Therapists in Trestle Glen, Oakland, CA

Are you at a place in your life that no longer feels comfortable and you're unsure of how you've have gotten there? It's impacting your personal and/or work relationships and your self-image. I provide a safe, non-judgmental space allowing you to gain insight into your journey thus far and give yourself permission to change. I will help you move to a place of self-forgiveness, self-acceptance, and self-love.

Meaningful change requires us to ask new questions ... so that new meanings can be made. One of the hardest things is to change what doesn't work, while not knowing how to make it all different. For the past 24 years, I have worked with folks who are trying hard to build a life in spite of childhood abuse and neglect, or who just don't understand why life isn't working out the way they hoped.

As a psychologist, I support the nourishment of mental health and well-being where ever you may be in your life. The journey can be challenging. Patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving help one navigate through life. Sometimes those patterns create barriers and overwhelming feelings. Conflicts, anger, confusion, people-pleasing, worry, and sadness may interfere. Allow me to use my life's learning and 13 years of clinical psychology experience to help you work toward your goals and find relief.

I have been in practice for over 30 years. My primary specialty has been working with men and boys who have experienced sexual abuse. This issue often includes alcohol and drug issues, anxiety, depression, marital and couples issues and more. I am experienced in EMDR as well as a range of somatic and humanistic approaches.

People come to therapy with unique needs, concerns, and life circumstances. Through the process of self-inquiry, I help clients gain insight and develop effective coping skills to move through a challenge with greater ease and understanding. My therapeutic style is warm, compassionate and curious about one's experience. I use an attachment based, person-centered approach that offers individuals and couples clarity around repetitive patterns that cause pain, conflict, and limit growth.

Are you the outsider of your family of origin? You might be the family scapegoat. If so, you've probably experienced some of the following: treated as less-than, blamed, excluded, gossiped about, disowned, and more. And then, if you'd tried to address things, you might have been met with gaslighting, denial, or being dismissed. Your healthy anger might have been used as further "proof" of your badness or a narrative that you're mentally ill. And around and around it goes. But there is a way out.

I strongly believe that all of us are capable of connecting to an experience of profound well being, whatever the circumstances of our lives may be. My goal in therapy is to help you access that state within yourself. I aim to help you recognize and accept the many layers of your experience and to support you in acting skillfully and authentically in the world. My first priority is to create an atmosphere of safety and trust so that you are able to freely explore your challenges, concerns and desires. After we understand your difficulties, we can collaborate to create the desired change and growth.

I am a licensed clinical psychologist in the state of California. I received my Masters degree in 2005 and my doctorate (PsyD) in 2011, both from the Wright Institute in Berkeley, California. I opened my private practice in 2005. My doctorate is in clinical psychology, and my work involves helping people with a wide range of problems. I see children, adolescents, and adults in my Oakland office.

Chances are you feel some dissatisfaction with the things or people in your life. Maybe you feel overwhelmed and stuck, frustrated in your relationships or worried about the future. Maybe you already have some ideas about what things you'd like to be different. I will support you to make changes by helping you make the necessary contact with parts of yourself that influence the way you think, feel and act. In our sessions I will help you discover in a more full way what might be holding you back from having the life you want. We will explore your thoughts and feelings in the moment, which can lead to profound healing and change.

My clients experience me as easy to talk with, as having an empathic and interactive style, and as flexible and goal oriented in my therapeutic approach..I work in a variety of ways with individual adults: short term problem solving therapy, or longer term self exploration. I work with individuals who are having relationship difficulties, including being in a relationship " too good to leave, too bad to stay"; and with individual adults who have anxiety, depression and self esteem issues. My practice welcomes people from all backgrounds, with many people of color, particularly African Americans, and multicultural individuals. LGBT friendly.

I support my clients to cultivate awareness and capacity to unwind from unhealthy thought and behavior patterns. I do this by drawing on their innate strengths and resilience. Collaboratively we learn to navigate challenging emotions and life transitions to rediscover aliveness, power, joy, purpose, care and a sense of connection. I bring dynamic qualities including curiosity, creativity and warmth into sessions for growth towards wholeness. My approach is guided by mindful awareness, honest inquiry and deep compassion. I am grounded in social justice, recognizing how social-historical factors impact well-being. I believe healing is a journey towards liberation.

Thank you for visiting my page. My therapeutic style provides a warm, nonjudgmental, environment that meets clients where they are at. As we work together clients are able to examine their goals, problem solve, increase positive coping skills and improve their lives. I specialize in working with anxiety disorders, depression, and substance abuse. I have a great deal of experience with clients who have lived through loss and/or trauma.

Therapy should be focused on you and your needs. Are you feeling overwhelmed and unsure about what to do about your teen's anxiety? Do you worry a lot, often leaving you anxious, exhausted and overwhelmed? Has parenting become a constant battle, leaving you feeling drained and exhausted? I can help. I have extensive experience working with teens and parents who have experienced trauma, who have suicidal thoughts, self-harming behaviors, school refusal, anxiety, OCD, social withdraw, bullying, low self-esteem, and depression. I specialize in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Exposure Response Prevention (ERP).

When difficulties are too much to handle or the next level of growth seems just out of reach, you may find yourself living with pain & stress. Some stress in life helps people grow, but chronic stress has a negative effect on your mind, body, emotions & spirit. You may find yourself using old mental, physical & emotional coping tools to survive, yet feel unable to make real change. Your ally in holistic healing, I offer a supportive, warm presence so you can explore what's difficult, hone your strengths, & gain simple yet powerful mind/body tools.

I work with individuals, couples and adolescents and their families on a wide array of issues including life transitions, improving relationships, depression, anxiety, grief and loss, forgiveness, women's issues and couples struggling with infertility. Therapy can be both a rewarding and rejuvinating process. My style is one of partnering with compassion and respect. Together we can improve your relationships, well being and hopefullness. By compassionately looking at your life we can uncover patterns that are inhibiting the attainment of your life goals.

My experience comes from 31 years of helping children, adults, couples and families in both Community Mental Health and Private Practice. My approach is eclectic and tailored to each individual's needs to facilitate healing and growth. Through my years of experience I have witnessed over and over again people coming into therapy with great pain, discomfort and despair but with time, (sometimes within a very short time) their symptoms diminish and a whole new person emerges. Crisis times can be extremely painful and distressful but they can also be opportunities for growth and healing through therapy.

We were born to connect with ourselves and others, to be alive in our bodies and awake in the world, and to anchor into a sense of purpose. Painful experiences and negative patterns can disconnect us from our innate ability to full-heartedly live life. When you are stuck, dissatisfied in relationship, challenged by life transition, constrained by depression or anxiety, unable to heal from trauma, or simply feeling called to step more fully into your best self, therapy can be a powerful ally. I offer tools you can use to reconnect with your own power, resilience, and wholeness.

I am a trauma focused therapist for individuals and families who have experienced single or multiple adverse events in childhood or adulthood, and intergenerational trauma. It isn't always easy to reach out for help after these experiences, in my role as a therapist I am committed to assist my clients in this courageous step toward their healing journey. I am currently accepting new clients who live in California for tele-therapy through live video conferencing.

Are you a worrier? Overwhelmed? Anxious about challenges in your life? I offer individual talk therapy so you will feel better, find your strengths, and can be yourself. Therapy is a focused time, place, and person to think things through with. It helps you gain perspective, feel connected, and feel understood. I use warmth and creativity to help you find compassion and insight to draw upon, especially for when you are preoccupied by your worries and dilemmas.