Find a Therapist in Larkspur, California.

Psychotherapy gives you a place that exists for one purpose: to understand you. Away from the roles you play and the people you look after, you can finally turn toward your own experience and say what's true. That alone can be a relief; over time, it becomes much more. My role is to listen with care and to help you notice what you've overlooked: the recurring themes, the feelings that don't add up, the desires and fears you may not have put into words before. Much of what shapes us runs quietly underneath the surface, and bringing it into the open is what allows things to shift. The trust we build together is part of how the work heals: being met with serious attention and care.

I have 20 years of diverse professional experiences and extensive training. I am a published writer, lecturer and passionate about my field. I specialize working with Individual Adults and Teens. My style is conversational, and I strive for a collaborative and compassionate practice with my clients. Though, I am trained in a variety of therapies, I primarily work in narrative and psychodynamic theory. Additionally, I may draw upon other similar or complimentary theoretical approaches to create a highly personalized treatment plan based on your needs and goals.

Are You Experiencing Any of These? People often come to therapy to move forward in their lives, even if they have no significant symptoms. For many others, therapy is sought because they are experiencing: • Depression • Stress or anxiety • Unresolved conflicts with a spouse, children, bosses, and co-workers. • Grief and loss that has gone on too long. • Difficulty balancing all the responsibilities of their life. • Difficulty adjusting to changes in health, job situation or in the family. •Problems related to trauma in the distant or recent past. • Issues related to drinking or use of other substances. • Parenting difficulties with children.

For me, Psychotherapy is a collaborative process that provides a safe, supportive environment to explore one’s thoughts, feelings, experiences and relationships. The past, I believe, often informs and impacts the present. Through conversation and reflection, one may gain greater insight and understanding, work through challenges and barriers in the service of developing new ways of coping and developing.

Feeling stuck in a cycle that is causing you pain or a lack of fulfillment leaves you open to increased stress, followed by more pain and lack of fulfillment. This puts a strain on your relationships and your sense of well-being. Maybe you feel stuck in addiction, depression, anxiety, a relationship you want to change, a job that doesn't satisfy you anymore. Maybe you have specific ways of interacting with people that you find doesn't serve you anymore- yelling, arguing, passivity, keeping your guard up. We explore your patterns, your symptoms and the reasons they were useful to you. I will teach you knew ways of managing your emotions and ways to diminish patterns that no longer serve you.

I work primarily around self-acceptance, learning how to achieve intimacy and breaking free of conditioning. My experience is that this work helps to heal trauma/ PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), depression, low self-esteem, addictions (alcohol/drugs/sex) and anxiety. I do this work with individuals, couples, families and adolescents. My approach is holistic, meaning that I work with the mind, body and spirit. I also welcome those who simply want the added flexibility good therapy can achieve, enabling them to live fuller, richer, happier lives.

Psychotherapy is a longer-term approach to change utilizing a growth and insight-focused orientation. Through the process connections between past and present are made and with greater awareness of what has led to where we are now we can begin to make conscious choices rather than react when old stuff is triggered and react in ways that don't feel good later. Often EMDR, somatic work, Internal Family Systems and compassion-focused therapies are utilized combined with process-based psychotherapy to address all aspects of the Self.

Psychotherapy is a great tool to help you understand yourself better. Everybody can benefit from the self-knowledge that psychotherapy brings. With insight, understanding and humor you can live the life you want without the stumbling blocks the unexamined life brings. Psychotherapy can help you reveal the unconscious process that motivates and defines you. Self understanding is the key to making the good decisions that lead to a happy and fulfilled life.

Are you interested in getting relief and finding solutions? Would you like to feel good about your life and relationships? I use empirical research and science across multiple disciplines to show clients just like you how you can get real-world, tangible, time-tested, and long-lasting, results that lead to optimal mental and relational health. Mental and relational health is not just a reduction in symptoms and problems. Instead, they are increases in self-control and empowerment, as well as acceptance, freedom, kindness, compassion, safety, and understanding - for yourself and others.

We are all born with the capacity for joy and love, but sometimes, as adults, we forget the wondrous sense of possibility or dreams we once had for our lives. Psychotherapy can help you reconnect with yourself and your hopes and aspirations for your life. It can also help you: (1) Develop more awareness about your needs (2) Express yourself more openly and authentically (3) Understand the ways your childhood impacts your experience of yourself as an adult (4) Cope with circumstances such as loss, illness, disability, anxiety, depression, parenting, marriage, aging, care-giving or conflicts in the workplace. If you would like to discuss your needs, please call me at 415-533-9724.

Early wounding in life is the key cause of the issues and problems we have in our present lives. I believe in exploring and experienceing our early painful and angry feelings to associate them with how we deal with our relationships, our jobs and/or the community. I believe that the strong feelings of anger and love we have or had for our parents are reflected in our current relationships. I also believe that the modeling of behavior in our early lives will be reflected in how we act today. If this has a negative bent to it, it can be readily repaired through the empathetic and reflective counseling that I provide..

Thinking outside the box: New insights and self-empowerment for lasting change. With extensive experience as a supervising psychotherapist and project contractor, I have worked with government agencies (CDC, INS, City of New York), NYC hospitals, nonprofits, and the private sector. As a cited resource in books and articles, I have presented numerous times on psychodynamic therapy and treated adolescents and families in both inpatient and outpatient settings. By integrating self-empowerment tools with state-of-the-art, evidence-based treatment, I help individuals open new pathways to break habits, solve problems, or resolve conflicts, fostering lasting personal growth and wellness.

I help men and teens who are struggling with emotional pain, transform their lives. More than a decade's worth of focus on men's issues has taught me that men can experience and express emotion differently than women. In addition to my role as a psychotherapist, I am also Research Director at the San Francisco Psychotherapy Research Group, where I study the processes that lead to effective psychotherapy. My combined clinical and research background means that I am very aware of the most current and effective methods in psychotherapy, allowing me to utilize a warm, compassionate, and scientifically-informed approach to help my clients achieve the maximum benefits possible.