Therapists in Oakland, CA

Do you identify as LGBTQIA+ or queer curious and struggling in your relationships or authentic sense of identity? Or, are you having a hard time managing your anxiety or codependency? Do you experience low self esteem and want to build confidence? Are you living as an adult survivor of emotional or physical abuse? Are you looking for a therapist who practices fat acceptance and celebrates body diversity? I specialize in these areas, and I'd love to support you in finding self-compassion and self confidence. I also have a specialization in Expressive Arts Therapy and find it a deeply powerful tool to care for ourselves.

“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you go; they merely determine where you start.” - Dr. Lauren Fogel Mersy. If you are feeling ready to start, welcome to my practice. I am committed to creating a therapeutic environment where you are met with compassion and competency in order to feel safe to share about the issues, difficulties, and fears impacting your life. I am also honored to welcome you back to therapy if previous experiences with therapy and/or therapist(s) have felt harmful or unsafe.

I specialize in helping clients explore the impact of their childhood experiences on their present-day lives, facilitating healing from relational wounds. Did you come from a chaotic upbringing? Perhaps you took on adult responsibilities early due to caregivers struggling with addiction, abuse, mental illness, illness, or absence. Early exposure to such challenges often leaves a profound imprint, giving rise to a spectrum of behavioral responses including perfectionism, people-pleasing, codependency, compromised boundaries, diminished self-esteem, and an inability to articulate one's needs.

Do you struggle with depression, anxiety, and trauma? Do you experience difficulties managing family and relationship issues? I believe that healing happens when we pay attention to all the parts that make us whole—our mind, body, and soul. The subconscious mind controls most of our reality and choices, so building awareness and active presence can improve the quality of daily living and assist in not only surviving but thriving through life. As an intuitive & holistic therapist, I will assist you in strengthening your inner psyche and developing new tools to manage negative feelings and thoughts.

Working with individual adults and couples, I have 35 years experience supporting men and women who want to heal and grow. Stress, depression and anxiety often stem from relationship and workplace concerns. My couples counseling focuses on communication skills. To help heal childhood pain, I use varied modalities, including trauma work, Adult Children (ACA) work, and parent/adult child conversations . Another specialty area is adults with addictions, family members with addicted loved ones, and codependency. I support the changes that come with each decade of life, along with retirement , aging and end-of-life issues.

With compassion, presence and warmth, I am here to be your partner and guide on your growth journey. I partner with you to heal emotional trauma and gain self-acceptance through my specialized mind-body approach. I support you through healing limiting beliefs about yourself, developing excellent boundaries, and connecting with your inner-wisdom. You are unique and so is your therapy process, so we tailor our work together to your specific needs and goals. I serve empaths and highly sensitive people, supporting you in coming home to who you really are. Internal Family Systems. Somatic. LGBTQ+. Check out my TEDx talk via my website!

If previous attempts at stopping substance use have failed or if you want to learn to manage your use rather than abstain, call us for a free phone consultation. We approach addiction as a biopsychosocial phenomenon and can help you understand the biological, emotional, and behavioral factors of your drug use using evidence-based interventions. Our therapeutic style is compassionate and non-judgmental but we will also be direct and challenge you to deeply examine your choices. We strive to create a safe, confidential environment where you feel comfortable exploring your choices.

Though I work with most issues, I specialize in helping people recover from complex trauma. People with narcissistic, abusive, or neglectful parents or partners sometimes develop issues with trusting themselves, have difficulty maintaining close relationships, struggle with an inner critic, vacillate often between depression and anxiety, lack a solid sense of identity, or feel a sense of emptiness when their lives seem great on paper. Sometimes that trauma can even become part of one's identity - I work with clients to build insight, boundaries, self-compassion, and acceptance to free themselves from it & live more fulfilling lives.

I help intuitive, empathic, & spiritually attuned individuals/couples, LGBTQIA+ and/or BIPOC who often identify as non-monogamous &/or non-heteronormative. I specialize in inner conflict, relational conflict, relational trauma, sexual trauma, spiritual trauma, childhood trauma, anxiety, anger, grief, guilt, shame, & codependency. I hold an emotionally safe space to allow you to feel witnessed, understood, & supported as you process your thoughts & feelings to obtain clarity, increased self-mastery, new skills, & the ability to resolve obstacles to pursuing your heart's desires.

Are you struggling with behaviors that you know are not good for you? Are you worried and depressed about your life and your relationships? Let me help you sort out your thoughts and feelings and help you get back on track. I also love seeing couples and families. You may bring significant others to your therapy if you wish, to help focus you in your relationship goals.

I specialize in working with adult children of dysfunctional families of origin. I help folks who didn't receive emotional and psychological attunement from their parents as children, due to parental narcissism, trauma, substance abuse, and/ or mental illness, or due to abandonment, neglect, excessive criticism, and/ or abuse. I offer support with anxiety, finding one's voice, self-esteem, social anxiety, sensitivity, and life meaning, purpose, and transitions. I offer support in cultivating authentic connection and in healing struggles in relationships around assertiveness, boundaries, enmeshment, co-dependence, and isolation.

While you may have been struggling for a long time, you are ready to examine the life you’re living, get curious about patterns you used to take for granted, and pause in moments of discomfort to wonder what it means to be you. You want therapy that weaves together talking, pausing in mindfulness and connecting with sensations. You may question the systems around you, and wonder about different patterns you might be holding. You may have a reverence for the mysterious, esoteric and dreamlike, while also working to stay grounded in the here and now.

Welcome! I support my Clients' path to arrive at a freer, more empowered version of themselves. I am passionate about working through an intersectional and trauma-informed lens with everyone. I respect my Clients deeply and give them my genuine warmth and attentiveness. I am a good fit for people who are nervous about therapy, people working on boundaries, self love, finding their voice, embodiment, healing from trauma/complex trauma as well as folks from all parts of the LGBT+ family. I am here for gender exploration, questioning, arrival and take a non judgmental stance on all corners of consensual sex/sexuality/kink/non-monog+

Trauma comes in many forms. It can be from childhood abuse, car accidents, toxic work environment, toxic relationship, racial injustice, war, rape, bullying, natural and manmade disasters like wildfires and earthquakes. You may have the symptoms of PTSD but not have explicit memories of the traumatizing experience. EMDR walks you through a series of steps to help decrease the symptoms of PTSD (nightmares, flashbacks, anxiety, insomnia, avoidance and hopelessness about the future). It also helps to map out a plan to deal with future triggers and gives a renewed and positive belief system about the self. I offer a free consultation.

My name is Erica Cowell and I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). It has been my privilege to spend my career helping individuals and families navigate difficult moments and periods of change and questioning. I utilize an eclectic approach that draws on multiple therapeutic modalities to customize a treatment plan that matches your needs and preferences. I firmly believe that you are the expert on your own life and experiences. I am here to support you in identifying your treatment goals and then utilizing various evidence-based tools to help you achieve those goals.

I am truly passionate about my work and believe it is important to find the right match. My goal is to meet everyone where they are at in their readiness and insights, and I work with a wide range of clients from various backgrounds. I have over a decade of experience in working with others, and will bring a comprehensive and eclectic approach to our time together.

At our cores, we are relational beings who thrive when we feel connected to ourselves, to each other, and to the world around us. When we endure painful experiences or simply learn to abandon our wants and needs in exchange for belonging and acceptance as children, we can become out of touch with our true nature, but therapy is often a process of leading us back (and forward). I often work with: deep thinkers and/or feelers, creatives/artists/performers, neurodivergents, therapists, and those who generally enjoy exploring their inner world for the purpose of increasing awareness, self-discovery, healing, and growth.

Are you going through internal struggle due to trauma? Do you feel anxious and depressed about the future? Do you struggle with family issues and relationship issues? I’m willing to meet you where you are, help you process unwanted thoughts and emotions, and help develop an action plan to effectively cultivate your healing and growth. I’m here to help you explore unresolved feelings (anxiety, depression, anger, helplessness, grief, etc.) and develop skills to effectively cope with them. Thus, you can feel relieved and fulfilled in your relationship with yourself and others.

Are you struggling with overwhelming anxiety, depression or grief? Are you stuck in unhealthy patterns or self doubt? Is a difficult relationship causing you pain? You are taking a courageous step in caring for yourself and your well-being by seeking support. With curiosity and non-judgment, I can help you to find relief, grow and clarify a more sustainable, joyful path forward. Together we'll explore what underlies your symptoms, the adaptive function they serve, and how you can permanently heal core issues. You will discover strengths, develop new tools, and find serenity and authenticity in yourself and your relationships.