Therapy for Couples and Individuals

In person in San Francisco and virtually across California.

Most people begin therapy because something hurts now: a relationship is struggling, anxiety is taking over, or an old pattern has become impossible to ignore. Therapy can address what hurts now without losing sight of the deeper question: Why does this keep happening, and what would it mean to live differently?

Therapy with me is active, engaged, and relational. I listen closely, with presence and attunement, but I also ask questions, offer ideas, and tell you what I notice. I offer observations as possibilities for us to examine together - not as verdicts about who you are.

I have spent years as a therapy client myself, and I know how vague therapist websites can be. So while my approach changes given the unique circumstances of each person and couple, here is a more concrete sense of what we might actually do together.

Couples Therapy

Couples often arrive caught in a cycle: one person pursues while the other withdraws, both become defensive, or small hurts build until every conversation feels loaded. We approach that pattern as shared - not simply ‘mine’ or ‘yours’ - and practice different ways of speaking, listening, and repairing.

Together, we may work on:

• Recognizing and interrupting recurring conflict cycles

• Expressing needs and setting boundaries while issues are still manageable

• Speaking from your own experience without turning desires into demands

• Negotiating differences without either person disappearing

• Practicing difficult conversations together during the session

• Repairing after hurt and learning to use feedback as information

The goal is not a relationship without conflict. It is more honesty, flexibility, repair, and connection.

Individual Therapy

Individual therapy, as I practice it, is a process of returning to yourself.

We all leave ourselves sometimes - in other people’s expectations, in roles we perform well, or in protective strategies that once helped us survive. The goal is not to find a final, perfected version of yourself. It is to notice when you have left yourself and become more capable of returning, again and again.

You do not need to arrive with insight, the right language, or a clear goal. Sometimes you know exactly what feels stuck; sometimes you only know that something is not working.

Together, we might work on:

• Putting words to feelings and patterns that are difficult to identify

• Making sense of anxiety, shame, anger, grief, or disconnection

• Noticing what happens in your body before you automatically react

• Understanding protective responses such as people-pleasing, perfectionism, control, or withdrawal

• Clarifying your values when choices feel tangled

• Setting boundaries, having difficult conversations, and trying new ways of responding

Sometimes the work is practical and immediate. Sometimes it asks us to slow down and stay with something we usually avoid. Often, it is both.

Over time, the work should increasingly become yours: recognizing what is happening, responding with greater freedom, and trusting your own hard-earned wisdom.

Logistics & Getting Started

I offer in-person sessions in San Francisco’s Lower Pacific Heights neighborhood, as well as telehealth sessions for clients anywhere in California.

I am a Marriage and Family Therapist Trainee and a Professional Clinical Counselor Trainee at Pierce Street Integral Counseling Center, under the supervision of Bart Shulman, LPCC, California License No. 4199.

Current Availability

For current availability and inquiry options, please visit the Contact page.