Therapists in 94112
Kerri Gavin
Clinical Social Work/Therapist, LCSW
Verified Verified
San Francisco, CA 94112 (Online Only)
Hi there, I'm Kerri! I have been working in the mental health field for over 30 years. I specialize in working with those with intellectual disabilities. I am compassionate, understanding, and able to meet them where they are. I like to work with the elderly with mental health challenges and those who need someone compassionate, interested in them, and able to make valuable suggestions. I work to provide coping skills, stress relief, trauma work, and medication referrals if needed. I use the Recovery Model, solution-focused, trauma-focused, and person-centered modalities.
Hi there, I'm Kerri! I have been working in the mental health field for over 30 years. I specialize in working with those with intellectual disabilities. I am compassionate, understanding, and able to meet them where they are. I like to work with the elderly with mental health challenges and those who need someone compassionate, interested in them, and able to make valuable suggestions. I work to provide coping skills, stress relief, trauma work, and medication referrals if needed. I use the Recovery Model, solution-focused, trauma-focused, and person-centered modalities.
Therapy Lab San Francisco
Psychologist, PhD
Verified Verified
San Francisco, CA 94112 (Online Only)
Therapy Lab offers individual teletherapy that's based on a plan. Visit our website (therapylab.com) to explore a menu of treatment plans based on common goals for therapy. With your input, we'll make a plan that's based on your goals, your timeline, and your budget. Our science-based plans are designed to support you in overcoming distress (anxiety, relationship problems, work stress) so you walk away with emotional health and insight. At your first session, your exceptionally qualified therapist will get to know you and pick or design a plan that’s customized to your situation.
Therapy Lab offers individual teletherapy that's based on a plan. Visit our website (therapylab.com) to explore a menu of treatment plans based on common goals for therapy. With your input, we'll make a plan that's based on your goals, your timeline, and your budget. Our science-based plans are designed to support you in overcoming distress (anxiety, relationship problems, work stress) so you walk away with emotional health and insight. At your first session, your exceptionally qualified therapist will get to know you and pick or design a plan that’s customized to your situation.
See more therapy options for 94112
Chronic Pain Therapists
How does chronic pain therapy work?
Engaging with a psychotherapist to help treat chronic pain does not mean that one’s pain is all in their head. Therapy for chronic-pain patients has been shown to benefit both the mind and the body, targeting physical symptoms and increasing daily functioning. In other words, for many, addressing their emotional health through therapy affects their physical health. A therapist can help a client challenge unhelpful thoughts about pain and develop new ways to respond to it, such as distraction or calming breathing techniques. Studies have found that therapy can be as effective as surgery for certain cases of chronic pain and many doctors recommend trying psychotherapy in advance of considering invasive surgery.
What are the most effective treatment options for chronic pain?
Stress, anxiety, depression, catastrophizing, ruminating, lack of activity, and social withdrawal all make chronic pain worse. Addressing these issues, research shows, can help people gain control over their pain symptoms. Therapeutic approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy, biofeedback, and mindfulness-based stress reduction, along with greater pain-management education, have been found to help people reduce fear and disability.
Are there new treatments for chronic pain?
Many cases of chronic pain, particularly those involving back pain, remain medically unexplained. But there is evidence that changes in the brain or nervous system are caused by previous physical ailments such as tissue damage; in such cases, the brain may continue to send out pain signals despite the physical cause having healed. To aid patients under these circumstances, a recently developed treatment known as pain reprocessing therapy (PRT) is designed to help the brain “unlearn” this response. A PRT practitioner helps individuals to reduce the “threat value” of their ongoing pain signals until they can reappraise them as less threatening and fear-inducing. They also help an individual to develop new emotional regulation skills.
How long does therapy for chronic pain take?
There is no set timeline for recovery from chronic pain, especially as there may be a range of physical and psychological causes for any individual’s discomfort, but most patients should expect to see a therapist for a number of weeks or months, typically spanning at least 12 sessions. Studies of pain reprocessing therapy found that many individuals’ experience of pain lessened in eight sessions over four weeks.