Therapists in Castro Valley, CA

We’re living in a highly stressful society striving to balance our personal lives, relationships, family needs and work livelihoods to care for who and what is most important to us. Past trauma can interfere with our daily functioning and create isolation and mental unwellness. We all need support and guidance: good psychotherapy and relationship counseling can be a great benefit! I assess comprehensively, work pragmatically and use a well-developed tool kit! Together we work to help you balance emotions, shift unhelpful beliefs, resolve trauma, deepen forgiveness and forge new pathways to wellness and relationship health!

I work with Asian American individuals and couples around relationship issues. Most of my clients are thriving in their careers, but they want more. They want meaningful and deep connections. They want to be seen and accepted for who they are. But as Asians living in the US, being seen and understood is often complicated by cultural misunderstandings, holding conflicting values and identities, communication differences, prejudice and racism, intergenerational trauma, and immigration issues.

Bienvenidos/Welcome! I am a bilingual/bicultural Spanish-speaking therapist located in the East Bay area of California. I have been working with children, teens, and adults of color struggling with an array of concerns including anxiety, depression, relationship satisfaction, life purpose, trauma, postpartum depression, and spirituality, related to life transitions, family stress, trauma, and grief. Although my work has focused on the unique needs of minorities and underrepresented individuals, being a member of that community is certainly not a requirement for your personal development.

My approach balances compassion with being direct. My clients experience care, acceptance and belonging, while also feeling challenged the right amount to grow, change and decrease suffering. I offer empathy while actively engaging my clients by setting weekly treatment goals, building coping tools/resources, and providing skills/knowledge to build self-awareness and integration. We are deeply influenced by our cultural identity and heritage. I am committed to the values of respecting and celebrating diversity, and supporting social/political policies of equal rights and opportunities.

If your browsing this site it might be safe to say that you want to change something about your life. I welcome hearing your story and offer you a safe place to share your concerns. Sometimes we can find ourselves stuck and unsure how to make the shift away from dysfunctional patterns or lifestyles. Perhaps it's ongoing negative mental chatter, low self-worth, anger, addiction or heightened anxiety from a stressed out way of living that blocks that inner peace. I recognize your courage in reaching out. Please know that I am here to patiently offer guidance and reassurance as we journey together towards learning the tools of change.

You're accomplished, intelligent, and compassionate. Yet beneath the surface, you're wrestling with a relentless inner critic and the invisible weight of anxiety. You're motivated for change, eager to turn the page from relentless self-criticism to becoming your own supportive ally. You excel at being there for others, and now it's time to extend that kindness inward. If you're ready to stop the cycle of harsh self-judgment and learn practical coping skills to ease stress and anxiety, I'm here to facilitate that transformation.

Do you ever feel like you give so much of yourself to love and help others but they don't love you back in the same way? Are you burnt out and exhausted from feeling like people around you take advantage of how you jump all in, in loving them? Do you feel resentful of these relationships? Perhaps you feel like if you don't love them the extra 9 miles, then they won't love you at all or that they will leave you. Sometimes this causes us anxiety and feelings of depression that paralyzes us to live life.

Most men will experience some form of impotence in their lifetime, and the likelihood of developing symptoms increases with age and declining health. Erectile dysfunction can be caused by a number of factors such as poor diet, lack of exercise, smoking, and clogged arteries due to heart problems, or old age. In normal, healthy men, erections are activated by arousal, which activates pleasure centers in the brain. The brain sends messages down the spinal column, ending in the penile arteries. Pressure/shockwave treatments supports athletic sports injuries that can also contribute to inflammation restricting blood flow in the body.

You are not your problems, the problem is the problem! Together we can begin to discern the difference and take action toward change. I am a white, genderqueer therapist dedicated to facilitating personal, interpersonal and collective healing through relationships and organizing. I specialize in supporting people experiencing issues related to boundaries, self-respect, burnout, anger, social/racial justice, healing trauma, identity development, existential questions, sexuality, gender identity, and life transitions. LGBTQ, poly, and kink identities welcome. More at: www.tidepooltherapy.com and www.traumaconsciouspraxis.com