Therapists in San Mateo, CA

I specialize in serving GIFTED PROFESSIONAL AND CREATIVE ADULTS AND COUPLES. Being gifted is a minority experience, which is hard to own or talk about due to cultural (mis)attributions of elitism and arrogance, so many gifted people have not explored this aspect of their identity and how this may be related to difficulties in their life. You may feel out of step with the world or misunderstood, and not know why, or that you have to hide aspects of yourself. Or have trouble making friends, be told you’re "too intense", feel socially awkward, not understand why others seem to respond negatively to your ideas, or feel deeply disappointed with the world’s imperfections. IN MY OFFICE, YOU CAN BE UNRESERVEDLY YOURSELF. Talking frankly about being gifted can improve your self-esteem and offer relief from self-doubt, loneliness, anxiety, or depression, as you develop strategies to meet the majority culture more effectively. Before becoming a psychologist, I worked for 25 years in startups, nonprofits, academia, and F500 companies. I hold a Stanford MBA and Berkeley MSEE, and have special training in assisting gifted clients. I've also published research on the creative process.

I am Rev. Dr. Monika Maria Grace and I welcome you to my page! In our first session together, I also welcome you to my real or virtual office and I invite you to make it your own safe space. I explain that therapy is a process, a relationship, and an adventure. It's also a gift of discovery and renewal that only you can give to yourself, especially in our challenging days. In this process, my role is to listen, to support, to challenge, to guide, and to celebrate you as you are becoming more courageous to face the parts of yourself you were avoiding, more accepting of yourself and of others, and fully present in your life.

I hope this message finds you in a moment of peace amidst the challenges you may be facing. As your therapist, with a background in trauma, working with children, adolescents, and adults, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the bravery and strength it takes to confront the difficulties you are experiencing. I understand that navigating through life challenges and trauma can feel like an overwhelming journey, especially for young minds. However, please know that you are not alone in this process. Together, we will work through the pain, unpack the emotions, and pave the path towards healing and resilience.

My goal is to help people regain balance in their lives, deepen their understanding of self and achieve a level of awareness that alleviates helplessness and creates choice and ultimate change.

Underneath depression, anxiety, marital conflict, eating disorders, substance abuse, and other troubles there lies a single, painful, relentless problem: self judgement. Feelings are transient, and there are not good ones or bad ones, but we are not all raised to understand that. Encouraged by our culture to appear strong and happy, we feel pressured to hide our true feelings from each other. But when we take the time and care to pay attention to our authentic experience, it is possible to grow an enormous love for ourselves and great tenderness towards others, and even deep inner peace and great humor.

You are worried about your children and teenagers and wish they would listen to you and talk with you. You want a peaceful and happy home. I can help! I believe in a team approach where parents are partners in the process of helping to make the family a happier and better place to grow. I respect kids and teens as they express their thoughts and feelings. My ultimate goal is for each member of the family to feel seen, heard and understood as we work together to solve issues and improve relationships.

Bonjour! Vous recherchez une psychothérapeute française qui exerce en Californie et travaille en Français et en Anglais? J’aide les expats francophones en Californie à faire face aux défis qui accompagnent toute migration. Après avoir grandi en France dans une famille biculturelle et avoir immigré en Californie il y a presque dix ans, j'ai acquis un point de vue unique qui me permet d'aider les gens à traverser des transitions difficiles et tout ajustement culturel.

My work with you begins with the recognition that it takes courage to seek help. You may have questions about why you feel the way you feel and why you do the things you do. I believe you are not defined by your symptoms. Whether you struggle with love, work, or relationships, whether you are in crisis or you have received a mental health diagnosis, I believe that your true desires, conflicts, and needs are meaningful and worth actively getting to know. From our first session together, I meet you where you are.

Nina is a Licensed Marriage and family therapist, fluent in 3 languages: French, Farsi, and English. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology with a minor in French from Geneva, Switzerland, and her Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from California, USA. Nina has experience facilitating Domestic Violence, Mindfulness, Processing & Sexual Abuse Support groups for adults.

I provide short- or long-term psychotherapy . My approach is steeped in a mindful and caring relation to oneself and to others. I help my clients find the courage necessary to face and value what has not yet been acknowledged in their life, and to find the potential strengths that have not yet been harnessed. Bilingual: English and French

I'm a no-nonsense, supportive guy, the kind people are happy to have on their side. If I have a tombstone I hope the word CURIOUS will be on it. My curiosity is endless. I love helping folks get curious about how things - visible and invisible - impact their lives, from finances and sex to emotions and power. Engaging, supportive, and playful are other words clients use. About a third of my clients are couples. Over half are men. Many do some kind of creative work and created their own business. They are all over the Shy-to-Outgoing Spectrum.

I believe that inside each of our struggles there is a choice and it's from this place that we can reconnect to and reclaim our inherent wisdom and power. My intention in our work together is to help shed light on the path to help guide you home to yourself

You may be an artist. You may be an academic. You may be an activist. I have been all three of these, and I speak their languages: of creativity, intellectual enlivenment, and social justice. And right now, in this time of upheaval and unrest, you may be hurting--feeling lost, adrift, burned out, under- or over-stimulated, or simply sad. I am here to connect with you. To listen compassionately. To make space for you to better hear yourself, and to encourage linkages, mentalizations, and trauma metabolizations that will allow you to better listen to the rhythms of your body and use your own mind. I offer you my mind in this pursuit.

"What is the trouble that brings you in today?" I always start our conversation this way. I begin sessions by focusing on the here and now and filling in the past as needed. I help individuals struggling to create relationships that are fulfilling enough, work with parents, teens, couples and individuals trying to find satisfying relationships, be effective in the workplace or school and channel their behavior productively. You are likely frustrated and have tried a to get results for yourself or a loved one: try something else! .My style is warm, pragmatic and grounded in meeting you where you are hurting most to cultivate change.

My patients are those whose perfectionism, imposter syndrome, low self-esteem and people-pleasing keep them locked in situations that leave them feeling chronically undervalued, overwhelmed and misunderstood. Are you repeating the same destructive patterns in relationships? Questioning your skills and feeling “not good enough”? Continually assessing other people’s moods to keep them happy? Or running through scenarios in your head to avoid risk?

Most therapists will say they specialize in what you’re dealing with. Given my decades of experience, I have become fairly scrupulous about the clients I choose to work with. I see therapy as collaborative. If you’re ready to put in the work necessary for change, you’ve come to the right place. If the following sounds like you, feel free to reach out to me now: You know what you want to change in your life; you realize that a commitment to change means that most of the work is going to be on your end; and you're ready to trust in someone to partner with you.