Therapists in Russian Hill, San Francisco, CA

About me: I was born and raised in Santiago, Chile. I am a licensed Marriage Family Therapist in the state of CA (LMFT 102349). I hold a MA in Counseling Psychology as well as a BA in Latin American Literature and a Minor in German. I have also lived in Lucerne, Switzerland and Munich, Germany. While in Chile, I studied opera.

AUTHENTICITY, ALIVENESS, and CONNECTION are vital ingredients to living a healthy and meaningful life. Unfortunately these qualities do not always receive the proper attention needed to thrive. As a result, we develop coping strategies that often lead us to not getting what we want in life, leaving us feeling stuck, anxious, depressed, and hopeless. Therapy provides a unique opportunity to explore the unconscious patterns that keep us stuck. Therapy can help you make meaningful change to live the life you wish and to create the relationships you long for.

Feeling stuck? Maybe you've tried it all, or maybe you're just now ready to begin. Always feeling like you're not "good enough" and as if anxiety runs your life? I want you to know you aren't alone, you truly are good enough, and together we can navigate and address the barriers that keep the life you desire seemingly just beyond your grasp. If you seek a safe space and understanding, you're in the right place. If genuine transformation is what you're after, our sessions are tailored to fit your needs. I specialize in trauma and anxiety therapy, utilizing the most effective interventions and my experience to help you heal.

I mostly treat couples who are navigating parenting and communication. But I work with individual clients too, Bay area residents who have multiple responsibilities and many demands placed on them daily. I help clients ease their doubt in social situations, calm down the inner critic. In my sessions we explore new ways to connect in many different circumstances. If you have fallen into negative thinking patterns, this constant worry may wear you down. I am there to be your collaborator, to find the best solution for you.

We often come to therapy in crisis. Something has gone wrong in a relationship. Major, disorienting life transitions are underway. Emotional experiences are becoming increasingly overwhelming. Life seems stuck, static, depressing. Anxiety is on the rise. A series of events have altered our course. We are feeling lost. Therapy can offer a soothing lifeboat for these rough seas. Often crisis is a wake up call, a time for necessary change, new growth, a reconnoitering of the landscape, a vivid reorientation. My practice is designed to move you from crisis to care, from care to confidence, confidence to creative, enlivening capacity.

I am an experienced therapist who has been working with teens, individuals, couples and families for over 30 years. I see therapy as a partnership: you enter this process with your particular issues and uniqueness and together, through building trust, being curious and using specialized techniques, you progress. My approach is based on my client's personal history and their needs and, in general, I am quite interactive. I provide short-term as well as long-term treatment.

The journey through infertility and motherhood can be stressful and lonely. It often requires patience, perseverance, but above all HOPE. I want to empower and support you during this journey. Are you suspecting a problem because you have been trying to get pregnant without success? Have you been diagnosed with "infertility"? Are you considering IVF? Are you struggling with sustaining a pregnancy? Does your heart feel heavy with grief and sorrow over your loss and are ready for relief? Did you recently have a baby and are struggling with postpartum anxiety, depression or simply feeling overwhelmed? Reach out today. I can help you.

Do you find yourself on an emotional rollercoaster, feeling exhausted, irritable, and unsure of your path through parenthood? Perhaps bonding with your baby feels like an uphill battle. Maybe you're grappling with the overwhelming emotions that can follow a miscarriage, abortion, or birth trauma. Infertility may have left you feeling isolated, like no one truly understands your struggle. In these moments of uncertainty, it's easy to feel lost, confused, and sad. You might even have unsettling thoughts and images about your baby, leading to guilt and shame. It's okay to admit that sometimes, parenthood doesn't feel so joyful.

Drawing from my background as editor of an arts magazine and a contemporary artist, I offer tailored psychoanalytic consulting services aimed at helping artists and other individuals tap into their imagination, surmount creative blocks, and unearth fresh inspiration. My practice is rooted in the belief that engaging with existential and metaphysical concepts, as well as understanding one's vocational essence, can pave the way for transformative growth and the realization of personal aspirations.

Are you having difficulty in your relationships and wondering, "how do I make things better?" Are you experiencing a loss of self, feeling confused and/or depressed? Is it difficult to identify your feelings? Have your feelings become too painful to experience on your own? It is only natural to want to avoid feelings that are painful. It is our basic human instinct to avoid anything that is painful especially emotional pain. Unfortunately, avoiding pain results in maladaptive behavior and difficulties within relationships. Avoiding feelings can result in feeling numb and/or loss of self.

Do you "have it all" but feel unsatisfied? We live in an era where we grew up being told we could have everything we wanted and many of us had the pressure to "succeed" for our parents/families dreams, however, we are quickly realizing that having everything does not bring us lasting joy and instead burns us out. I am here to help individuals minimize their life to invest their time and energy into what truly matters. When working with me, you’ll find that my style is exploratory and extremely action-oriented while being genuine, honest, and humorous.

Clients often describe me as authentic, energetic, and engaged. My warmth, acceptance, and genuine care and interest in you is evident- I'm not a detached clinical robot that expects you to figure it all out on your own while I sit in silence. I take my work very seriously, but it's not uncommon in session for my clients and I to laugh together and find humor in life's challenges. There is value in making space for the wide range of your emotional experience- fear, sadness, and rage... but also freedom, peace, and joy.

Each of us has complicated ways of protecting ourselves from being vulnerable, and those self-protective tendencies are often outside of our awareness. Although powerfully protective, these old inner systems get in the way of living with ease with self and others. I will help you either individually or within your relationship dynamics to understand and heal yourself and your relationships by helping you become more self aware and better resourced. Becoming aware of your habits of disconnection and choosing connection is an unfolding process. I am here to walk with you on that journey with compassion, presence, and perspective .

Welcome to my practice. I have over 30 years of experience providing therapy to individuals and couples from very diverse backgrounds with regards to ethnicity, religion, age, country of origin, and sexual orientation. The therapy I do tends to be short-term, "here-and-now" focused, goal oriented, and skills based. I believe my clients want to change their behaviors, and not just "talk" about what's going wrong. My therapeutic style is collaborative, non-judgmental, warm and compassionate. I'm not a "one size fits all" therapist because every client is unique. I offer a Good Faith Estimate at the client's request.

I am a family therapist and my approach to psychotherapy has been shaped by over thirty years of work with addictions. Helping clients into Recovery has led to a special understanding of the complexities of relationships and the processes of change for individuals, couples, and families. I have spent most of those years seeing couples and families in San Francisco's wonderfully diverse cultural landscape. I am no stranger to the complexities of gender, class and ethnicity as they influence the work of family or individual therapy.