Therapists in Lafayette, CA

Accepting new clients. I have available teletherapy appointments and will soon start provinding In-person sessions. Are you experiencing low motivation, worries, and feeling down? Are you wanting to feel more confident and move forward in life? If this sounds like the change you want, please call me for a free 15 minute consultation to see if my approach meets your needs. Therapy can support your path to a more authentic you.

Everyone has challenges and battles to fight. A pain-free life is not always possible. Even the strongest people amongst us need a little bit of help to work through some of life’s difficulties. Whether you struggle with depression, grief, anxiety, or other issues, you should know there is hope for better tomorrows.

As a biomedical engineer and clinical hypnotist, I have developed a unique approach to mind-body wellness and performance optimization. For over 30 years I have helped people suffering from stress, anxiety, insomnia, addiction, panic, fears, phobias, chronic illness, allergies, weight loss and more.

For nine years I have had hands-on experience working with individuals, children, couples and families, and have helped my clients deal with the various challenges life brought them. Diversity and inclusion are core beliefs of mine. I feel that every person has value that can be enriched and strengthened.

Whether your relationship is in crisis or has simply lost its way, I offer practical support in reducing overwhelm and helping you rework and revitalize your relationship. In the process of resolving surface-level conflicts, my goal is to help you establish intimacy and connection, deeper and stronger than you may have been able to experience before.

I am a clinical psychologist based in Walnut Creek, CA. My graduate and postgraduate training included most major approaches to psychotherapy. When I begin psychotherapy with someone, my intent is to work in partnership with you. My style is one of active collaboration. Only with both of us involved, sharing our thoughts and ideas, can a safe and effective working environment develop. Change isn't easy. If it was, you might not be thinking about therapy.

Are you struggling, feeling stagnate, having trouble moving beyond traumatic events or having relationship difficulties? I help people get past these all too common problems. I create a warm, safe, and nurturing environment using a client-centered and holistic approach. Together we will determine what the important issues affecting your life are. We will discover how you can resolve those issues so you can move on. For the past 20 years I have provided individualized, kind, solution-based therapy and life coaching for people of all ages.

I work with individuals, adolescents and youth seeking client centered services who are invested in meaningful change, inquiry, and growth. I offer compassionate and informed guidance to navigate life transitions, anxiety, relational challenges, depression, and general stress and burnout. I draw on my decades of experience in behavioral health to provide thoughtful and effective psychotherapeutic treatment and consultation.

I specialize in working with ADHD, HSP, and ASD. Being in our bodies- and being in our world- can be very difficult. This is especially true when when you're a highly sensitive person. My typical client often hears "you're being too much" while also dreading the feeling of not "being enough". I'm here to take a deep dive into what's making you feel like "too much" and highlight the ways you are "just enough for the right people". Typically, my client's goals are to live more comfortably in their sensitive skin, find liberation from shame, and better manage depression and anxiety.

My perspective embraces self-awareness as one of the main instruments in helping free up trauma. Fuller awareness removes the fear of the unknown, gives us distance from distress and the ability to disconnect from automatic behaviors that perpetuate negative reactions and feelings. In the words of international trauma experts “its teaching our clients how to focus on new stimuli they normally might not have noticed...” with “conscious inhibition of old responses”(Jana Fisher and Pat Ogden, March 2011). The intricacies of our humanness prevents freedom from all depression, anxiety, neurosis and traumatic bodily sensations. Yet.....

Are you stuck in behaviors that hurt your health or risk your relationships? Are you caught in self-defeating habits? Many of my clients pressure themselves into doing it all, which can lead to problems at home or work. Some want resolution of trauma or mysterious health issues and don't know what to do next. Others turn to food, wine, pills or poor relationship choices to manage their situations. My Habits Into Health System is a skills-based model that helps ease emotional symptoms, quiet busy minds and invites soulful action. This approach can help you unwind outdated patterns so you can form a more peaceful and powerful future.

When grief hasn't been fully addressed, it can look like depression, anxiety, isolation, addictive behaviors to escape the pain, workaholism, relationships that are fragile, a lack of motivation, or feeling overwhelming resentment and bitterness. And grief can occur after a variety of losses that many people don't realize: divorce, moving, graduation, empty nest, retirement, an impactful change in financial position or physical abilities, a pandemic. My clients acutely feel how unresolved grief has become an impediment to living their lives in full, having healthy relationships, and having the energy to go after their goals.

Do you find yourself repeatedly reacting to recurring emotional triggers; trapped in repetitive negative cycles in your relationships, or unable to figure out how to move forward to a more positive, secure bond with your partner? My warmth, humor and interactive style creates trust and safety to encourage and support you. Clients express that they feel relief from symptoms of stress, such a anxiety or depression, and experience feeling more emotional flexibility and balance.

Are you too hard on yourself, driven to achieve or be perfect as though you might be in trouble otherwise? Do you find that constant striving is wearing you out? Maybe you're tired. Maybe you're in pain or dealing with chronic illness after ignoring your body's signals for rest, play, and comfort. Maybe you've been working your butt off to care for others or please them, only to find they don't really appreciate you. This is what we do when we feel not-good-enough. We work really hard, hoping that some achievement or accolade will finally make us feel okay.

Choosing a therapist online can be a challenge because it is hard to get a gut feeling if there will be a good match. I invite you to watch a brief video on my website to get a sense if you would feel comfortable working with me. I specialize in working with people who feel stuck or believe that they have "tried everything." I provide psychotherapy, EMDR and EMDR intensives, and Ketamine Assisted Therapy (KAP). I am a Certified EMDR Therapist and an Approved EMDR Consultant. In my office, you will find a safe place to explore, grow, and heal.