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.

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.

“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 work with individuals, couples, and families. I tend to be interactive and collaborative; I provide a warm & supportive environment to help my clients achieve positive changes in their lives. I am non-judgmental and open minded. I create an individual treatment plan and approach for each client based on each person's needs and preferences. I offer phone/video sessions if appropriate. I am Certified in EMDR which means I have advanced training in this modality (beyond basic training). EMDR is used to re-process traumatic memories, and it can be applied to other things as well.

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.

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.

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.

Hi! My name is Michael Southerland, and I am a Licensed Marriage and Family therapist working in the Los Angeles, CA area. This means I focus primarily on relationships, be it individuals having difficulty with rough spots in life, couples, children, and families. I am comfortable working with almost any problem. However, my specialties include depression, anxiety, substance abuse and addiction, codependency, ADHD, and especially LGBT + engender identity. Don't hesitate to reach out to me and ask me if I have experience in working with clients like you. I'm looking forward to hearing.

Dr. Stan practices as a Licensed Clinical Psychologist (PSY30834) in the state of California. Dr. Stan earned her Bachelor of Social Science from California State University, Chico, and her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Dr. Stan has been trained in CBT, DBT, Psychodynamic Therapies, Interpersonal Psychotherapy, Solution-oriented, and Group Psychotherapy. Dr. Stan works primarily with adults. I typically work with adults with depression, anxiety, panic attacks, OCD, codependency, attachment wounds, first-generation status, substance use, LGBTQIA+, and bipolar disorder.

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+

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.

My approach is relational, healing-centered, strengths-based, and collaborative. I support parents, caregivers, and families to find their inner strengths and nurture their relationships with their children. I specialize in helping the parent-child dyad through attachment theory, empathy, and connecting communication. I aim to provide therapy based on the cultural and diverse needs of individuals, parents, families, and children. I am committed to providing emotional support and creating a safe environment where parents, families, and children can better understand themselves.

The clients I work best with are battling with the effects of relational trauma, which can be especially difficult because most of us don’t even know what relational trauma is. You might think you had a happy childhood, but now as an adult you find yourself struggling in relationships of all kinds. You don’t know how to set boundaries. You feel selfish when you put yourself first. You feel guilty giving people negative feedback The bottom line is on a deep level you feel that it’s wrong to be your true self if it will inconvenience someone else.

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 helping sensitive seekers, who struggle with stuckness, anxiety, grief and longing, to access their embodied wisdom so they can cultivate a fulfilling relationship with self and live courageously, as creative expressions of their unique soul.

Are you like so many, not finding the joy in your life that you deserve? Perhaps your inner voice is telling you lies about yourself which you believe. Could worry and sadness be occupying more space than you want to give, yet you don’t know how to stop it? You might also be self medicating with unhealthy habits, which only worked for a short time. If you’re ready to learn what is preventing you from having the kind of life you deserve, and want to cultivate skills that stands to bring you well being, please give me a call. Since you're reading this, it shows me you have the motivation and desire to make positive changes.