Therapists in Oakland, CA

Are you feeling stuck or overwhelmed in your life? Lost your sense of self and confidence? Confused by how to set boundaries and build healthy relationships? I am here for you! I can help you understand what is happening in your life and how you can heal, grow, and transform to be living the life you want. I have a trauma-informed, integrative style based on mindfulness, somatic psychology, ecotherapy, expressive arts, humanistic and transpersonal psychology, neuroscience, spirituality, and my background in holistic health, nutrition, massage, and fitness. I have a gentle yet directive, relational style.

Do you feel disconnected from yourself? Like you're just not "you" anymore or you're not sure who you are now? Maybe you are in an abusive relationship, just left one, or have undergone a traumatic event or major life transition. You need help rediscovering and reconnecting with yourself. You might feel disappointed with what your life looks like and where you are headed in life. Depression and anxiety have taken the forefront in your life and you want a way back to feeling like yourself, a way back to feeling healthy and interested in life again.

Nobody’s childhood dream was to grow up and feel overwhelmed, alone, stuck or unworthy. I aim to help individuals heal from trauma-related issues such as anxiety, depression, and relationship/family issues. If you find yourself living without a navigation system to understand emotional terrain or trauma that impacts your well-being; you are not alone. All of us go through rough patches in our lives. My approach is specific to meet your unique needs in a safe and non-judgemental space.

You have lost so much in your life, but your biggest loss has been your sense of self. Early on, you learned that it wasn’t safe to be who you are, or be in your skin or your body. So you run away from yourself and become an overachiever in work and in relationships. This hustling for worthiness has left you feeling abandoned and exhausted. You want to trust. You want to heal. You want to be able to dive deep into the beauty of life and laughter that you know is around you. Without knowing yourself, what your heart sounds and feels like - how will you build satisfying relationships and create a life that truly fills you up?

Limited spots available, please reach out for details: Individual, Couples/Relationship, Teen Counseling. LGBTQIA+, Poly, Sex-Positive, & Kink friendly. Folks tend to come to me when they are feeling stuck around their anxiety or depression. They usually are holding questions around their sexuality/identity, life transitions, and processing grief or loss. They know that they have the wisdom to resolve these feelings inside, but they are feeling stuck on how to access them. Everything feels a little garbled, and I help them clear the way to access the answers to the questions they are holding.

I strongly believe that the most healing aspect of therapy is directly related to the safe connection with the therapist. Trainings inform the therapy but only feeling safe and seen will provide the ground for deep exploration and emergence of the new... almost like a birthing process. Client based, my style is warm, compassionate, nonetheless, assertive. Experience and various trainings keep supporting the importance of breath, grounded presence and mindfulness in any therapeutic setting and healing/life process. Therefore, those are central to my work. My sessions combines several psychotherapy approaches together with various somatic practices such as bioenergetics, movement, mindfulness & trauma work.

I believe that the human spirit is oriented toward growth and expansion. My intention when working together is to serve as a collaborator, ally and accountability partner toward your highest good. To hold space for your whole self, to focus on resilience, and encourage you on your path toward living your best life. My work focuses on custom-crafting simple, evidence-based practices that can make a difference in your daily life - creative practices that will help decrease stress and anxiety, address trauma big and small, and foster better communication and relationships. These practices could range from guided visualization to CBT.

You’re fumbling, feeling clunky, ashamed, lost in transition, and searching for answers. You’ve been told you’re too much, too scattered, and too picky, when in reality, you may very well know what you want and it seems others just can’t meet you there. Together we will explore and unfold acceptance and awareness around ALL of your parts, especially the most intense ones. What you’re searching for is out there, let’s take these next steps on your journey

Do you feel stuck in the same loops, repeating old patterns, and self-defeating behaviors? Through a mindfulness-based, somatic, and trauma-sensitive approach, I support you to break these cycles, let go of limiting beliefs and be free to live the life you want. I specialize in supporting individuals who struggle with issues related to anxiety, perfectionism, low self-esteem and depression. My style is warm, authentic and direct - I'm here to help you feel more grounded and self-assured so that you can better navigate relationships, life transitions, and daily stressors.

When challenges and struggles in life arise, you do not have to walk alone. Whether you have experienced a recent life transition, loss, setback, have struggled with mental health or addiction challenges, or, are seeking support to heal from a recent or childhood trauma, I will be honored to guide you to gain control of your life and reclaim your personal power. I have committed nearly two decades holding a safe and empowered space for adults, children, and adolescents to discover their human potential, heal from trauma, and develop the tools to live a life of vitality and empowerment.

I am passionate about working with those who struggle with relationships and boundary setting, and clients who struggle with balancing differing sets of expectations due to cultural, physical, or mental factors. I also work with couples from differing backgrounds to deepen mutual understanding and couples struggling through a difficult phase in their relationship looking to increase communication and understanding. I work well with people from diverse cultural backgrounds, immigrant and first and second generation individuals and families, mixed race or multicultural individuals, and those who are struggling with chronic illness.

I enjoy in working with; self esteem & worth, trauma healing & recovery, body image & body positivity, disordered eating & relationship to body, belonging as our birthright, transforming deep shame into liberation, body & sex shame, relationships and boundaries, anxiety, stress & hyper-vigilance, nervous system imbalances, life transitions & identity, honoring grief, loss & death, life threatening illness, cancer, auto-immune disease, rites of passage, aging, adolescence, menopause, women's empowerment, highly sensitive people & empaths, people pleasers, intergenerational trauma & ancestral healing, mothering & the mother wound.

I specialize in trauma-informed therapy for anxiety, depression, relational issues, childhood and lifespan trauma, and more. I understand that sometimes psychotherapy is sought out in a very challenging time of life, and I am here to offer support through that. I have specialized experience working with creatives of all kinds, in being a singer myself. With experience focusing on young adults as well, I offer guidance for the process of individuation that occurs during these formative years. I enjoy working with clients of all ages, ethnicities, abilities, gender identities, sexualities, and other intersectional identities.

With a background including a Stanford B.A./ UC Berkeley J.D., a previous career as an innovation leader and startup founder, and journeys through heartbreak and illness, I bring eclectic personal experience to therapy practice. I combine formal training in psychodynamic therapy, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), EFT couples therapy, mind-body/ somatic work, meditation, and yoga therapy to provide an integrative, holistic approach to healing and personal growth. My work is informed by modern, evidence-based methods of psychotherapy as well as spiritual wisdom and practices from Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism.

I approach the process of therapy with the deepest respect for the inherent wholeness and dignity of every individual I have the privilege to work with. I will support you in addressing the challenges of chronic stress and the painful effects of trauma while holding the conviction that your capacity for connection, peace, and well-being is your birthright. And I will accompany you as you begin to find your way back to a truer, more vital and clear sense of who you are and what matters to you.

Are you in the process of a big life transition? Perhaps contemplating or going through a separation/divorce, career change, or feel you have lost touch with a part of yourself that once held the spark of joy and passion. You may feel anxious, depressed, lonely, and unsure. You don't have to move through these times alone. Together we will work to cultivate a deeper understanding of yourself and the world around you. My work with you is collaborative and non-judgemental. In our sessions I work transpersonally and somatically, incorporating EMDR, guided imagery, expressive arts, spirituality, tarot, and dreams.

We learn to survive and cope with our circumstances in the best way we know how at the time. Therapy offers an opportunity to slow down and get to know what is really going on inside and to learn to listen to your body's natural wisdom. I am interested in collaborating with you to explore where you're feeling stuck, confused or overwhelmed. I can help guide you to discover new, more effective ways of showing up for yourself and in your relationships. My own love of nature and mindfulness meditation practice informs much of my work with clients.

You're creative and thoughtful and maybe more than a little weird. You need a therapist who will understand you. Someone you can talk to about anything. Someone who will support you on your journey and not judge you for who you are and where you've been. I'm here to give you that support. As someone who has experienced a lot of what life has to offer, from small town to big city to things in the desert, I know what it is like to take a journey and I would love to support you in yours.

Becoming a parent, going through pregnancy and childbirth or loss will impact your relationships (with others and yourself) in ways you never imagined. And lets not talk about parenting and the incredible difficulty involved with being responsible for other small humans. You will stand in the mirror and the person staring back at you is unfamiliar. You are irritable, tired and on edge all of the time. Your self esteem is low and you are feeling guilt and worry almost all the time. It all seems impossible and no one truly understands. You are not alone. Not alone in the pain. And you don't have to be alone in the healing.