Psychoanalytic Therapists in Oakland, CA

I consider it a privilege to work with you to explore aspects of your life experience which have diminished your satisfaction with life or otherwise left you feeling lost or alone. Challenges around loss, aging, illness, trauma or relationships can feel too frightening to tackle alone. As a seasoned and compassionate psychotherapist, I can help you bear and work with what may feel unbearable. Together, we will create a protected space that fosters the trust, aliveness and self-expression that are essential to growth and success in love and work, where you can ultimately reclaim your life and joie-de-vivre.

Welcome to my practice. I have been in practice since 2007 and have been featured on ABC, NBC, and KCAL as an expert psychologist. I work primarily with men who have hit “rock bottom” and would like help getting up. These men are often in crisis when we first meet. The issues I address are typically related to unhealthy sexual behaviors, infidelity, financial recklessness, gambling, drugs/alcohol, dishonesty/lying, and relational conflicts. My therapy approach is a combination of psychoanalytic, cognitive-behavioral, and the 12-Step recovery model. I also share insight from my own painful but redemptive recovery journey.

So many of us have been harmed by other people, by systems of oppression, and by experiences of collective trauma. These experiences disconnect us from ourselves and from each other, so that we may blame and attack ourselves, or lash out at those around us, or feel compelled to be perfect at the cost of our wellbeing, or numb our feelings, or feel always insecure and unsafe in relationships. People who work with me are curious, wanting to know more about how past experiences are showing up in their feelings, bodies, sense of self, behaviors, values, and relationships today.

I am a psychoanalytic psychotherapist working with adults in the Bay Area. In general, I am interested in how individuals understand and articulate their experiences and how, in the process of therapy, we modify these experiences, providing increased freedom over time. I believe that the relationship between therapist and patient is foundational to change and am therefore sensitive to how the language we use together develops and shifts within the relationship to accommodate emergent understanding.

My approach to therapy is psychodynamic, psychoanalytic and relational. Our task together is to help unlock the parts of you that got stuck somewhere along the way.

I find it effective to combine behavioral solutions with depth work. Since the unconscious ripples into all aspects of life, I have found that relational therapy addressing unconscious motives can help with most psychological difficulties. In addition to working with individuals, couples & families, I am adjunct faculty at the California Institute of Integral Studies where I teach in the Masters in Counseling Psychology Department and Psychological Services Clinic.

I approach each therapeutic relationship with openness, balancing thoughtful intensity with humor. My style has been described as warm, genuine, intuitive, and incisive. Together we can discover, explore, and hold what needs attending to, cultivating space for the fullness of your experience.

Our work together begins with a recognition that it takes courage to enter therapy and that it is an investment of time as well as resources. Embarking on this process is an important step towards living a fuller, more meaningful life. Whether you are struggling to make sense of your past, present and/or future, I hope to help guide you in gaining greater self-awareness and to achieve your goals. I am a licensed psychologist, and clinical supervisor with an integrative approach that combines the latest evidence-based research and depth-oriented relational psychoanalytic theory.

Starting therapy is not easy, and I hope you'll soon feel comfortable with me because of how I listen and become interested in the details you bring, helping you start to feel safe and at ease. I'll listen to the layers of what you say, and do my best to notice patterns which you may be unaware of. Together we'll think about the present moment of your life, your history, your needs and desires, and what gets in the way of your greater happiness and satisfaction.

Are you struggling with how childhood experiences, losses or trauma continues to influence your life? Are you discouraged at repeating difficult situations or find it hard to get out from under depression or anxiety? I'm glad to see how we can put our minds together to understand your dilemmas and see things differently. Change is possible no matter what your age or your life circumstances when you feel seen, accepted and appreciated for who you are and where you've been.

I offer psychotherapy to individuals and couples who reside in California or Oregon. I offer clinical supervision to associates residing and working in the state of California. As a psychotherapist, I am flexible and tailor my approach to the need of each client. I have been trained in many modalities that offer various benefits, depending on your needs and preferences (EMDR, AEDP, Sensorimotor, Psychodynamic/Psychoanalytic, Somatic). As a clinical supervisor, I supervise from a primarily psychodynamic orientation. My practice is anti oppression and trauma informed.

I am a psychotherapist with offices in SF and Oakland, where I treat both adults and couples. I take a relational and collaborative approach to psychotherapy. We are all unique, consciously and unconsciously influenced by the relationships and life-events that leave a lasting impact on how we address our current situation. Difficulties can sometimes arise when the habitual thoughts, emotions, or behaviors that once served us now have us feeling stuck, depressed, and powerless. Fear, ambivalence, compulsivity and patterned thinking can hamper our ability to address the inevitable twists and turns of daily life.

I've been in practice for over 25 years, helping people who are struggling with depression, anxiety, relationship issues, and a range of other difficulties. I work from an integrative psychoanalytic perspective. This means that we work together to understand in a deep way the painful patterns that hold you back and where efforts to shield yourself from pain create more problems. We attend to your thoughts and feelings in the moment, which is in many ways like a mindfulness practice, aimed at enlarging acceptance of the known and as yet unknown parts of yourself.

I believe that as human beings, we are hard-wired with the need to get our emotional experience into the mind of a trusted other. My work as a psychotherapist is to find emotional resonance with my clients' life experiences, deriving both from their family of origin and from present-day situations and relationships. Whether a client is depressed, anxious, struggling with relationship problems, trying to overcome traumatic experiences, or trying to find their own unique, personal voice in a complex world, talking in psychotherapy can help to expand your capacity for growth and happiness.

You are hurting, or anxious, are considering psychotherapy and whether to trust me to facilitate your healing. My experience with adults, couples and children will support your inner journey and that of loved ones. We will create space for you to contemplate internal, external and relationship challenges. Through an attuned therapeutic relationship, I will help you address internal challenges - depression, anxiety and trauma. Empathically, I help you face external challenges - discrimination, immigration and life transitions. I also support you in navigating relationships, in which your internal worlds connect with those of others.

I believe that the most effective route to change and healing is through self awareness, I strive to work towards that end in all the therapy I do, both with couples and with individuals. I have found that there is no more powerful tool for breaking old patterns and affecting real change than self knowledge. With people who are curious and willing to look inward, I can help them do deep work and find out who they are and why they do the things they do..

My work is informed by years of practice and research in evidence-based methods and interventions aimed at helping people change. I create strong collaborative relationships with a goal of helping to improve personal and interpersonal effectiveness, and to bringing about one's best, most authentic self. By working on problematic relationship patterns, changing patterns of thought and behavior, and by learning to become more flexible and integrated, my aim is to increase my patients' overall effectiveness and help them lead happier, more fulfilling lives. I expect changes made in therapy will lead to systemic improvements in my patients' lives.

For over 33 years I have been blessed to work with individuals and couples who put their trust in me to facilitate their own personal healing. Clients have relied on my devotion, warmth, insights and authentic presence to hold them in a safe, sacred space. Through a collaborative exploration, we explore the thoughts, feelings, belief systems that are at the root of life-long patterns. Awareness of these patterns is crucial. However, lasting change requires more than insight. We need to directly experience and release the underlying energies and wounds that block your life force, so you can live and express your authentic gifts.

With over 14 years of clinical experience, I help men and women, couples and families (especially adult siblings) address a variety forms of distress, from anxiety and depression, to addiction or just a general sense that something feels off in their lives in order to find more fulfillment and meaning. Whether I am working with an individual, couple or family, I am attuned to multiple forms of communication as a direct means for assessment, diagnosis and treatment for what ails each client, and what blocks them from their own joy and peace. I am interested in working with clients with a curiosity of their inner worlds.