Therapists in San Rafael, CA

I am a Licensed Marriage and Family therapist with 15 years of experience working with adolescents and adults in a variety of settings, including private practice, non-profit and school-based counseling. I work with individuals, both long and short-term on issues of anxiety, depression, overcoming pain from the past, and a general feeling of being "stuck."

I offer a space where all parts of you are welcomed and deeply listened to. In a complex and challenging world, I have the tools to support you in compassionately engaging your inner work and cultivating more well being. If you are struggling with anxiety, the impacts of trauma, or seeking change and growth in your relationships and life, I can help you resource yourself in meeting difficulties. Together we can discover the sources of imbalance and address their root causes while building new skills and tools.

People come to therapy for all sorts of reasons: Relief from sadness or anxiety, to break patterns that cause pain, to get clarity when you just don't know why life feels like an uphill battle or to simply get an "emotional tune-up." With compassion, emotional safety, and a clear, candid therapeutic style, I help people work through life's challenges using effective, evidence-based treatments that target the underlying causes for painful feelings. I believe healing happens holistically; Mind-Body-Spirit are aligned when people feel "right" within themselves.

I have many years of experience and training and feel fortunate to work with adults, couples and teens. I find that most clients come to me when their old ways of coping are no longer working (or they are unhealthy) and the stress is too much! Why do it alone? I hold the hope for my clients when they aren't able.

Welcome to my private practice! I have been a licensed psychologist for over 25 years! I provide individual and family therapy to children and teens with ADHD, anxiety, depression, behavioral dysregulation and relationship issues. I often involve the parents in the therapy process. I also provide live parental coaching to parents of 2-8 year-olds using PCIT protocol (parent child interaction therapy). I also support neurodivergent children develop specific executive functioning strategies for school and home. I use humor and a child's specific strengths to reach clinical treatment goals. Please click on my website in my bio.

I have worked more than 30 years w individuals & families with serious psychological and relational problems including the mood, behavior and substance problems that tear families apart. I help individuals and families navigate the perilous course of finding solutions while we work to improve serenity and sanity for all. Individual work is relational w/psychodynamic and a Real World approach. I have developed the “Stress-Induced Impaired Coping" model for family system distress and recovery. See my 2019 book: “Freedom From Family Dysfunction: A Guide for Families Battling Addiction or Mental Illness.” http://bit.ly/FreedomFamHC

At some point in our lives, we all encounter an obstacle--professionally and/or personally--that feels insurmountable. Either we have set ourselves on a trajectory that is not congruous with our core values, or we have lost the steam to persevere. My psychotherapy services will help determined individuals to practice their skills of insight and problem-solving to overcome even the most harrowing obstacles. Whether you are seeking the income that supports your family, or overcoming infidelity in your relationship--your life will undoubtedly improve when you collaborate with someone who is invested in your success.

Many challenges we experience in daily life relate to conflict between parts of ourselves. Each part reflects our body’s own loving attempts to care for us in the ways it knows. When we shift one part of the feedback loop, the whole system rearranges - in our bodies, & in our relationships. My approach to individual & couples therapy is holistic, somatic & client-centered. I start with creating a non-judgmental, inclusive space for you to come as you are. As we form & reach for your goals, our work may include movement, developmental psychology, trauma work, regulation practices, behavior/communication coaching, & creative guidance.

Are you coming to terms with a challenging life transition, or feeling overwhelmed by feelings of anxiety, stress, sadness or depression or simply wanting a deeper connection with yourself? If so I invite you to contact me. I am skilled at creating a supportive and empathic environment that will allow you to explore your relationship to life's challenges and to align with your inner resources. My approach draws on strategies that are tailored to meet you where you are and to focus on your individual goals and needs.

Therapy is a collaborative relationship, as individual as the people in the room. Often the work involves slowing down and creating a secure space for being open, curious and able to revisit and make sense of thoughts, memories and feelings that give rise to present difficulties. I'm especially attentive to your higher powers of perception and positive self determination. Together we resolve present-day problems with roots in the past, changing patterns that produce familiar and unwanted results so you are freer to choose the life you want.

I enjoy working with individuals and couples who are motivated to understand and change some of the challenging patterns they have learned. My style, combined with excellent education, clinical training and life experience, gives me the ability to successfully help people find their way to happier lives and to unravel the mystery of how they ended up with grief, depression, anxiety or marital stress. I can help guide parents through the challenge of the teen years or with conflict that comes with being part of an extended family. I specialize in issues around divorce, coparenting and restructuring life after a divorce.

As a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, I thrive on connecting with clients in a way that provides them with the safety and support needed to achieve desired goals, explore and change problematic behaviors, and process experiences that are proving to be challenging. I work with clients to establish a strong therapeutic alliance that is both genuine and non-judgmental, utilizing humor, warmth, and compassion.

Are you Super Loyal? An excellent listener, who perhaps doesn’t share much about yourself? The one everyone leans on for support, advice, money, or favors? Are you the glue in your family, and the one who puts out fires? Many of my clients who identify with these kinds of qualities struggle in characteristic ways. Many are uncomfortable acknowledging their own feelings & desires. They make too many sacrifices to avoid being "selfish". They fear confrontation and the possibility of upsetting or disappointing others. They often get drawn into imbalanced relationships... or worse, toxic ones with selfish or narcissistic people.

How you feel today is important to me. Many people coming to therapy believe that something is missing. It might be love, understanding, support, meaning, a sense of purpose, lack of control, a job, or a partner. Therapy can help. I would be honored to guide you through a self-empowering journey that could help you enable the changes you would like to achieve in your personal life or within your family. I work directly with individuals, couples, children, and families. My style is gentle, compassionate and authentic, and I provide unconditional acceptance, optimism, patience, and trust.

I have over 25 years experience assisting people make significant changes in their life and learn strategies to lessen symptoms of depression, anxiety, bipolar and other disorders.

In the first few sessions together, my goal is to understand what struggles you are currently experiencing that are causing you distress, and then provide you tools to help minimize those stressors to get to a more stabilized place. Once you are feeling more grounded and able to manage your current stressors, then I encourage the exploration of why these things are present in the first place, where they are coming from, and ultimately when they were initially learned and began. I believe that helping you uncover these important pieces of information are vital to your long-term success in becoming the best version of you possible!

I have an engaged, relational approach, grounded in modern research on the brain, trauma and attachment. I believe the goal of therapy is to realistically become who you truly are--not to fix you, or tell you how to be. I'm an eco-psychologist, a feminist therapist, and a Jungian. If you work with me, we'll look at your personal, family and cultural history, and the beliefs you hold about yourself and the world. Where we find traumas, disturbing memories, negative beliefs and uncomfortable feelings, we can use a variety of methods to loosen then, learn from them and heal them, including EMDR. I'm LGBTQII-positive.

I can help you feel good again in your life. You may have tried therapy before or talking with friends and family. But the real, tangible changes that you want haven't happened. I can help you create meaningful, lasting change by guiding you through experiential therapy that reformulates you in body, mind, soul and spirit. I specialize in working with: Pre-teens, teens and young adults; Families and Parenting- including acting out behaviors, conflicts with teens, discipline, substance abuse, etc.; Men's issues- including relationships, connecting with or managing emotions, career issues and life transitions

I have over ten years experience working with clients in their teens or twenties who have: attachment issues; ADHD, Anxiety, and Depression. They suffer relational trauma for a variety of reasons, such as: emotional abuse and neglect; physical or sexual abuse; and sexual assault. I help my clients resolve past trauma; heal attachment wounds; replace unhealthy habits with healthy ones; and to progress towards their life goals. This results in them having healthier and more satisfying relationships; a greater sense of connection and belonging; and higher functioning in every day life.