Therapists in Oakland, CA

I believe every person and family is unique and there are many ways to raise a healthy child. I want to honor the strengths within you and your family and offer the tools and support to help your child and family thrive. Through a trauma-informed lens, I work extensively with youth, parents, and families on life transitions, healthy communication, and processing/ healing from grief or abuse.

I consider myself to be a neurospicy therapist, who is authentic and direct. My style is anchored in cognitive science, attachment theory, mindfulness, social justice, parts work, and somatic psychology. I value science equally with the domain of intuition and art, and I consider myself an especially huge nerd with evolutionary psychology. I'm queer and LGBTQIA+ aligned, and I'm fluent in polyamory and kink relationship dynamics.

I specialize in working with folx who identify with the following communities: ethical non-monogamy (ENM), polyamory, kink, BDSM, and LGBTQA+ and who are struggling with anxiety, depression and a history of trauma. I think of psychotherapy as a necessary form of social activism toward a larger goal of equity for people of all races, genders, sexual/relational orientations, levels of ability, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Let's work together to bring you back to yourself, your relationships and your community!

Are you sensing a budding awareness in yourself of difficult patterns in your life that you wish to transform and grow through? It would be an honor to support you on your healing journey. I’m a therapist with a trauma-informed, client-centered lens and I utilize various creative modalities to help my clients experience greater insight, self-love, and balance in their lives. Some of the tools I use are art therapy, narrative therapy, meditation, dance movement therapy, as well somatic and sensory interventions. I also have training in SE, ACT, DBT, and CBT and these modalities influence my eclectic therapeutic technique.

Has something in your life become too much to bear? If you’re feeling lonely, alienated, confused about your relationships, hurt, angry, or feeling unheard; if you’re finding the stress of parenting overwhelming, or feeling defeated by cycles of conflict, I'd like to help you. I work with individuals, couples and families wounded by their family systems, who have experienced trauma or abuse, have struggled with a narcissistic parent or partner, or have been negatively impacted by relationships with their in-laws. I passionately believe that with the right help, you can move from suffering and uncertainty to clarity and empowerment.

Are you looking for a new creative way to deal with difficulties in life and get in touch with your best self? Do you feel like you’ve tried everything with your child, but they struggle to benefit from traditional talk therapy? As art therapists, we incorporate talk therapy with art making to help our clients unlock their creative potential, look at problems with fresh eyes, and develop new creative coping skills for managing with difficult emotions. If you or your child is feeling blocked by past trauma, stuck in destructive patterns, or overwhelmed by depression or anxiety, then I encourage you to reach out. You are not alone.

Life is challenging. We all benefit from receiving support as we navigate transitions, relationships, and the constancy of change. I have 20 years' experience supporting people who span a diverse range of ages and cultural backgrounds. My approach integrates body and sensory awareness with relaxation practices. I offer information about how neurobiological processes impact functioning and experience. The therapeutic relationship is collaborative and dynamic as we observe and shift unhelpful patterns of thought and behavior. Some people choose to make art as part of most meetings; others prefer to mostly talk.

Have you recently experienced a traumatic loss and are feeling lost and overwhelmed with grief? Are you in the midst of a major life transition with your career or relationship? Perhaps you are an artist experiencing a creative block? Art Therapy may be the answer for your or your teen. As an Art Therapist, I specialize in guiding clients through grief and loss, life transitions, trauma, anxiety, depression, ADHD, and blocks in creativity and self exploration. I help my clients to harness the power of creativity to deepen emotional exploration and uncover feelings that may be challenging to otherwise articulate with words.

Are you finding yourself struggling to adapt to a change or transition in your life? You may be finding yourself overthinking, anxious, overwhelmed and/or feeling stuck. You may be having trouble sleeping, feeling sad, hopeless, insecure or tired of that negative voice in your head that seems to hold you back. You want to feel more confident, calm, clear and positive about the future. You want things to be different, get on a new path, but you aren't sure how to get there.

I am passionate about supporting creatives, artists, innovators and activists looking to break limiting patterns and cycles in their art, work, relationships and sex lives. In our sessions together we will explore ways to work through personal, creative and/or intimacy deadlocks, create and thrive while living in a world that often does not view your work/existence/desires as valid, manage symptoms of emotional overwhelm, creative fatigue, sexual shame and “imposter syndrome" and challenge habitual responses to help discover and reintroduce the parts of ourselves that may have been left behind, unexpressed, repressed or unexplored.

My approach to counseling begins with careful listening to understand your unique situation and personal goals. I will listen without judging you or rushing to a quick fix that might not be applicable for your specific situation. Many of my clients enter counseling feeling alone or overwhelmed by feelings of sadness, anxiety, anger, or stress. They may feel stuck in painful relationships that aren't working, or stuck with intense feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, dread, or inner pain. My treatment approach is gentle, educational, and experiential.

My clients are most often dealing with communication concerns, issues of intimacy and complications related to life changes. When traumatic events impact their daily lives, they may seek assistance. Occasionally couples and families experiencing stress in their relationships may need an objective listener and guide to help them figure out how to reestablish balance. With the many demands of life and work, we work together to find pleasure in their families and for parents to reinstate parental authority within the family structure.

I am a queer artist, activist and therapist. I believe deeply in healing, and my practice as a therapist is one way I use my own healing journey to inform and create space for others to explore theirs. I seek to center my work on empowering and supporting people in the LGBTQIA+ community navigating all the emotional work it takes to exist in an oppressive culture - anxiety, depression, relationships, sex, gender, substance use, family, housing, employment, etc. Whether directly or indirectly through my practice, I also work to uplift and center the empowerment of queer, trans*, Black, indigenous and people of color (QTBIPOC).

Therapy is a space you carve out with me to reconnect - with yourself, your goals, your life’s meaning, your passion, your creativity, your spiritual path. We all struggle with difficult things at times; they pull us away from who we want to be, or the path we intend to walk in life. I believe relationships are the most important healers we have in our lives – starting with your relationship with yourself! Extending to all your other important and beloved relationships - with family, friends, community, planet, and spirit. No matter where you are, your journey to self-empowerment and joy begins Right Here. I will be there with you.

My framework as a psychotherapist is inspired by black feminist sci-fi writer, Octavia E. Butler who saw the possibility of many more worlds than just our own. I believe that transformative internal healing is critical to envisioning and building these worlds without the presence of imperialism, white supremacy, capitalism and cishet-patriarchy. The tools I use to support the exploration of individual, interpersonal and intergenerational trauma are shaped by abolition that rejects punitive and scarcity mindsets and disability justice which strives to value every body.

Whatever you're struggling with, it can be really helpful to have someone by your side to figure it out. Together we can bring awareness to your patterns, emotional experience, and relational issues in order to give you more agency and empowerment. That is what therapy is to me- I believe you are the expert in your own life, and I am there to support you. My ideal client is anyone who is motivated to explore their inner world and connect to their sense of self through depth work and creative means.

Finding the right therapist can be daunting, and for some, it can be the most difficult step. I offer a free 15 minute phone consultation so that you can assess if we are the right fit. I work with teens and adults presenting with concerns such as depression, anxiety, trauma, grief/ loss, chronic health concerns, relationship issues, and life transitions. In our work together we will explore your strengths and root you in them. We will define your values and explore how to live your life in harmony with them. We will also create space for the areas in your life where you want change and navigate the path to get you there.

I am a licensed child psychologist with extensive experience in providing therapeutic services to children, adolescents, emerging adults, and families. My specialization lies in helping clients navigate through various challenges such as anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, peer and family stress, learning, behavioral and attention difficulties, life transitions, trauma, separation, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts. Additionally, I offer guidance to parents, helping them understand their children's challenges and strengths more deeply, enhance family communication and connection, and learn effective parenting and coping skills.

We often find ourselves and bodies, on the path towards health after overwhelming experiences, trauma, grief or loss. Re-igniting our inner-fire and natural emotional balance can understandably be a challenge. Trauma-informed somatic psychotherapy can help! I take my role as a therapist, one who supports the client On their journey, as a facilitator of a sacred collaboration. I conduct therapy with an intention to process and move trauma (anxiety, depression and grief accompanying it) in order to restore balance between the mind, body, and spirit and reignite the internal fire.