Teen Therapists in Shafter, Oakland, CA

I work primarily with relationships; your relationship to yourself, to others, to your future, and to your past. With over 30 years in practice, I use a collaborative style with my clients. Self esteem, depression, anxiety, parenting issues, infertility, life transitions, adult children of alcoholics, and recovery from addictions and trauma are areas of my expertise. I specialize in helping couples improve communication and intimacy while creating more secure relationships. I see adults and adolescents and supervise psychologists in training. I often see people who are stuck in negative patterns and are struggling to change.

Everyone has their ups and downs. Life can be stressful and challenging at times. These are the times when it can be helpful for you to talk with someone to support you getting through a difficult time. Whether you have a child having difficulty in school, an adolescent transitioning into adulthood, relationship issues with a partner, or other life stressing events, I provide a safe space to help manage these challenges.

Clients approach me with a wide variety of concerns. Some examples: Teens and young adults often seek help in identifying and gaining traction in their goals and aspirations. Parents may struggle with their adolescent or young adult children, and need help navigating these years. Older clients may be facing the life challenges of redirecting their present and future life's goals, facing diminishing capacity, and seeking support in grief. Substance abuse or dependency, learning differences, and environmental stressors are among the many issues that my clients may be experiencing and benefit from addressing in therapy with me.

My clients are people struggling with a transition in their lives; initiating independence as a teenager or young adult, wrestling with a new gender or new role as a significant other / parent, newly dealing with depression, traumatic memories or substance abuse. My approach to psychotherapy is collaborative and interactive with the goal of creating a safe environment that will enable you to explore your thoughts and feelings related to present difficulties. I work with the idea of relieving one's immediate suffering with the longer term goal of how to better understand oneself and one's relationship to the world around you.

I am well trained as a licensed Clinical Psychologist with more than 20 years of experience providing individual therapy to children, adolescents and adults. I strive to create a genuine relationship with my clients to allow for collaborative exploration of the areas in their lives that interfere with personal fulfillment. My approach also involves listening actively, building trust, being curious, providing empathy, and making direct comments to help my clients develop greater awareness about themselves and the patterns in their lives that cause emotional distress or relationship difficulties. This allows my clients to grow and to live more meaningful lives.

I am a licensed psychotherapist specializing in child and teen counseling. Families come to my practice feeling lost, worried and some at the recommendation of a school counselor, lawyer, friend or pediatrician. Many parents have read multiple books and tried various interventions at home or at school without success. This can feel frustrating and upsetting, although it is a motivating starting place. What these families all have in common is concern for a child who is struggling in some way and in need of a child counselor. I offer child counseling, family counseling, family mediation, reunification, and parent support.

People typically reach out to me feeling insecure, disillusioned, worried and/or stressed. Parents often contact me expressing concerns that their child or teenager seem anxious, depressed or are experiencing behavioral challenges at school or home. In this day and age, I believe it is first important to acknowledge and examine how the collective trauma of the pandemic has impacted my clients, based on developmental age, and their unique backgrounds/experiences. I also firmly believe that psychological suffering can be reduced by gaining increased awareness and connection to the self, and relationships with others.

I am a licensed marriage and family therapist specializing in child and adolescent development with over 15 years of experience working with children, teens and families. I have extensive training in child development and have been employed in outpatient and inpatient facilities, have served as the lead mental health clinician in multidisciplinary teams working with children struggling with feeding issues, and have run social skills groups in addition to providing individual and family treatment. I have a substantial amount of experience with teens suffering from anxiety and depression.

Sometimes amazing things can grow under pressure. Living with stigma - related to a mind that works differently, a body that's unruly or "too much," or a sexuality that doesn't fit behind a white picket fence - asks us to be creative and fierce. The wisdom that can grow here is astounding. But the burden of stigma is heavy, and sometimes it grips us in painful positions. Whether you're feeling exhausted, sick of yourself, or just don't know quite how to relate to other people, therapy with me can help.

I understand therapy to be a healing process rooted in our relationship; a therapeutic relationship built on authenticity, curiosity, empathy, deep attunement, and one without judgment. My initial goal is to help you become fully aware of your distress and understand it, and then work with you to relieve it. I believe that you have the innate ability to heal yourself and your relationships. So in the long-term, my goal is to help you access this innate ability.

Are you struggling with anxiety, depression, stress, anger, trauma or relationship issues? I have over 30 years of experience working with people who feel burdened by these issues. I believe that previous disappointments and injuries can paralyze us, causing us to be frozen in the past. By understanding and unlocking these earlier difficulties, I have witnessed people opening themselves up to more rewarding life experiences and relationships.

Making the decision to seek out and find the right therapist either for you or for a loved one can be tough. There are many variables to consider and the task can be overwhelming. I work with people who struggle with issues related to identity, mood, life transitions, conflict, trauma and resistance to therapy often because it is mandated. I provide a safe space where you can discuss the details of your challenges and ground the clinical work in the context of the therapeutic relationship.

Coping with Covid-19 & shelter in place: We’re living in a time of uncertainty, stress and anxiety that is likely once in a lifetime. Survival fears about sickness and death have suddenly surfaced in a manner that most of us have never experienced. For those of us that have pre-existing PTSD, depression or anxiety, those feelings may be particularly amplified. We’re all seeking safety, comfort, and connection during this environment of extreme isolation. In response to these realities, I am offering therapy sessions, including EMDR using Zoom, FaceTime, or phone. Take care of yourselves and take care of one another.

I offer psychotherapy, personality testing with feedback, and individual treatment of addictions. My approach to therapy is flexible but especially inspired by psychodynamic, Jungian and existential thought. Collaborative assessment means that together you and I would look at the results of tests and interviews to help answer questions you have about yourself, to get to know you more quickly and to focus the therapy. This kind of assessment can be a brief therapeutic intervention in itself. I also have a specialization in working with addictions, with motivational interviewing.

Couples want to feel better. Couples often find themselves caught in patterns of conflict that they would love to get out of. Most couples dream of living with better communication and less conflict. Fortunately, couples counseling was made for this. Whether you're looking for couples counseling to increasing the level of commitment in your relationship, wanting to deepen your connection, or really struggling to keep the connection alive - you're not alone and there is help.

Anxiety can be so overwhelming and persistent that it feels like it's taking over. Sadness, grief, and depression may feel so heavy and unmanageable that the simple but vital parts of life such as sleeping, eating, and work are difficult or complicated. Your pain might be related to a recent stressful event like heartbreak or the death of someone close to you, or maybe it is less acute but feels endless. Perhaps there is an atmosphere of dread, loneliness, fear, and frustration. Relationships become conflict- ridden or devoid of real feeling. There is a sense that you're doing it wrong or always making the same mistakes.

I have a lifelong commitment to exploring our interconnections with our selves, our families, our significant others, our coworkers/neighbors, and our natural world. I see many of our personal challenges, which tend to manifest as anxiety and depression, correspond with disconnected patterns that leave us stuck, emotionally, cognitively, somatically, and spiritually. As a California registered associate marriage and family therapist, I work with clients to heal existing interconnections and cultivate new ways of being in connection.