I use Mindfulness, Progressive Relaxation and Guided imagery as well as Cognitive Reframing to increase awareness and reduce present anxiety symptoms.My specialties include: Stress, Anxiety, Self esteem, Depression, Trauma and loss Loss, Alcohol and Chemical dependency.

Longing for a different outcome? Want to write a new story? You are probably hoping to find support with the process of healing something that isn't feeling right. Psychotherapy can help by offering an accepting space to look, non-judgmentally, at whatever feels stuck, painful, or unresolved. Use my support and encouragement to help you approach these challenges in new ways, and find new solutions. My goal is to provide you with acceptance and ways to access your own innate wisdom and energy. I offer individual and relationship psychotherapy. Short and long term therapy options are available, depending on your concerns and goals.

I have worked with adults and youth for 25 years to help calm anxiety and lift depressed feelings and to find a way out of being limited by difficult emotions. My specialties include helping clients through life changes, issues related to work, school and personal relationships, anxiety and depression. Painful experiences or feelings from the past can cause us to feel disconnected from the relationships and opportunities in the world around us. I can work with you to help shift the unhelpful patterns of thinking and feeling to allow that valuable mental and emotional energy to be redirected towards positive change.

As a clinical psychologist I specialize in treating anxiety and depression in the context of trauma, work stress, relationship problems and family conflict. I help people deal with issues including grief and loss, substance abuse, domestic violence, and childhood trauma. My approach is to seek immediate reduction in symptoms while carefully addressing long-term, underlying problems.

Therapy should be easy to understand and active from the word go. We don't just talk about the problem or figure out why the patterns are there; we hit the ground running with action and get you feeling better as soon as possible. I work with a lot of folks who have tried therapy before and been disappointed when insight and understanding don't lead to change, and folks who are trying therapy for the first time and want it to be practical and clear. I start with a free 20-minute phone consultation.

The problems you might be facing may have to do with love and loss, difficulty with friendships and/or work relations, career decisions, trauma or abuse, physical illness or disabilities. You may be dealing with loneliness, anxiety or depression. I am a down to earth, no nonsense kind of person I am also kind, respectful, compassionate, and at times funny. I listen well and am very devoted to my work.

I am a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in psychological testing with children and adolescents. I have been practicing in this area for over a decade and have trained with experts in child assessment. My evaluations assess the presence of attention challenges, learning struggles, and emotional difficulties. I conduct thorough, comprehensive assessments informed by the Therapeutic/Collaborative Assessment model. In this model, parents and children are team members in the process and we work together to answer the referral questions. At the completion of the process, adolescents receive a feedback letter explaining the testing findings in accessible language and children receive an individualized picture book.

I believe that a core component of living is about learning and growing and expanding as our journeys unfold. And, I am passionately sympathetic about how hard this process can be, and how difficult it often is to be human! As an optimistic psychotherapist with over 20 years experience, I am convinced of the human capacity for tapping into a deep source of inner wisdom, and our innate capacity to heal. Each individual can develop the self-knowledge and self-acceptance they need to confront their challenges and to restore a compassionate perspective to their lives.

What is it you most deeply want? I can help you find your natural strengths and let go of old beliefs and painful emotions that stand in the way of you loving the life you live. Through a mindful and compassionate inquiry into places where you feel stuck, I help you to extinguish negative patterns and to recognize and express your true gifts in the world. Many of my clients are artists and creative professionals. My specialties include helping you to have more fulfilling relationships, expand your creativity, overcome addictive patterns, develop your self-esteem, and experience greater personal growth.

Many of us struggle to find, or be happy, in our personal relationships. And it can feel like a mystery as to why it is so difficult to feel seen and understood by a partner. Some of us may feel we give too much energy to our relationships, while some of us feel reticent to engage at more intimate levels. I work with clients to pinpoint the personal struggles and self-beliefs that are impeding the ability to feel comfortable and energized in relationship. With skill and care I bring a new perspective to your specific situation.

Are you wanting to be more true to who you are but do not know if it is possible? Do you often repress your desires and ignore your needs? Does this end up making you feel stuck, unhappy, hopeless, sad, frustrated, depressed and/or anxious? Whether you were raised by people who failed to see you and support you, or in a culture that oppressed you, it is important that you do not give up. You deserve to prioritize yourself and be who you are truly meant to be.

I specialize in both individual trauma and grief work, as well as work with couples. I am a certified Emotionally Focused Couples Therapist, (CEFT) and I specialize in working with couples to address and remedy destructive communication, breaches in trust, infidelity issues, premarital counseling, and sexual incompatibility. My approach helps couples to reestablish a sense of connection by allowing couples to better understand the areas in their relationship where they have difficulty feeling that they each see eye-to-eye, by facilitating clearer communication of what both are needing from each other in order to feel more connected.

I work particularly well with both men and women with emotional and life issues, childhood trauma, and gay and straight couples with communication and other difficulties. I help individuals with serious mental illness make positive changes in their lives,and work with their families. I work with addictions and the intersection with emotional issues, particularly using 12-step programs.