Therapists in Oakland, CA

Is life feeling like a struggle? Let's work together to help you feel better than you have in a long time. We can work together to clear anxiety, relationship struggles, grief, work stress, uncover your strengths and purpose, enjoy your life again. If you feel stuck, afraid or down, we can work together to get you feeling calm and centered. I have specialties in treating anxiety disorders, as well as work stress and professional burnout. I enjoy working with many types of clients, + therapy to other therapists. Check out my book for women 'The Muse Process: Unleashing the Power of the Feminine'. I look forward to helping you!

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.

Do you have a hard time speaking up and expressing yourself? When you anticipate a conflict or someone who may have a differing opinion than you, do you tend to keep quiet to maintain the peace? The world sees you as gentle and kind. You are capable, accountable, and have achieved a lot. But There is more fire in you that wants to come out and make things happen. I can help you access the other parts of you that the world doesn’t get to see, the parts that you don’t acknowledge in you but can see and admire in others. Once these parts are allowed to come out, they can help you navigate life with less doubt, more ease, and clarity.

What brings you here? If you are scrolling through these pages, you are likely looking for support, either for yourself or someone you care about. While it is easier now to find psychological support, finding the right person to work with is as important as ever. While working with me you will be received in a warm, non-judgmental, and curiosity filled environment. While considering what brought you into therapy, we will reflect on the circumstances contributing to where you are today. Our focus will be on integrating what has been in order to develop into what can be.

Thank you for visiting me here. I understand that it’s a big deal to reach out for support. It suggests that something isn’t feeling right in your life and you’re ready to make a change. I support people to heal their wounds and discover wholeness, authenticity, and meaning in their lives through mind, body, and soul centered therapy. Maybe you’re in the midst of a major life change or transition. Perhaps you're suffering from a broken heart, crushed dreams, or difficult relationships. Maybe you feel stuck, lost, or hopeless. I want to help you feel better.

Do you tend to be hard on yourself and feel you're never good enough? Maybe you date the wrong people, stuck in old relational patterns? Or maybe you just feel unfulfilled in your life, lost on your path. Surely you’d love to feel in alignment with your life direction, owning your worth, loved by healthy humans, all while being your own best friend. As a licensed Astrotherapist, I support you in finding that life. Together we’ll explore present challenges in your life, while diving into your birth chart and identifying your unique energies in this lifetime.

I see clients virtually in California and Florida and in person in western Ma. People enter my therapy practice for all sorts of reasons. You may be at an impasse or a crossroads due to the loss of a relationship, a big life decision or general anxiety that you can no longer bear on your own. You may be suffering from the wounds of homophobia, transphobia, racism, white supremacy and patriarchy, on top of other traumas and early childhood wounds. Regardless, I seek to offer a safe space for you to access a deeper understanding of yourself and your underlying needs and motives, as well as a personal sense of freedom and empowerment.

Therapy with me will have you leaving my office with tangible ways, for you or you and your loved ones, to facilitate changes in what you want in your life from the very first session. I will challenge you hard but with compassion. I enjoy helping people develop an enthusiasm for the process of self-discovery and healing. I make authentic contact with people help them cultivate a taste for their own Truths while making space to grieve the loss of old ways or relating to people and the world around them. I see starting therapy is a sign of intelligence.

Whatever you're struggling with, it can be really helpful to have someone by your side to figure it out. Together we can bring awareness to your patterns, emotional experience, and relational issues in order to give you more agency and empowerment. That is what therapy is to me- I believe you are the expert in your own life, and I am there to support you. My ideal client is anyone who is motivated to explore their inner world and connect to their sense of self through depth work and creative means.

I'm an integrative psychotherapist working with individuals and couples. My approach is engaged and caring, providing a safe and supportive environment, where you can reflect and develop new ways of handling challenges you are facing. The focus of my practice is twofold: relationship issues and life transitions (e.g. themes like change in relationship, career changes, relocation, pregnancy, child birth and parenting, facing illness, trauma and loss as well as seeking more meaning and fulfillment in life). I have a particular expertise in working with people who immigrated to the US or have diverse cultural backgrounds.

The quality of our relationships determines the quality of our lives. Many of us didn't witness fulfilling romantic relationships growing up. Conflict, silence, disappointment, and heartbreak, you are not alone with these struggles. Fortunately, in-depth research has revealed core skills that lead to safe, fair, loving, passionate, and fulfilling relationships. You can learn these skills, and discover ease in bringing out the best in yourself and your partner. This is a game changer.

Psychotherapy isn't one size fits all. It's a unique relationship that develops and responds to your needs, life-experiences, gender/ethnic/cultural identity, challenges and resources. You may be feeling stuck-repeating painful patterns, wanting to make changes but not knowing how. Or you're a survivor of sexual violence and the ways you've been coping aren't working anymore. I meet you where you are and bring my clinical and life experience, deep listening, compassion, acceptance, warmth and creativity. Together we create and draw on the power of a safe, accepting therapeutic relationship to support your growth and wholeness.

Do you feel lost, questioning who you are or where you're going with no easy answers? Sometimes life takes an unexpected turn, we hit a bottom, or we just realize that something in us is different...or something must change. Such times of confusion and crisis are often the meeting point for our work together. They are also openings to self-discovery and real change. I listen deeply for what you want, develop a relationship of trust, and work WITH you to establish the clarity and direction you need.

I am bilingual in Spanish, and offer therapy for individual adults, couples, families, teens, and children 6 and older. My specialties include trauma, interpersonal violence (IPV), and loss, especially for human beings who have experienced displacement and/migration. I offer services for expecting and new mothers to aid in the transitions and attachment issues that arise. Also I am interested in bridging periods in human development. I embrace a culturally humble stance, and am LBGT welcoming.

Early experiences result in our developing defensive structures that are meant to protect our vulnerability, but also create restrictions in our capacity to feel or perceive what is happening in the moment. This patterning shapes our perception of others, and also of ourselves. Although traditional insight-oriented talk therapy allows for an understanding which can harmonize our awareness with our everyday life, we embody early experience in ways that limit the power of insight to undo, and restrict our emotional intelligence. My orientation to psychotherapy is to work through emotional and experiential patterning, without bypassing the power of understanding.

I offer professional and experienced support to make enduring changes. If you are looking at this, you may be having a time of suffering or you may be looking for ways to thrive in your life. Psychotherapy is based on solid research and the world’s wisdom traditions, and is an experience between us that is unique to you. I believe it is the most important journey you can take to move towards healing and living a rich, meaningful life.

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.

Imagine; you are able to shift harsh self criticism, insecurity, people pleasing, perfectionism, impostor syndrome, codependency, & feeling “stuck” in one or more areas of life. You can finally experience self love and acceptance, fulfilling intimacy, great health, & the ability to enjoy your achievements. You unapologetically set limits &boundaries that are in support of your needs & desires, & let yourself rise into a life where you actually have everything you want because you know in your bones just how worthy you are.

We’re living in a highly stressful society striving to balance our personal lives, relationships, family needs and work livelihoods to care for who and what is most important to us. Past trauma can interfere with our daily functioning and create isolation and mental unwellness. We all need support and guidance: good psychotherapy and relationship counseling can be a great benefit! I assess comprehensively, work pragmatically and use a well-developed tool kit! Together we work to help you balance emotions, shift unhelpful beliefs, resolve trauma, deepen forgiveness and forge new pathways to wellness and relationship health!