Therapists in San Anselmo, CA

My training is based in a combination of psychodynamic and experiential psychotherapy. My emphasis is to facilitate a therapeutic relationship where vulnerable feelings can be safely expressed. Symptoms of anxiety, depression, addiction... can be seen as invitations from the psyche to explore our internal world with understanding and compassion. Psychotherapy provides a safe place for this internal exploration within a caring relationship of respect.

I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of California with extensive experience over the past twenty years to provide comprehensive clinical support including assessment and therapeutic strategies to reduce symptoms related to environmental stress and mental health issues. Children, adolescents and adults who struggle with emotional regulation learn to develop coping strategies when experiencing distressing situations that impacts their quality of life.

I specialize in serving GIFTED PROFESSIONAL AND CREATIVE ADULTS AND COUPLES. Being gifted is a minority experience, which is hard to own or talk about due to cultural (mis)attributions of elitism and arrogance, so many gifted people have not explored this aspect of their identity and how this may be related to difficulties in their life. You may feel out of step with the world or misunderstood, and not know why, or that you have to hide aspects of yourself. Or have trouble making friends, be told you’re "too intense", feel socially awkward, not understand why others seem to respond negatively to your ideas, or feel deeply disappointed with the world’s imperfections. IN MY OFFICE, YOU CAN BE UNRESERVEDLY YOURSELF. Talking frankly about being gifted can improve your self-esteem and offer relief from self-doubt, loneliness, anxiety, or depression, as you develop strategies to meet the majority culture more effectively. Before becoming a psychologist, I worked for 25 years in startups, nonprofits, academia, and F500 companies. I hold a Stanford MBA and Berkeley MSEE, and have special training in assisting gifted clients. I've also published research on the creative process.

Each of us has the innate wisdom to guide us towards well-being, yet sometimes, we need help accessing that inner voice. Whether you are seeking short-term, issue specific solutions to your relationship, family or work challenges, or wanting to delve more deeply into freeing yourself from patterns that keep you stuck, I offer a compassionate style, rich in understanding and humor. I have taught mindfulness to teens and adults at Spirit Rock since 2002. And in our work together, I can offer tools to help you learn how to pause and skillfully listen to the wisdom within.

Each of life's stages offer a unique set of challenges for us all. The struggles of being an adolescent, the emotional turmoil adults face when relationships or career are strained, the fears associated with parenting kids in a complicated world, controlling anger and rage at any age and the unique issues involved with the aging process. Whether life circumstances lead to anxiety, depression, fear and hopelessness or even a sense of curiosity and exploration, I am committed to providing a warm, nurturing space where we can work together towards a greater sense of growth and potential.

Are you looking to change stubborn patterns or heal old wounds? Perhaps you would like to feel more connected with others and to yourself? However challenges show up in your life – maybe as depression, grief and loss, addictive patterns, anxiety, the impact of trauma, relationship struggles - there is always the potential for healing and growth waiting to be accessed. If the light in the tunnel seems dim or nonexistent, I’d like to offer you the torch that deep therapeutic inquiry has to offer.

Perhaps you're down or anxious - maybe you're unsure about how to move forward, or just feel that you aren't living the life you were meant to lead. Therapy is a process of growth and self-discovery, and in my sessions I promote transformation by engaging your deeper self, along with the most current therapeutic approaches. This often includes support for issues like anxiety, relationship and communication problems, and dysregulation and trauma. I also work with the changing roles and shifts in identity that occur throughout the life cycle.

Are you struggling in an important relationship? Do you find yourself playing out familiar, painful patterns wondering how to make a change? Is there a nagging sense that you're holding yourself back in your life? I am here to help you find the fertile, solid ground inside yourself from which you can nurture a life and relationships in which you wholeheartedly thrive. My approach to psychotherapy with couples and individuals is collaborative and unique to each client, but one element remains core: building a foundation of respect, trust, transparency, and loving-kindness from which real growth and change can occur.

Welcome. If you have found yourself here you are probably looking for relief. My passion and experience focuses around helping others find clarity and balance. We each have different histories, needs, patterns of thinking, and struggles. All of us develop strategies of protecting ourselves that have been useful in the past but have become outdated. It's important that we move toward ways that currently work; that help guide us toward the most peace and happiness possible. Guiding individuals toward getting to know, accept, and thrive in one's own self and in relationship is something I am dedicated to.

There is a solution to the suffering! I am directional and empathic in my approach to working with clients. People come to me because they are wanting to make some personal changes in their lives and I facilitate this process. A safe and trusting environment is vital for this work and I create this early on with warmth and unconditional acceptance of all that is arising.

I have over 25 years of experience treating individuals, couples, families and groups. I work with a wide spectrum of psychological issues including but not limited to relationship difficulties, mood and anxiety disorders, addiction and grief. I have advanced training in couples counseling, eating disorders and mindfulness practices . My work is informed by family systems, cognitive behavioral and attachment theory.

If you overwhelmed, run down, irritable, sad or depressed, you are not alone. At times we find ourselves worn down by the weight of everything. Somatic Experiencing and EMDR, when used in combination with psychotherapy can help you to restore your resiliency and capacity and support you to feel like your self once again.

Life has never been particularly easy, but lately we are faced with additional stress. As a psychologist, I meet with men and women, couples and families who are coping with conflict in their marriages, conflicts with their children, financial pressures, and workplace stress. Things might seem so overwhelming that we despair of ever recapturing the happiness and optimism that we once might have had. I can show you ways to reduce your anxiety, and develop new coping strategies to improve interactions in your family, your relationships and your workplace. You can find confidence and recapture a sense of well being.

As a bilingual (Eng/Span) licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, I have vast experience treating diverse populations of all ages struggling with trauma, depression, anxiety, mood disorders, and personality disorders. With a background in Gestalt, trauma-informed care, and prenatal counseling, I treat individuals and couples in a private practice setting where I incorporate and integrate various modalities, along with somatic techniques, parts work, resourcing, mindfulness, and transpersonal psychology. “With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.” - Max Ehrmann

Before opening a private practice in San Anselmo, I worked as a primary therapist with the Child Therapy Institute of Marin working with children and adults. I have also worked as a school counselor in Marin elementary, middle and high schools; and at a local university. I have clinical experience working in an eating recovery center helping clients and their families recover from eating disorders. I received a bachelor’s in arts from Scripps College in Claremont, California and a master’s in counseling psychology from Dominican University in San Rafael, California. I am a doctoral candidate in Clinical Psychology.

I have worked with adults, predominantly licensed professionals and executives and their partners work through challenging dynamics in both their personal and professional lives. Finding the motivation to create change and capitalizing on that motivation is essential to enhancing awareness and acceptance of life's struggles. You don't have to suffer to get your needs met, you just need to be open to a different way of approaching your current and past issues. I have no judgment for how you have survived to date but nothing changes if nothing changes. I'm here to collaborate with you to do things differently. I support you implicitly

Does this describe your current state? You are feeling stuck during a difficult life transition, or realize that you have to resolve issues that you have been carrying with you. Or, you are the parent of a teen who is struggling and your family needs professional support to gain ground at this time. Your teen son or daughter could use a compassionate and skilled guide through the turbulent time of adolescence. If you, or your teen, has a trauma to be resolved, are stuck in your life circumstances, or in feelings that are overwhelming, then you have found help! Living a full, healthy life is possible!

My style as a therapist is warm, collaborative, and authentic. I strive to create an environment in which you feel free to speak openly about yourself and the concerns that bring you to therapy. In working together, I will help you to understand the layers of your experience within the context of your unique identity and lived history. Ultimately, this process offers the potential for movement around what’s stuck. Through it, comes an experience of greater emotional freedom and fulfillment.

I received my PsyD in Clinical Child and Family Psychology and have worked in outpatient settings treating individuals of all ages struggling to navigate difficult transitions, complex trauma, anxiety, depression, behavioral difficulties, and relationship struggles. In practice, I have found it critical to be able to draw upon multiple theoretical frameworks to inform treatment that is a good fit for each individual. I use narrative and attachment theories as the basis for treatment conceptualization and work to help patients to identify internal strengths that lead to lasting change.