Psychoanalytic Therapists in San Francisco, CA

Psychotherapy provides a unique space for you to explore your experience in life in a profoundly important way. In a culture that does not make space for "negative emotions", and idealizes independence, there is little room to get to know the parts of ourselves that we imagine others will not approve of. When we aren't in touch with all aspects of our humanity, effectively shutting out parts of our experience, we can find ourselves feeling confused, depressed and/or anxious, having trouble in relationships with others, not enjoying our work, having difficulty processing grief and loss, or struggling with issues related to our identity.

If you can synchronize your heart and mind, you can harmonize your life. It's never too late to understand yourself. The therapeutic space I create is to help you learn about who you are as an individual and see your blind spots. Regardless if you're coming in as a couple or on your own, the therapeutic work that we will do is not just be about solving your problems. But also helping you figure out what's behind these issues and increasing your self-worth along the way. Therapy is challenging, but can be fulfilling. The goal is to help you live and witness your life in the healthiest of ways as you become closer to your true self.

People I work with often tell me they feel stuck, unable to enjoy life because of anxiety or depression, a dissatisfying sex life, or difficulty in personal or professional relationships. Psychological symptoms are means of communication. Something of you needs to be heard, and a trained professional can help. If we can decipher the language of these symptoms, you may find you can change. My aim is to help you listen to and experience yourself in new or long-forgotten ways so that you may, in the words of William Butler Yeats, "live... with a clearer, perhaps even with a fiercer life."

I view psychotherapy as a joint venture in which we work collaboratively to reach your goals. My style is direct, transparent and positive, warm, interactive and nonjudgemental. I create the safety needed within our relationship to allow us to explore the issues that underlie depression, anxiety, loneliness, lack of fulfillment and other concerns. As a therapist I follow your lead. With over two decades of experience I work diligently to understand each individual, employing elements of psychoanalytic , mindfulness and cognitive behavioral theories to create an approach that best suits the unique individual with whom I am working.

Welcome! I practice psychoanalytic therapy with adolescents, adults, elder adults, and couples. It was always important to me when I sought a good fit with a therapist to know that they had capacity to hear anything I had to say when I was ready. It's all welcome here, truly. These can be very personal experiences, feelings, behaviors, or thoughts, and they can also be times you've found yourself at the margins of the world you inhabit without enough space to explore the impact. We'll explore dynamics and patterns from your past and present, and develop insights and solutions together. It's a process I've found consistently works.

Do you feel you have it all/have enough, but do not feel satisfied or content? Do you want to find meaning and purpose in your life? Do you want to examine the root causes of your emotional suffering instead of putting a bandaid on your symptoms? If so, I invite you to schedule a free 20-minute consultation with me to begin exploring your treatment.

People who come to see me are suffering in some way, whether it be with work, relationships, or other issues, and they want to know why and what they can do about it. Some people have identified the problem as having to do with a mental health diagnosis, stress, intimacy issues, or some other term that has helped them describe the outward appearance of the problem. However, they have come to therapy because these descriptions do not get to the heart of the problem. With time and a good therapist, therapy is the perfect place to confide your thoughts with another and find a better way through the challenges of life.

I have been in private practice for over 35 years. I offer an in-depth, insightful, potent and integrative approach which blends Relational, Psychodynamic, Psychoanalytic , Jungian and Mindfulness orientations.

We work with a diverse population of adult individuals, couples, and special interest groups who may be struggling with any number of mental health challenges related to anxiety, depression, stress, trauma, relationship issues, and substance abuse, among others. We are committed to providing culturally competent care across the spectrum of age, race, gender, sexuality, religion, and background.

I work with adults, adolescents, and couples. Most of the adults in my practice are ambitious professionals who want to grow in their careers and/or romantic lives. As a psychoanalytic therapist, I'm trained to provide intensive therapy that leads to long-term change. As a psychodynamic coach, I help professionals tap social and psychological resources that enable them to grow into demanding leadership roles. My style is curious and playful, direct and deep.

Too often psychotherapy focuses on causality, pathology and cures. However, rather than being "sick" or 'broken", often we are just lost inside ourselves or relationships. Everyone is a unique person with their own story, experience and perspective. The goal of therapy is to achieve a deeper awareness of where we are, to discover internal meaning for our many experiences, and to experience a life worth living. While working towards that awareness, I also feel it important to teach individuals, couples and families the skills needed to cope with the pain and day to day stressors that bring them into therapy.

I am a psychoanalyst in private practice in San Francisco. In addition to my clinical work with patients, I also offer consultation for other clinicians and teach and supervise with various psychoanalytic sites in the Bay Area. My writing about the intersection between Buddhism and psychoanalysis has received awards from NCSPP, a local psychoanalytic organization, and APsaA, a national one. I can help guide you in the process of more clearly seeing and navigating your emotional landscape - why you might be prone to anger or worry, why accomplishments feel fleeting, or why things aren't working as you'd like interpersonally.

Being a psychoanalyst means being available to you in a way that is different to other forms of human relatedness. It means I listen to the painful events and relationships troubling you in your life and open a conversation about them between us. This conversation is private and confidential, yet allows for the most honest and accessible way to both explore and understand your reactions and feelings. Although the foundation of my knowledge lies in the psychoanalytic tradition, I incorporate contemporary knowledge and methods that have developed since Sigmund Freud's first discoveries at the end of the 19th century.

Often in life there are unexpected events or life transitions that challenge our abilities to cope or understand our sense of self or purpose. When what has been helpful to navigate life is no longer working, symptoms may show up in the form of sadness, depression, anxiety, stress, physical ailments, feelings of isolation, or an overwhelm of emotions that may be difficult to manage alone. I view therapy as a unique opportunity for honest observation and exploration in service of creating a deeper connection with your inherent nature as a way to discover how you can find support from yourself, as well as, feel supported by others.

I am a licensed psychologist with over 20 years of clinical experience. My approach to psychotherapy is referred to as psychoanalytic or insight-oriented therapy. This type of therapy stresses that each person and their difficulties are unique. And that our difficulties are often rooted in factors outside of our awareness. People seek therapy for a situation that requires attention, and in my experience this generally concerns multiple and interacting problems rather than isolated symptoms. As therapy progresses the immediate feelings of distress typically diminish in severity. It then becomes possible to focus on understanding the factors that contributed to

It is my passion and a privilege to help people who are struggling with anxiety, depression, self-esteem, trauma, family dynamics, relationship issues, career stress, life transitions, existential angst, and finding meaning and purpose. I welcome people of all types and backgrounds into my practice. I see you as a unique individual and I look forward to getting to know you on a deep level. I am here to support you every step of the way on your journey of self-discovery and true healing.

I am a psychotherapist with offices in SF and Oakland, treating both adults and couples. I take a relational and collaborative approach to psychotherapy. We are all unique, consciously and unconsciously influenced by the relationships and life-events that leave a lasting impact on how we address our current situation. Difficulties can sometimes arise when the habitual thoughts, emotions, or behaviors that once served us now have us feeling stuck, depressed, and powerless. Fear, ambivalence, compulsivity and patterned thinking can hamper our ability to address the inevitable twists and turns of daily life.

I find it effective to combine behavioral solutions with depth work. Since the unconscious ripples into all aspects of life, I have found that relational therapy addressing unconscious motives can help with most psychological difficulties. In addition to working with individuals, couples & families, I am adjunct faculty at the California Institute of Integral Studies where I teach in the Masters in Counseling Psychology Department and Psychological Services Clinic.