Therapists in Berkeley, CA
Paula Mandel
Psychologist, PhD
Verified
1 Endorsed
Verified
1 Endorsed
I've been in practice for over 25 years, helping people who are struggling with depression, anxiety, relationship issues, and a range of other difficulties. I work from an integrative psychoanalytic perspective. This means that we work together to understand in a deep way the painful patterns that hold you back and where efforts to shield yourself from pain create more problems. We attend to your thoughts and feelings in the moment, which is in many ways like a mindfulness practice, aimed at enlarging acceptance of the known and as yet unknown parts of yourself.
Shari Unitan, MFT
Marriage & Family Therapist, MFT
Verified
Verified
Are you experiencing marital conflict? Do you worry about how conflict with your mate affects your children? I have over 20 years experience working with clients dealing with a wide variety of issues, including family conflict, divorce, child custody, parenting issues, depression, addiction, and anxiety.
Research has proven that the parental relationship directly impacts a child's self esteem and social skills.
I am a warm, dynamic and solution oriented therapist. I work along side you, to help you identify and overcome the problems which are causing pain in your life.
Takako J Ainsworth
Clinical Social Work/Therapist, LCSW
Verified
Verified
I work with clients experiencing emotional distress, adjustment difficulty, and communication challenges. I specialize in loss and grief. In thinking about Grief and Loss, divorce or death often come to mind. With more than 13 years' experience in helping individuals dealing with life-threatening illnesses and coping issues, I came to realize that each of us goes through different forms of loss throughout our lives-not just at the end of life. In that we may lose some small part of ourselves to meet others' expectation or society's requirements we sometimes require rebalancing to who we really are.
Nancy Jackson
Marriage & Family Therapist, LMFT
Verified
1 Endorsed
Verified
1 Endorsed
Authentic change happens from the inside out. It can't be veneered onto one's surface. Painful life experiences create a complex web inside that shapes a person's world. This web can limit one's ability to find joy and meaning in life. Psychotherapy offers a way to access deep emotional experience. As therapy proceeds connections will start to appear between past & current life experience. Problematic internal patterns will become visible and open to reevaluation and change. As internal stress decreases, clarity, joy and meaning will have the chance to emerge.
Farhana Sobhan
Marriage & Family Therapist, MA, LMFT
Verified
1 Endorsed
Verified
1 Endorsed
My practice is supporting others in becoming more resilient and taking steps towards leading a life with meaning and intentionality. Our unique intersections of life have brought us experiences and challenges that made a lasting impact on how we navigate our systems and relationships. Becoming more aware of the patterns that enabled us to survive in the past can aid in providing more insight and clarity into ourselves. Together we will build capacity for unlearning old patterns and developing new capacities that support your growth process and change the narrative from surviving to thriving.
Not accepting new clients
Sharon Stafanson
Psychologist, PsyD, RYT 200
Verified
Verified
I utilize an integrated approach that considers body, mind, emotions, and spirit. This approach involves embarking on a journey with you in which I bring my entire presence to hold you with deep care, non-judgment, and a playful sense of humor. As you share your experiences with me, I will wholeheartedly attune to you with both my inner knowing and acquired knowledge and skills. I draw from decades of study of diverse therapeutic modalities, eastern wisdom traditions, and personal life experience. I honor your unique strengths and capabilities and recognize that we are all at various points in the process of evolving.
Amanda Martin LMFT Psychotherapy
Marriage & Family Therapist, MA, LMFT,
Verified
Verified
In counseling, my passion is to offer support to mothers and parents of any gender in the perinatal period (including trying to conceive, pregnancy & pregnancy challenges/loss, birth & birth loss, postpartum and early parenthood), as well as to those healing around grief and loss, and exploring aspects of any identity you hold (around sexuality, race, gender, class, ability, etc) that need compassionate witnessing and support. I am also a certified domestic violence counselor, and am trained in EMDR through the Institute for Creative Mindfulness. I bring these skills to support our work together.
Alexandra A Phillippe
Marriage & Family Therapist, MA, MFT
Verified
1 Endorsed
Verified
1 Endorsed
If you are suffering from traumatic life events, painful memories, anxiety, fears, or feeling stuck, allow me to help. I will work quickly and efficiently to teach individualized skills such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) that help you control unwanted thoughts and fears. Using EMDR therapy, I assist my clients to process the root causes of their problems, enabling permanent resolution of painful memories, traumas and phobias. I am direct and solution focused, using up to date evidence based psychotherapy, within a warm, compassionate and nurturing therapeutic environment.
Ian Faerstein
Psychologist, PsyD
Verified
Verified
Sometimes we experience difficulties that we can't seem to solve on our own. It may be a life transition that creates unexpected challenges, such as graduating, changing jobs, becoming a parent, or losing a loved one. It may be a relationship problem or a difficult situation at work. Or it may be more of an internal struggle, in which we find ourselves feeling anxious, lonely, or stuck. Sometimes we just have a vague sense that something isn't right, that we're not as happy or as fulfilled as we could be.
Anki Alford
Marriage & Family Therapist, MA, MFT
Verified
Verified
As a Licensed Psychotherapist I help people with feelings of anxiety, stress, panic, depression and disconnect. You might be struggling with low self worth or a relentless inner critic that affects your relationships or school or work performance. By using a trauma informed approach we uncover what lies underneath allowing for understanding, access to compassion and the easing of overwhelming emotions.
Ellie Lotan
Marriage & Family Therapist, MA, LMFT
Verified
1 Endorsed
Verified
1 Endorsed
I believe that the soul has an innate drive toward healing. We each have the capacity to heal ourselves if we can slow down enough to notice what is asking for our attention. I approach therapy as a weekly collaborative ritual in which clients can become more skilled at listening and giving voice to their inner knowing. Weaving together tools from expressive arts, somatic experiencing, and trauma-informed relational psychotherapy, I offer an integrated, whole-person approach in which we work as a team to uncover your intuitive guidance and learn how to tap in to the wisdom of your higher self.
Jennifer Maghsoudi Golden Psy.d.
Psychologist, PsyD, MA
Verified
4 Endorsed
Verified
4 Endorsed
Healing our emotional wounds is the work of psychotherapy. When we are moving toward our goals we become filled with more presence, kindness, compassion, peace, and freedom. Letting go and grieving the shame and guilt we once accepted as our own creates the space to explore who we truly are and create positive self-esteem and real connection.
Susan Diamond Moore
Clinical Social Work/Therapist, LCSW, ACSW
Verified
Verified
I consider it a privilege to work with you to explore aspects of your life experience which have diminished your satisfaction with life or otherwise left you feeling lost or alone.
Challenges around loss, aging, illness, trauma or relationships can feel too frightening to tackle alone. As a seasoned and compassionate psychotherapist, I can help you bear and work with what may feel unbearable.
Together, we will create a protected space that fosters the trust, aliveness and self-expression that are essential to growth and success in love and work, where you can ultimately reclaim your life and joie-de-vivre.
Waitlist for new clients
Peninsula Counseling and Consulting
Clinical Social Work/Therapist, MBA, LCSW
Verified
4 Endorsed
Verified
4 Endorsed
Let’s be honest: you’ve always been a responsible adult, and now you’ve got a lot to manage! Between a demanding career and family needs, you’re feeling stressed, and life feels out of balance. It’s impossible to do it all, and nothing ever seems good enough. You feel alone and worried, and your social network isn’t able to provide you with the support that you need. Perhaps your sleep is problematic, or your energy is low. Maybe you’re feeling anxious, depressed, irritable, or having difficulty concentrating. You might be troubled by feeling that you're an ineffective partner or parent. Things will get better soon, right?
Aimee Tomczak
Marriage & Family Therapist, MA, MFT
Verified
Verified
My intention is to create a safe, compassionate space where I will listen, guide and support you to experience yourself more fully and to awaken more aliveness, creativity, and meaning in your life. Through awareness of body and mind states and habitual patterns of thinking and relating, we will work together to transform limiting beliefs that keep you from a more fulfilled experience of life. We will lay the groundwork to release the pain of old stories, and to create internal resources to allow you to experience an embodied life with more joy, aliveness and meaning.
Lilian Gonzalez
Marriage & Family Therapist Associate, MA
Verified
Verified
Sometimes it is hard to ask for help. You have everyone else convinced that you have got it all together. However, there's parts of yourself you do not recognize, don't understand or simply feel you can not change. Sometimes these thoughts and feelings can lead us to behave in ways that are not healthy.
Fanshen Thompson
Clinical Social Work/Therapist, LCSW
Verified
Verified
Even when you around people, you tend to feel alone, or perhaps like you do not belong.You feel committed to your job, but wonder how long you can sustain the pace. You inevitably feel like you are falling short from the high expectations you set for yourself. On the surface, things in your life appear in place in your life, but inside you feel unfulfilled and wonder where it is taking you. You sometimes wonder if you are the only one who feels a sense of inadequacy. Whether you are in a relationship, or single, you feel disconnected from others and wonder if you are enough.
Joel Crohn
Psychologist, PhD
Verified
Verified
I am a clinical psychologist in private practice who specializes in couples and family therapy. I have researched, written, and lectured nationally for mental health professionals and general audiences about relationships and cross-cultural issues in love and work for over 30 years.
Nancy Compton
Psychologist, PhD
Verified
Verified
You really can have a life where you feel more connected, self assured, happier and at peace. You probably have been struggling for awhile and now you are ready to courageously face the difficulties that have kept you from living your best life. Your difficulties may stem from an unsatisfying relationship, unfulfilling job, history of trauma, or you may be worried about your child.
Not accepting new clients
Amy Ruben
Marriage & Family Therapist, MA, LMFT
Verified
2 Endorsed
Verified
2 Endorsed
I'm a body-oriented, ritual-honoring, experiential kind of therapist. Whether you are struggling with anxiety, depression, the stresses of everyday life or the aftermath of trauma, we will focus on both alleviating your immediate sources of distress and increase your sense of safety, security and well-being. As a holistically and somatic-oriented therapist, I believe it is important to integrate the mind, body and spirit in the process of psychotherapy so that deeper awareness and change is possible. As we meet, I will offer you an opportunity to work experientially, as well as to share through talking.
See more therapy options for Berkeley
What type of Berkeley mental health professional is right for me?
While most types of therapy have a lot in common, they also fall into clusters that share core features, such as cognitive therapies or psychodynamic approaches. It is important to seek someone who practices evidence-based therapy, meaning one or more forms of treatment that have been scientifically evaluated and tested, and demonstrate consistent improvement for a majority of patients.
If you are unsure about choosing the right therapist, it might be useful to first learn more about therapy types and modalities.
If you are unsure about choosing the right therapist, it might be useful to first learn more about therapy types and modalities.
How to find a therapist in Berkeley?
When looking to find a therapist, it is certainly important to consider training and credentials. Studies also indicate that the therapeutic alliance, or the relationship the client develops with the therapist, is an important factor in their ability to work together to achieve the client’s goals.
What method of therapy is right for me?
When it comes to treatment methods, there's no 'right way.’ Each method of therapy can be beneficial for a variety of issues. Finding a psychologist or therapist who is a good fit for you is the most important step to discovering what type of therapy, or combination of therapeutic approaches, will meet your individual needs. Learn what to expect from different types of therapy and how they work.
How to use my insurance?
Understanding cost and insurance coverage is an important concern for many people. With some basic research and conversations with prospective therapists, you should be able to have a good understanding of the best way to afford therapy.