Family Therapy in Grand Lake, Oakland, CA

We all struggle with emotional upheaval during times of stress and transition. Excessive worry, sadness, shame and hopelessness impact our daily lives and those who love us. Couples and families are challenged with the loss of connection and attachment that leads family conflict and a lack of mutually gratifying relationships. By defining our values and our goals we can learn to clarify what is important in our lives and how to enjoy life despite the many challenges we face.

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.

I believe my job is to create a sense of safety in which we can think about the things you might have trouble thinking about. There may be parts of your history that are difficult and frightening to contemplate on your own. Together, we can help you begin to understand yourself, trust yourself, soften toward yourself, validate what is true for you, and eventually accept all the parts of you. I’ll want to understand your current difficulties in the context of your personal and family history, and will listen with curiosity and warmth to understand the way in which your history may be affecting your current situation.

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 work with people who face challenges that often arise but are not exclusive to the second half of life such as: the trauma of illness & death, caring for aging parents, loss of satisfaction or sense of meaning in relationships and work, loss of a job, and/or loneliness. I also work with folks suffering from love addiction or love avoidance. These challenges can often be baffling and carry symptoms such as depression, fear and anxiety. The rational mind may understand what is going on but somehow the emotional and physical body can't always take solace in rational solutions.

Feeling anxious, overwhelmed, frustrated, or stuck? I can help you find ways to cope with uncomfortable feelings so that you can feel more balance in your daily life and more fulfilling relationships and experiences. Many of us rely on friends and family to help us work through problems, but sometimes our friends or family are part of the problem itself. Or maybe we just don't feel comfortable talking about certain issues with them. Oftentimes we withdraw from our support systems and end up feeling more and more alone.

I am seeking clients who are open to discovering what makes them unique through a creative and imaginative process; Clients whose goals may range from deeper self knowledge, to decreasing experiences with anxiety and depression, to understanding how trauma plays itself out in their relationships, to being able to resource themselves, etc; Clients interested in exploring their strengths as well as their more scary parts. I believe that pain and suffering are normal emotions and healing happens in connection with others; others who can hold and stay with the difficulty and provide curiosity and support.

Axis Mundi would like to present Inga Chegai. Inga is Marriage and Family Therapist & PCC Associate supervised by Elysha Martinez LMFT93493. I work with trauma, depression, anxiety, abandonment issues, loss of purpose, identity, parts of self, insecurities, anger, PTSD, addiction, patterns in relationship. Most patterns in our responses to events, people and our behaviors are learned. How to unlearn learned behaviors if this is all you know? Why just understanding the problem will not change trauma? How can we use a challenge as a way to see what we need to work on? I can help to find answers to those questions.

Adults/Teens/Families. Bring your anxiety or depression, issues with identity, life purpose and meaning, your trauma, your grief. I draw on 15+ years of experience as a case manager, special educator, and wilderness first responder.

I work with individuals, couples, parents, families and children to develop a therapeutic relationship based on their needs and goals. Through this process, clients get to know themselves better in a safe and supportive environment. I consider therapy a collaborative process that offers unique opportunities to manifest your ideal self through honesty and trust. I draw from the varied types of training and experience I have to find what works best for you and I create a safe space so you can explore the emotions that arise from difficult and painful experiences. I support couples and families in developing empathy, trust, and healthy

I care deeply about supporting clients on their evolving journey towards healing and returning to the truth of who they really are, and I will always honor your autonomy and unique life experiences as essential to your growth and unfolding. Coming from a first-gen immigrant family , I know that our lives can often be impacted by layers of familial/cultural/systemic pressures, intergenerational trauma, and childhood wounding, and I hold compassionate space to explore these aspects of experience through a holistic and trauma-informed lens. As an integrative therapist, I use a variety of approaches depending on your preferences.

Whether your issues are individual (related to mood, identity, self-growth, etc.) or relational (romantic, family , friendships, work, etc.), I believe that change is possible and strive to offer a supportive, caring, and affirming space for you to explore, heal, thrive, and grow. Together, we'll work in ways that are in-depth and practical, move through challenges, and tap into the strengths that are already within you. It’s important to me that I offer an environment that is free of judgment and oppression, and in which you are fully seen.

We are a group of Marriage and Family Therapists with locations in San Francisco, Oakland, and Orinda. We offer child and family play therapy, Hand in Hand Parenting coaching, individual and couples therapy, and consultation and trainings. Whether you are a child, parent, or teacher, we want to empower you to connect deeply with yourself and to help you create meaningful and satisfying relationships. Through the tools of play therapy, hand in hand parenting coaching, and relational psychotherapy we help children and adults reflect, build stronger bonds, and find the inner resources to create the family life you are longing for.

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.

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.

As children, and throughout our lives, many of us are taught, through our families, our peers and our culture, that parts of the truth of who we are—our feelings, thoughts, desires, expression or identity—are bad or wrong, and that we must cut off and bury those unacceptable parts of ourselves in order to be loved. We spend much of our lives living with a fractured sense of self, without ever really knowing why we suffer, feel incomplete, ashamed, and never enough, filling the holes in our hearts with poor substitutes for the acceptance, love and connection we so truly need.