Why See a Psychotherapist?

There are many reasons to see a therapist. Ultimately, though, the goal of therapy is to help you feel better, have deeper and more engaging relationships, and to help you live more fully at work and in play.

What Kind of Therapy Do You Do?

I am trained to do psychodynamic therapy, which used to be called psychoanalytic therapy. All that means is that we will talk about you, your thoughts, and your relationships. Just talk. As we start to talk, we will collaborate on a plan for how best to help you in sessions.

Over time, we will work to better understand the parts of you that you aren't always conscious of, that you don't have control over, or that temporarily overwhelm you. When brought into the light of empathic understanding, these parts of you become easier to live with and less overwhelmingly painful and intense. Left unseen, however, these submerged thoughts and feelings can lead to low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, excessive stress, relationship problems, and more.

Training and Experience:

I draw on my training from The Wright Institute and The San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis, my clinical experience at the Pacific Center for Human Growth and Marina Counseling, as well as my experience as a Philosophy PhD and teacher at San Francisco State University. I have treated individuals, couples, and children from a various socioeconomic, cultural, and racial backgrounds and people from across the LGBTQ spectrum.

What Does LMFT Mean?

In simple terms, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT or MFT) is someone with a graduate degree in counseling who obtained licensure to be a psychotherapist by completing 3000 hours of experience as a psychotherapist under the supervision of other licensed psychotherapists, and then passing a licensing exam. Generally, Marriage and Family Therapists are more focused on relationships and the role that relationships play in a person's life. For more information, see the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy webpage here: AAMFT Webpage