Approach Highlights
I am a clinical social worker with a doctorate in East-West psychology. I practice using non-pathologizing models of the human psyche. Many people who have had unsatisfying or disappointing experiences in therapy find it meaningful to work with me. My training and clinical practice is grounded in the psychodynamic tradition with a trauma-informed, somatic lens. I also offer EMDR and do pull from other approaches such as Internal Family Systems and contemplative psychology.
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I generally work from the following assumptions:
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Individual experiences are always taking place in relation to culture, environment, economy, and intergenerational history.
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In most cases, self-defeating patterns have relational origins. Often, these patterns stem from ways of coping that, at one time, were a source of needed support.
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Trauma is not what happened in the past, it is what occurs in the present as a result.
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Most people entirely underestimate the ways they naturally orient towards healing.
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Symptoms such as negative emotion have something important to teach us.
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Sometimes it is not enough to know the answers; We need new experiences of ourselves within a safe relationship.
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Laughter can be great medicine.
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A Bit About How I Work
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For the past 16 years, I have developed an approach that is collaborative, respectful, and relational. People find that I am warm and sincere. In this process we can talk about experiences that have not gotten enough careful attention. Subtle, jagged or even joyful experiences. With careful listening, language given to thoughts, feelings, and sensation can begin to get underneath the psychological symptoms. In this process, symptoms, albeit painful like anxiety, can point towards important truths. These truths can reveal insight about unrealized aspects of ourselves, our passions, our conflicts, our sorrows. From here, we can identify patterns; We can understand how these patterns may have aided in survival or safety only to later become unconscious habits that can wreck havoc.
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Through this relationship and dialogue, self-perpetuating cycles can give way to greater choice as you decide how you want to move forward. What you want to keep. What you no longer need.
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I will trust this process, when trust is hard for you to bare. I will hold patience for the parts of you that take time or silence to come forward and we will fight the good fight for the parts of you that have been repeatedly cast aside.
My role as a therapist is to help you understand and relate to your discomfort differently. In turn, your inner world can become a place of solace and support. Interpersonal challenges can become less de-stabilizing. With self-integration, it is easier to derive wisdom and help from within. My ultimate goal is to help you identify and cultivate what is needed for you to live a truthful, balanced, and creative existence.
“Fear is the cheapest room in the house. I would like to see you living in better conditions."
Hafiz
Contact Me
Please inquire about my fee. My fee ranges between $140 and $175. I try to make psychotherapy accessible to people with varied socioeconomic circumstances so please inquire about sliding scale.
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I am committed to your privacy. Please do not include confidential or private information regarding your health condition in the form below.
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510-519-8804