Attachment-based Therapists in Grand Lake, Oakland, CA

Therapy for Women, Children, and Families. Perhaps you are struggling regularly with how you see and feel about yourself, or relationships feel difficult and unsatisfying. I enjoy creating a therapy to address your particular concerns, and respect and support your values and personality. Psychotherapy is quite a unique experience, it does help with alleviating symptoms and coping with difficult life circumstances, it is also a unique relational way to see and find your true self, an opportunity to process your feelings, develop insights, and get support in discharging traumas and more.

Your relationship with yourself is key to how happy you are at home, at work, and beyond. I collaborate one-on-one with clients to cultivate self-compassion and heal from old wounds so they can move from surviving to thriving. I act as a guide and sounding board, with a commitment to respecting each individual as the expert on their own experience. As a queer, genderfluid therapist and activist, I support partners in monogamous and consensual nonmonogamous relationships, and I’m committed to honoring and uplifting the lived experiences of people from underrepresented racial backgrounds, abilities, genders, and sexualities.

Finding the right therapist can be hard. Maybe you're facing difficult experiences of grief and loss, serious illness, or family conflict. Maybe you're wrestling with depression or anxiety. Or maybe you just have a general sense that your life has lost meaning and direction. Whatever brings you in, I'll offer a warm-hearted and positive space for us to learn together about your particular situation, and about the possibilities for healing and transformation that can be found within it. Having someone to talk to makes a real difference.

I enjoy in working with; self esteem & worth, trauma healing & recovery, body image & body positivity, disordered eating & relationship to body, belonging as our birthright, transforming deep shame into liberation, body & sex shame, relationships and boundaries, anxiety, stress & hyper-vigilance, nervous system imbalances, life transitions & identity, honoring grief, loss & death, life threatening illness, cancer, auto-immune disease, rites of passage, aging, adolescence, menopause, women's empowerment, highly sensitive people & empaths, people pleasers, intergenerational trauma & ancestral healing, mothering & the mother wound.

Now Accepting New Clients — Do you feel stuck in the same loops, repeating old patterns, emotional struggles, and self-defeating behaviors? Through a mindfulness-based, somatic, and trauma-sensitive approach, I support you to develop more compassionate awareness to break these cycles, let go of limiting beliefs and be free to live the life you want. Therapy can help you feel more grounded and confident so that you can better navigate relationships, life transitions, and daily stressors. My style is warm, authentic and direct - I'm here to help you develop greater self-awareness and discover new ways of moving through the world.

Often times in life we have experiences that cause us to disconnect from our true selves. This can lead to and come from fear, shame, and uncertainty that impacts our relationships to others and ourselves. Reconnecting to our innate wisdom and remembering who we are can be a challenging process and my goal is to work with you to journey back to yourself. Drawing on depth work, art therapy, mindfulness, dream work, and emotional and somatic processing, I will work at your pace to navigate what is most meaningful for you as we find ways for you to authentically reconnect to yourself and others.

Folks come to therapy for a variety of reasons that all boil down to change, whether they're struggling to handle it or make it. Many of my clients' lives don't align with societal norms, either intentionally coloring outside the lines or struggling to fit in. Folks may find themselves overwhelmed, dealing with big emotions, the effects of complex or single-event trauma, complex medical issues, or chronic pain. I am passionate about working with the LGBTQ+ - including trans kids and their families, disabled, and neurodiverse populations. I like to work with individuals, couples, polycules, and families of all shapes and sizes.

You've come here because you're lost, lonely, confused or in pain. Perhaps you've done everything the "right way" but that hasn't led to happiness. You want things to change, but you don't know how, or where, to start. I believe I can help you, as I've helped many others, including myself. Therapy can be a radical, healing experience, and I attend my own therapy sessions on a regular basis. In our work together, you can unpack and witness your whole self in a safe, collaborative, and empathic way.

Are you looking for a consistent touchstone in your week or every other week that offers support in what you're navigating in your life? If you are looking to build your toolbox and develop your sense of empowerment to navigate this world, then we can work on that together. I work with clients seeking a combination of talk therapy and mindfulness practices to develop their intuition and a compassionate relationship with their inner world, and who are seeking to build more peace in their nervous systems, relationships, and environments. If you’d like to take a step, contact me today for a consultation.

You’re fumbling, feeling clunky, ashamed, lost in transition, and searching for answers. You’ve been told you’re too much, too scattered, and too picky, when in reality, you may very well know what you want and it seems others just can’t meet you there. Together we will explore and unfold acceptance and awareness around ALL of your parts, especially the most intense ones. What you’re searching for is out there, let’s take these next steps on your journey.

I am a LCSW with over a decade of social work experience in clinic, school, non-profit and community settings. I specialize in working with adults, adolescents and their families, members of the LGBTQI2S+ communities, and with working artists. I have an understanding and dedication to working within a social justice framework, and strive to maintain a practice that is affirming of all identities, experiences and orientations. I believe that any strong therapeutic relationship is built on collaboration, honesty, and the belief that change is possible.

Life can be hard... And we don’t have to do it alone. I work with couples and individuals ranging in issues of anxiety, depression, grief/loss, self esteem, relationships, and parenting. My own painful experiences, and the work I have done to heal, have afforded me the ability to be present and sit with people in their own pain. I have a natural inclination to seek out deep connection with people which informs my work with clients. This can help my clients to deepen connections with others, outside of the room. I work with couples to strengthen connection, deepen intimacy, and find their voice within the partnership.

Currently full up and not accepting new clients! - In couples therapy with me, I help by teaching you communication strategies to help lessen defensiveness and increase empathy and warmth in your relationship. I intervene to stop or change interactions that are keeping you from getting the connection you want. I provide mediation and structure for difficult conversations. And by teaching in-the-moment self-regulation and co-regulation techniques, I help you and your partner to speak from and listen with your best selves.

Taking the necessary steps towards mental, emotional, spiritual and physical well-being is not an easy task, and does not have to be done alone. My commitment is assisting and supporting you in finding the unique tool you need to move towards long term healing. My focus is on mind, body and spirit as we work together. I respect the unique and intricate experiences and identities you bring into the therapeutic relationship.

I've been working as a clinical social worker/therapist for 16 years, with individuals and groups, from youth through adulthood, in a diverse array of settings, most prominently the health center at El Cerrito High School, where for many years I was the Training Director. I've also worked in jails, SROs, youth centers, camps, a small press, oftentimes offering writing as a vehicle for healing. My calling and gift is to hold sacred, safe + brave spaces for people to be truly seen and known, and from there to support them stepping into their unique and authentic selves. It is my great privilege to meet people in this courageous place.

Transitions in our lives need to be marked and held to be integrated. The journey through can be dark and confusing, and how we adapt, grow, and who we look to for support, will illuminate our paths. I have had a focus on those contemporary rites of passage within my own experience, coming into adulthood, birth and parenthood, through relationships, my own identity, and facing our last goodbyes to loved ones. My work as a birth doula drew even more emphasis on the importance of our experiences around pregnancy and childbirth, and how celebrating the changing of our seasons was crucial to our sense of self.

We all have the capacity to feel a full array of emotions, which serve to both protect us and connect us to others. However, often due to socialization, family of origin, or individual temperament, we learn that some emotions are dangerous to feel and express. Through individual therapy, the therapist is the "trusted other" who can help both acknowledge and witness the emotions that may have been long hidden. When these emotions are uncovered, we can more easily discover our true want and needs.