Trauma Focused Therapists in Berkeley, CA

I am a safe and devoted ally, helping people to better understand and to befriend their inner terrain and behavior. I use warmth, curiosity, and humor to help remove obstacles to feeling happier and more connected. I have assisted many people facing the challenges that come with complex PTSD, including depression, anxiety, relationship and work difficulties, unwanted patterns of behavior, and painful emotional states. In my work with couples, I help each partner feel safe, heard, seen, and respected enough to uncover and put words to the vulnerable feelings that underly discord and alienation.

Are you anxious, depressed and tired? Are you feeling emotional for no reason? Feeling disoriented and lonely? Questioning everything in your life? I help people to deeply listen inside and let their choices be based on what is true for them. While pain and emotions are part of being human, suffering can be minimized by allowing what is inside of us to be expressed and find acceptance in our experiences. I support you to move through trauma, anxiety, anger and depression to empowerment. Stress-management is part of the work and looking at communication with ourselves and others to have fulfilling relationships.

The intimate relationship that develops in therapy requires being willing to be deeply known. Crisis, uncertainty, unwanted patterns, doubt, self-criticism & anxiety are unsettling. Addressing internal conflict is a private & individual process but that does not mean it must be done alone. Therapy is an opportunity to understand yourself better. It is a place to heal from the wounds of being “othered” due to personal issue or identity (race, sexuality, gender, immigration status, ethnicity, class, being donor conceived, disability, etc). Therapy offers an opportunity to confront fears & challenges in being understood.

Life does not always go according to plan. It takes courage and strength to admit it is time to seek help when you or your loved one is in need of support. An investment in a therapeutic relationship can allow you and your family to find a healthier way of interacting with one another and the world around you. I have the privilege of working with individuals and families navigating challenges such as depression, anxiety, trauma, family conflict, and sexually maladaptive behaviors. Hope is possible.

I work with folks from all walks of life, and specialize in working with gay men and the larger LGBTQ+ community, to alleviate depression, anxiety, shame, work stress, relationship issues, questions of meaning, & life transitions. I use a variety of therapeutic methods, including Internal Family Systems, EMDR, Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) and psychedelic integration. Psychedelic therapy allows access to deeper layers of self and accelerates progress toward personal growth and healing; it can accomplish in a short timeframe what might otherwise take years of weekly talk therapy. KAP is sliding scale ($150-$175).

I have been in private practice as a psychotherapist in Berkeley since 1994, working with adults and teens individually and with couples and groups, on recovering from relationship and betrayal trauma. This trauma may manifest as recurring intrusive reminders of overwhelming and unresolved past experiences and as emotional / somatic distress in your present life. Or it may result from inadequate nurture and protection in childhood (attachment trauma). Often, both contribute to the need and desire for relief and a better life beyond trauma. Individualized trauma therapy addresses the need for a new relationship with your past.

Whether you are just going through a particularly hard time, or have ongoing concerns with work, relationships, identity, or regulating your behavior or emotions, it's just a fact that we all need help sometimes. I've been assisting people with moderate to very serious concerns for over twenty-five years. I love working with a sense of common humanity in order to help my clients better manage their day-to-day lives, address struggles and limitations, as well as experience deeper integration of a sense of Self, relationships and life choices.

I am a bilingual, bicultural (English and Spanish-speaking) psychologist who provides psychotherapy and psychoanalysis to young adults and adults. I support patients in fostering resilience and in building more meaningful, connected relationships.

I am about the soft life. Soft life is a life of self-care where you make yourself a priority. It is a life that emphasizes reduced stress, dispelling false narratives and good boundaries. You are worthy and it is your time to breath. I provide individual therapy for a range of issues including stress, grief, multi-cultural issues, anxiety, and depression.

Welcome! My fundamental objective as a therapist is to help clients find and deepen connection – with others as well as with themselves. I seek to co-create warm and well-boundaried relationships that are grounded in safety, healthy attachment and non-judgement. I take an integrative and tailored approach to each client, which takes into account both my own clinical impressions and the client’s interests as well. My practice is informed by tenets of DBT and CBT, as well as mindfulness and somatic techniques. I also work within a strengths-based, trauma-informed lens.

Our experiences and lives are each unique, filled with a rich depth of nuance and meaning. I believe one of the profound ways therapy heals is in offering space for something vitally nutritive yet rare: presence that is both committed and neutral. This both intimate and non-reactive/nonjudgmental "being with” of contact with another, and with ourselves, of simply touching and holding our experiences, I believe communicates value and holds deep power for transformation. While trauma encodes in our nervous systems, beliefs and self-talk, neuroplasticity means that our brains can change with new experiences- internal and interpersonal.

There are so many reasons folx come to therapy, but most often it is because folx notice something isn’t working quite right, and they would like a change. My practice is rooted in the belief that therapy is a form of liberation. Understanding your emotional landscape, locating yourself in society, and exploring capitalism’s impact on you can help find your authentic self. My work is relational, person-centered, and trauma- and strengths-informed. Each person is unique, so we will collaborate to tailor your therapy to meet your needs. I draw upon the following therapies: humanistic, attachment, liberation, and feminist.

My approach is interactive and relational and I will meet you where you are with a great deal of warmth, respect and patience. I see therapy as a collaborative process and I am dedicated to providing a welcoming, non-judgmental space where we can address your hopes for therapy together. I enjoy working with individual adults, adolescents and couples.

Are you or your middle school/high school age child needing the support of a gender specialist? Or are you an adult needing a LGBTQ+ affirming transgender/nonbinary therapist to support you in building greater resiliency and mental health? Welcome to my practice! I'm Dr. Townsend (he/him or they/them). I bring research, clinical, and lived experience to my work with the LGBTQ+ community. My approach combines tailored interventions, a warm interpersonal style, and fostering a safe and supportive environment to support you or your teen to reach greater authenticity and actualization.

I am drawn to support clients heal the anxiety, guilt and shame from trauma. This may include trauma related to abuse, bullying, accidents, harassment, religious impositions, discrimination, and more. My clients often want to feel less anxiety, better manage their triggers, enjoy sexual intercourse with their partner(s), and redefine themselves from the trauma they experienced. Grounding techniques, challenging learned beliefs, asserting needs, and living more for self, are common themes in my practice and essential for post-traumatic growth. Integrating identities (e.g. race, ethnicity, sexuality, etc.) is common in my practice.

I work with individuals who want to overcome persistent behaviors, thoughts and emotions that inhibit their ability to live a life they love so that they have meaningful relationships, deeply fulfilling work and self-confidence. My approach is based on the belief that in order to benefit from therapy the therapeutic relationship must be grounded in direct communication, collaboration and compassion. You need someone to be real who will both challenge and care for you. My patients often reflect they are relieved to finally work with someone who engages in conversation and shares responsibility for the progress of each session.

It is only human to let the trials and tribulations of life weigh us down, and pull us away from our personal growth. We can feel stuck in old patterns and it is hard to see a way out. Therapy allows us to see our struggles from a new perspective, and find new paths towards positive change, and create a more harmonious interaction with our world. I work with couples and individuals on a variety of mental health issues including depression, anxiety, trauma, grief, relationship issues and more.

Therapy is a collaborative process that can help us move through painful situations and challenging transitions, finding meaning even in darker places. As the poet May Sarton wrote, 'without darkness/nothing comes to birth/As without light/nothing flowers.' Constructing a safe and supportive container for healing allows us to explore patterns in a different light. In this renewed relational field, development and choices take root. Grounded in Somatics, an approach that builds awareness of links between mind and body, I am influenced by Jungian analytic psychology, psychodynamic, cognitive/behavioral, and family systems frameworks.

If you have experienced any level of trauma in your life, either developmentally as a child or through other life experiences, I can support you in slowly and gently releasing the effects of those traumas, and restoring your nervous system to its rightful, regulated state. Through the use of social engagement, guided awareness, movement, art, and other resources, we will explore ways to free you from the bondage of the past and worries about the future. In the safety of a supportive and loving environment, I will offer you guidance to help you live more fully in the present moment, with a deepened sense of joy and ease.