Therapists in North Oakland, Oakland, CA

I know that coming to therapy can be challenging and I am committed to creating a warm, empathic, and safe space for our time together. I tailor the treatment to meet your individual needs and goals. My priority is to meet you where you are in order to help you on your journey to a more authentic and fulfilling life. I have an integrative style, drawing on psychodynamic, systems, and attachment theories which allows us to look at the root of issues that you may be struggling with. I also draw on cognitive behavioral techniques, mindfulness and meditation practices to help deal with symptoms by improving coping and self-care.

Entering into a therapeutic process is like traveling to another country: full of promises and somewhat disorienting. Each experience is unique, it takes time to feel at home, and it's often more fulfilling accompanied by a local. Psychotherapy provides an opportunity to slow down and establish an intimate and safe space to be curious about one's mind. Working together, we can explore your internal landscape and create alternative paths. In my experience, there is often no straightforward answer to one's suffering, feelings of emptiness, or confusion.

Psychotherapy is one of many ways to improve the quality of your life and your relationships with others. While emotional wounds from the past are often the source of challenging symptoms, our sessions focus on the present as well as the past. I place great value on a solid therapeutic relationship and through this relationship, insights will surface and positive changes can occur. My style is collaborative, interactive, and supportive. I work with an open caring heart and humbly bring my authentic self to our sessions. I welcome individuals and couples of all ages and from all walks of life.

Therapy is the process of coming to a deeper understanding of ourselves and how we approach the world while contained in the therapeutic relationship. I aim to create a safe, compassionate, and collaborative space to explore why patterns of thinking and interacting have become painful. In my experience, this process leads to improved relationships and communication, greater confidence and enjoyment in life, relief from feeling stuck, strengthened coping skills to manage life stressors, and progress towards one's inherent potential to thrive.

I am a licensed psychotherapist specializing in child and teen counseling. Families come to my practice feeling lost, worried and some at the recommendation of a school counselor, lawyer, friend or pediatrician. Many parents have read multiple books and tried various interventions at home or at school without success. This can feel frustrating and upsetting, although it is a motivating starting place. What these families all have in common is concern for a child who is struggling in some way and in need of a child counselor. I offer child counseling, family counseling, family mediation, reunification, and parent support.

I work to build a warm, empathic relationship with my clients to create an environment where we can think together about the issues that bring you to therapy and how best to resolve them. I am informed by psychodynamic theory and utilize this rich tradition to explore unconscious defenses, maladaptive patterns and underlying schemas that can cause a person to repeat problematic behaviors despite their best efforts to change. I also draw from Cognitive Behavioral and Mindfullness practices to support clients with acquiring the tools they need to make those changes.

In my practice, I see children, adolescents and adults who are seeking help for a variety of reasons. Common areas of need include depression, anxiety, trauma, grief and relationship difficulties. With children, these concerns may express themselves through externalizing behaviors at school and/or at home. I offer an open, non-judgmental, and safe therapeutic relationship. My approach is adapted carefully to individual needs and is inclusive in regard to gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, culture, class, and religious/spiritual orientation. I work with many LGBTQ+ individuals in my practice.

I believe in your innate capacity to heal. A therapist can help you or your child get unstuck and begin on a path towards healing. I work with children and adults who are struggling with anxiety, depression, stress, overwhelm, ADHD, self-esteem, trauma, life transitions and relationship issues. I can help you to identify and explore patterns, process hard experiences or difficult emotions, deepen relationships and build the life skills and capacity to self-soothe, heal and grow.

I believe that understanding and compassion are vital for building trust, mutual respect, and openness, all of which are essential in forming a therapeutic relationship that can encourage change. My style in therapy is a mix of person-centered, solution-focused, cognitive-behavioral, and psychodynamic theories. With children I utilize a variety of expressive therapies including play, art, narrative, sand tray and bibliotherapy. In working with children, adolescents and adults, I use a cognitive behavioral therapeutic approach.

I am here for people feeling overwhelmed and struggling to navigate their personal, professional, academic, and romantic lives. Using a combination of psychodynamic talk therapy, evidence based practices (EBP) and mindfulness, we can learn management skills for symptoms of anxiety and depression, approach current issues, and explore underlying causes. Psychotherapy is a collaborative endeavor, requiring dedication on the part of both therapist and client — both of us will make necessary and different contributions to the process.

Psychotherapy is an intimately personal endeavor, that can provide a safe space for curiosity, exploration, and meaning-making of our lives and histories. I approach therapy through a relational psychodynamic lens, which means that I view mental health and well-being as being deeply interconnected with our relationships, experiences, and cultural identities. Each individual seeks therapy for unique reasons and carries a complex personal history, I tailor each treatment to meet your specific needs, goals, strengths, and cultural background.

People often come to therapy because they feel stuck in their lives, are experiencing anxiety or depression and are struggling with personal and professional relationships. My style is warm, supportive and engaged. I believe that the more access we have to our authentic selves, the more we can live a life that is deeply fulfilling. We will work collaboratively to develop a relationship in which there is room to take risks and experience aspects of yourself that may have been previously unknown to you. You will gain valuable tools to help you reach your goals personally, creatively, and professionally.

People seek therapy when they feel unhappy, anxious, stuck in patterns and relationships that don't serve them or acting in ways that are self-destructive. Therapy can address and change outmoded ways of being. The therapeutic relationship is key to this work: It offers the possibility of exploring and understanding more effective and satisfying ways of relating to ourselves and others. I work with children, adolescents and adults in individual therapy, using a collaborative approach that centers on empathy, understanding, curiosity and exploration.

I am a licensed clinical social worker and certified substance abuse counselor who has worked in the field for the past 15 years. My hope is to use my experiences and skills to help individuals struggling with mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, PTSD or substance abuse issues find new coping skills in order improve the quality of their lives. My approach combines elements of short-term behavioral therapies (DBT and CBT) with psychodynamic techniques to address problematic behaviors to achieve lasting change.

I am a Clinical Psychologist in private practice with more than 20 years' experience helping individual adults, teens, children and their families. I offer both Psychotherapy and Consultation. Psychotherapy in a safe and caring atmosphere can offer a pathway to insight, personal understanding and achieving new goals that bring a more rewarding life. My clinical approach is an interactive one since I believe that successful therapy is a collaborative process. I incorporate various therapeutic approaches: Psychodynamic, Interpersonal, Psychoanalytic, Solution-Focused and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

Psychotherapy is a uniquely effective way to address and process deeply rooted issues that manifest in ways that are painful, confusing, and make people feel out of control. I work with children, adolescents, and adults in individual therapy, using a collaborative approach that centers on empathy, understanding, and exploration. My orientation is predominantly psychodynamic, and I tailor my approach to each individual to address unique circumstances and complexities. I strive to create a safe, warm, and validating environment that enables people to share and be vulnerable without fear of judgment.

I love to work with individuals, who are genuinely curious about who they are and are driven towards a deep understanding of themselves and others. Therapy is not only helpful in times of crisis & questioning, but it proves impactful during periods of stability and strength. I incorporate psychodynamic frameworks, existential processes, somatic or body-oriented exercises, Parts Work, EMDR and mindfulness or spiritual perspectives in order to address the totality of the human experience. Ultimately, our work is driven by your needs. To read more about my approach, visit my website at www.suzannemadamsphd.com

You may feel lost, but you are not alone. We all experience suffering as a part of the human condition, yet sometimes our symptoms of stress, despair, worry, or self-criticism stand in the way of living the life that we want. If you find yourself troubled by a particular life problem or psychological condition, or generally lacking a sense of vitality and purpose, working with a clinician can help you reconnect with yourself and your strengths. Therapy often helps us to make useful connections between our actions, our thinking, our emotional reality, and patterns in relationships that we have developed over years.

Things seem fine from the outside, you are successful in some areas of your life, but deep down you feel there is something missing. You feel anxious, depressed or empty, and there is a constant feeling of not fitting in. You notice frustrating patterns you continue to get stuck in and feel dissatisfied with where you are. In therapy you can talk freely and safely about how you feel. Through our work together you will understand your experience in relation to your personal history and everyday life, learn to manage difficult feelings and get the tools to address your needs. This will lead to long-lasting meaningful change.