Therapists in Oakland, CA

Hello! If you are here you are contemplating taking the first step towards your journey of healing! Life continues to happen and we can't control that but we can learn to can control how we respond. With my therapeutic support you will develop the tools needed to gain acceptance, use your voice and reclaim your power. I can help you arrange the pieces of your puzzle in a way that creates a healing space to learn to manage your triggers, stand in your truth and live the life you deserve. I am passionate about providing a safe, nonjudgmental space to practice this work.

As a licensed mental health therapist, I am dedicated to guiding individuals, couples, and families toward authentic living and deeper connections. My approach combines heart-centered, humanistic psychotherapy with evidence-based practices, ensuring that every client's unique story is honored and expanded. My work is anchored in the belief that conflict and struggle can be transformative gateways to self-understanding and more fulfilling relationships. Whether you are seeking to improve communication, deepen emotional bonds, or heal from past hurts, I offer a compassionate and empathetic space to explore and grow.

Do you find yourself at a crossroads or yearning for more? You may be at a breaking point or you may want to make some changes and you don't know where to start. I will ensure a safe and warm environment for exploration. We will move at a pace comfortable for you. Taking the leap of faith into therapy takes courage. We will engage in a process of empowerment to help you feel more centered & grounded in yourself. I work with individuals, couples, children, & families. I am here to listen, empathize & deepen your self-understanding . We will take a look at your inner longings and the parts of your life which may not be serving you.

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.

Nurturing Relationships through Life's Highs and Lows Life can be unpredictable, making it challenging to develop and maintain healthy relationships. Post-pandemic experiences and societal crises may make it difficult for couples to keep their passion alive, driven singles to date, and individuals to overcome past childhood or familial traumas in the same environments that caused them pain. I specialize in working with individuals who are seeking to enhance their dating confidence, strengthen their relationships, marriages, and families, and develop their interpersonal skills by exploring themselves on a deeper level.

If you’re looking for an empathic, trauma-informed therapist, you're in the right place. Maybe you're struggling to understand yourself and your relationships and are ready to heal old wounds. Do you feel conflicted about your sexual fantasies and desires? Want to experience more ease and pleasure? Depth psychotherapy will help you feel more at peace and become more self-accepting. For partners, parents, polycules and adult family members: Do you want to understand each other better and stop the repetitive cycles? Let’s get to the bottom of it and deepen your connection.

I am a Marriage and Family Therapist with over 25 years of experience in working with children, adolescents, families, couples, and adults across a wide array of issues and settings. I graduated from the University of La Verne with an M.S. in Marriage and Family Therapy in 2000 and have worked in outpatient, school, private practice, residential, and other community-based settings over the course of my career.

Only offering Telehealth (for clients living in TX & CA) - Are you having feelings about what is happening in your life or in the world? Are you a parent, a person of color, healthcare worker, LBGTQ+, businessperson, student? Have you been feeling different from others? As a Marriage & Family Therapist and Expressive Arts Therapist, my caseload includes people of all ages and diversity. I offer traditional therapeutic orientations combined with Expressive Arts Therapy, sand tray and mindfulness. It is not necessary to be an artist to benefit from a creative focus towards your goals for wellness and the life you choose to be living.

**Accepting New Clients** Feel cared for and heard, experience a safe and authentic connection, find clarity, heal from a past or more recent traumatic event. As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Provisional Art Therapist and Mindfulness-based Practitioner, I offer a person-centered, strength-based holistic approach to healing. In addition to traditional talk therapy, I work with the creative mind, this work includes art and expressive mediums to understand how our earliest experiences in life create the implicit, behavioral patterns that we can potentially carry with us for a lifetime.

Welcome! My name is Ana and I'm a Licensed Psychotherapist, Certified Couples & Sex Therapist, and psychedelic therapist licensed in CA, UT, and CO. I specialize in ketamine and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, depression, anxiety, relationship issues and issues unique to the creative field. My framework is relational, attachment-based and in-depth, characterized by warmth, compassion & collaboration. I will help you gather a deeper understanding of your thoughts and patterns, improve your self-worth, and live a life with purpose, meaning, and connection.

You’re a driven person but your personal or romantic relationships seem to be a struggle. Why is it sometimes easier to meet your professional needs and not your personal needs? You might struggle with vulnerability or feel confused about your relationship. I specialize in helping people create better relationships and clear obstacles to those relationships.

Do you feel like you are in a relationship with a stranger? Does a basic discussion turn into an all day argument? Relationships, regardless of what kind, are the responsibility of both parties involved and there is no better time than now to take charge of your relationship's success. Each relationship has its own fingerprints and no two are the same. The client is the expert. Our therapeutic relationship will help put the pieces of your puzzle together in a meaningful way. I believe therapy goes beyond crisis intervention. Let’s bring happiness back to your relationship as I emphasize healthy behaviors over unhealthy behaviors.

My ideal clients are individuals age 16+ who want support navigating anxiety, depression, childhood trauma, identity, family, relationships (monogamy/non-monogamy/poly), sexuality/desire (kink friendly), racial/multicultural stress, and everyday life stressors. I supporting clients no matter if you are seasoned at engaging in therapy or looking to take this journey for the first time. My approach is client centered and structured to meet you where you are, as we work together to build the best journey for your needs. My specialty is serving Queer/Trans BIPOC individuals.

Welcome! I offer psychotherapy to adults, couples and other relationship configurations, families and teens, as well as sex therapy. I am a Certified Sex Therapist (CST) through AASECT and am also a gender care provider. I believe therapy is a collaborative process; you can think of me as a companion as we travel down the roads of your growth together. If you have been thinking about starting therapy, I invite you to contact me. I am committed to helping my clients become the most authentic version of themselves.

Adolescents (and adults) have many difficult issues to face as they transition through different phases of life. These issues are often compounded by trauma, low self-esteem, and problems within interpersonal relationships with peers and family. Therapy is a tool that can be used to help individuals identify and access inner strength to overcome life's hurdles.

Unresolved childhood issues provide recurring challenges in adulthood and may show up in the form of sadness, worry, relationship problems, substance abuse or poor self-esteem. For adults abused as children, complex trauma may leave one with panic, obsessive thoughts, self-harming behaviors, or mood disorders. Sometimes individuals are given many diagnoses and medications and end up in therapies that do not resolve their underlying issue. Dissociative processes go unrecognized in many therapies, resulting in treatment that may not resolve the underlying problem, leaving one symptomatic. In my professional experience most individuals change and grow through a successful therapeutic encounter.

My style is engaged, authentic and direct, while holding space for our complete focus on your work at your pace. I operate with deep respect for the ways in which culture, race, class, gender, gender identity, immigrant status, sexuality, and physical ability can impact your experiences and sense of yourself. I work with a wide range of clients including individuals, adolescents and couples of all sexual orientations (heterosexual, gay, lesbian, queer, bisexual); clients of all genders and gender identities; people of multicultural or immigrant backgrounds; parents, prospective parents.