Therapists for college students near San Francisco, CA

Do you feel that your everyday challenges are beginning to overwhelm you? Have you set goals for yourself, but you have not been able to achieve them? The solution is in sight. With skill, professionalism, empathy, and compassion I can help you to achieve your goals and the life that you want. Because you are a unique individual, I will tailor my treatment methods to fit your unique situation and needs. I believe that we all have what it takes to meet and conquer life's many challenges and difficulties. I provide a warm, supportive, and interactive environment to explore and resolve your concerns by understanding their origin, acquiring the skills to utilize, implement, and attain the changes in your life that you want to achieve. Personal growth is the outcome, which enables happiness and success to follow. Each person is unique and the treatment method(s) that are utilized reflect this fact. I am highly skilled in a variety of clinical treatment methods and we will incorporate one of more of them during our work together. I look forward to helping you to become the person that you want to be.

Are you a student who is struggling with many of the adjustments that come with attending college? Maybe you are homesick, lonely, attempting to make new friends, or have symptoms of anxiety. Many students coming into college feel the need to get all A's or procrastinate and have time management issues. You might have relationship difficulties, or family expectations that are too high to meet or unreasonable. Feeling sad, depressed, and overwhelmed can be isolating. I hope to be able to create a therapeutic relationship with you to help manage all of these normal feelings that come with entering a new experience in your life and becoming an adult.

Are you struggling with anxiety, depression, feeling unmotivated, burnt-out, or struggling with your intimate relationships? I work with clients wanting to change habitual and painful patterns such as self-criticism, guilt or shame, difficulties in romantic relationships, issues with communication, or struggling to maintain a healthy work/life balance. In our work together, I will help you to see your personal challenges with greater clarity and compassion. We will explore ways to increase self-awareness, mindfulness, and let go of old patterns that are no longer serving you. Our work together will invite you to reconnect to a deeper sense of meaning within yourself and in your daily life. My approach is compassionate, intuitive, direct, and honest. I hold a space for you to feel seen, understood, and emotionally safe. My ultimate goal is to help you reestablish a sense of inner safety, trust within yourself, and show up more fully in your life. Call for a free fifteen minute consultation to see if we are a good fit.

Please visit my profile to learn more about my services.

We all need support to get through difficult times in our lives. Beginning with identifying your goals and areas of focus in therapy, we will work together at a pace that is comfortable for you. If you are struggling with feelings of depression, overwhelm, anxiety, grief or trauma, therapy can create space for transformation and healing. Whether you are looking for a sounding board when facing tough decisions about family, relationships, work or life transition, or you recognize a need for change, the therapeutic process can support you in making the changes you want to see in your life. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and EMDR Certified therapist with 15 years of counseling and psychotherapy experience, I provide short and long-term therapy to adults, adolescents, and families. My approach is individualized, and uses a combination of insight-oriented and cognitive behavioral therapies, as well as EMDR. I believe therapy should move at your pace, with a focus identified by you. In a non-judgmental and supportive atmosphere, we will work together to access your strengths and supports to find the most effective ways to cope.

As a mental health clinician, I find a great joy in working with young individuals in their early 20's and 30's who may struggle with depression, anxiety, and trauma. Through active listening and communication, client's have found therapy to be a place to "think out loud" and allow themselves to feel or experience emotions that would otherwise be ignored and forgotten. Therapy is a place to being authentic, to grow in self awareness, and to be empowered by one's successes and shortcomings. I am passionate about supporting the Asian American community. As an Asian American therapist, I want to support Asian American individuals who may struggle with cultural identities, family relational issues and addressing culture specific topics that impact one's social and emotional wellness.

Welcome to Help for Wellness! We use only evidence-based therapy to help you feel better faster and maintain those skills over the long term! We treat anxiety, OCD, depression, insomnia, weight management, trauma, and body focused repetitive disorders. We can also use Cognitive Behavioral therapy to help you with general life stress, relationship and transition issues. If you are already are in a relationship, we have a fabulous evidence based couples therapist on our team!

We are a group practice of cognitive behavioral therapists located in the Bay Area. We offer a number of empirically supported treatments including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), compassion-focused therapy (CFT), mindfulness-based therapies, and schema therapy. We apply behavioral principles while emphasizing an attachment and relational frame that considers the whole person.

Welcome to my practice. I am a trauma-informed therapist who works with clients of various backgrounds. I specialize in working with clients with OCD, BPD, ADHD, and anxiety. As a neurodivergent individual, I strongly believe in being a neurodiversity affirming therapist, and constantly seek to educate myself on how to best support my clients who are neurodivergent. I believe in working collaboratively with my clients as we navigate the individual and collective challenges that they face in their lives. Reach out to me to schedule an initial consultation!

People, life, and school are complex. It can be hard to figure out who you want to become while facing academic, family, or work pressure. As a recovering overachiever, I know how scary and foreign the world can be for a young adult just trying to become their own person. My role as a therapist is to provide you space (physical and emotional) to explore what you want for yourself and your life on your own terms. My approach emphasizes personal introspection, insight, and self-compassion in order to identify harmful thought patterns and behaviors. Together, we will find an approach that helps you heal from past experiences or cope with present challenges. I love working with young adults and being part of the lives they choose to pursue and the people they choose to become. This is your time to shine, so leave behind other people’s expectations, and step onto your own path. You’ve got this. Visit my website or give me a call to set up a free consultation; I would love to hear what’s happening for you.

Human sexuality is an endless source of self-knowledge through which we tap into our subconsciousness. In most people it is suppressed and hidden from our conscious minds due to the rigid cultural and religious belief systems along with our personal beliefs. Learning about ourselves through our sexual expressions will help some of us obtain wisdom and knowledge about who we are. Most of non-sexual issues stem from unhealthy self-perceptions, specifically from denying our own sexuality and freedom to express ourselves sexually. Ability to fully realize ourselves comes from expanding our consciousness through exploring our sexuality and sensuality.

*Serving clients in California, Pennsylvania & North Carolina via teletherapy* I imagine you're looking for help, maybe a kind and guiding mental health professional wherever you are on your healing journey. Perhaps you've felt confused, misunderstood, unseen, overwhelmed with the constant pressures and stresses of this current moment. You may be struggling with shame, self-hatred, a lack of belonging, imposter syndrome. You might feel nervous about asking for help. I welcome the chance to work together in personalized, culturally sensitive, and confidential virtual therapy. As a multicultural and multiethnic cisfemale therapist of color, I seek to understand who you are, your worldview, and your environment. Once you reach out to me, I'll invite you to set up a consultation to discuss your needs, what's going on and how we may work together. We'll get to know each other a little. I'll also invite your questions and perspectives on what you're looking for in a therapist. Together we can help you heal, create a space to honor and respect who you are, and support a life of meaningful connection and empowerment. Contact me or schedule an initial consultation via the secure client portal https://ashleyaclemft.clientsecure.me/!

Change - real change - is one of the most difficult things we can undertake as humans. Whether in one's work, one's relationships, or within one's self - behaviorally, emotionally, intellectually, or physically - there are many forces, both internal and external, that can make lasting substantive changes to one's life incredibly difficult to achieve. Understanding those forces is what happens in psychotherapy. Through talking and listening we hope to understand together what is known, but also what has been difficult to know. In conversation, recalled and shared experiences, and moments of discovery, the unconscious components that have had an influence can be brought into awareness. This awareness brings opportunity to the situation - not just to understand, but to work through the conflict and bring fuller agency to one's wishes. In addition, this can allow for one to emerge with greater confidence, a deeper sense of knowing one's self, and an increased feeling of freedom. For most people, some aspects of both fear and hope are present as they work to share honestly, tolerate their vulnerability, and create space to both think and feel. In this process, each person’s relationship with the therapist is important, and can lead to greater insight about internal experiences, as well as offering new ways of relating to one's self and others. As a therapist, I have an active, open way of working. I am curious, engaged, honest, and direct. I take people’s need for change very seriously, and I am an advocate for finding ways to help people live with greater depth, satisfaction, and choice. While this can involve diligence, resilience, and perseverance, I find that play and creativity are also integral in helping people make fundamental changes. I am an experienced psychotherapist with offices in both San Francisco and Berkeley. I provide therapy for adults and adolescents as my primary focus. I meet with individuals, couples, and families to help them overcome areas of emotional and relational difficulties. EXPERIENCE I have been an active participant in the Bay Area mental health community for almost 20 years, and in private practice since 2001.

I know it can be daunting reaching out for therapy - to let in support, to try to find the right fit, to allocate the resources & time. When I was a senior in college, therapy truly saved my life - but I so remember how long it took for me to be able to make that first call. So props to you for exploring! If we end up working together, you will likely share a lot about you. So here’s a little bit about me: I’m a white (French, British, and German heritage), queer, cis-woman from a middle-class background who is able-bodied (with some lived experience of chronic illness). I’m often dreamy, sensitive, irritable, passionate, anxious, patient, funny. I love humor, music, sour gummy worms, Rihanna, poetry, shoes, crying, and books. I’m passionate about social justice and art. I grew up in a coastal town so the ocean feels like home. I startle easily. I love singing and songwriting. Some of the big themes I’ve grappled with during this lifetime are: grief & loss; sexuality & sexual orientation; gender; body image and eating disorders; depression; anxiety; addiction and relationships with family members struggling with addiction; containment; perfection; co-dependence & attachment; sexual trauma; disconnection from creativity; betrayal, infidelity, & trust; monogamy & ethical non-monogamy; suicidality. And here's a bit about my therapy practice: I offer therapy for individuals & partners experiencing a broad range of life challenges. And, I have extensive experience in supporting folks as they navigate the following content areas: communication & relationship issues; grief & loss; identity; trauma; sexual orientation, sexuality & sensuality; creativity; systems & lived experiences of oppression; anxiety & fear; depression; co-dependence; addiction; infidelity, betrayal & trust; and inner-child work. I’m sex-positive, queer, and poly- & kink-affirming, and welcome all ethnic & racial identities & positionalities. The therapy that I offer is depth-oriented and strongly rooted in Gestalt & somatic modalities, as well as intersectional feminism. It is trauma-informed and client-centered. For those that are interested, I also enjoy using intuition, creativity, and the imaginal realms (imagery, visualization, experiential exercises, art, dreamwork, etc.) to support our explorations. If none of that means anything to you (understandable!), here's a *hopefully* less-jargon-y description of how I approach my work as a therapist: I fervently believe that you (and only you) are the authority of your experience. I am here to offer my curiosities, intuition, and reflections — in dialogue with you — to help you explore and discover your truth. I am interested in meeting you wherever you are in the present moment, supporting you to increase your awareness. It is my belief that only by increasing our awareness can we increase our felt experiences of agency and choice…which in turn allows us to live a more empowered, aligned, compassionate, and enlivened life. I care deeply about creating a safe container in our therapeutic relationship — to respect boundaries, to always track for consent and choice, to unambivalently welcome all parts of you, to fervently support both your safety and aliveness. I am passionate about and invested in exploring power, positionality, and privilege. I welcome and support difference, and am committed to efforts to not perpetuate authoritarian and oppressive systems in the therapeutic relationship. I honor & trust the massively creative and adaptive survival strategies that you have developed to keep you safe. And, I also honor the ways that the habitual enacting of those survival strategies may no longer be serving you — that your circumstances and capacities may have outgrown these mechanisms, and that you may need some support in this vulnerable re-emergence into the world. I will sit with you in your suffering. I’m not afraid of the darkness, or of your shadow. I will go to the depths with you. And stay there, in the underworld, with you for as long as you need…until you emerge anew on the other side. I believe that, together, we can co-create a homecoming for you. That our work can guide you home to your innate nature — to your authentic expression of your many parts of self. To your passion and presence and joy. To your aliveness. To feeling deeply nurtured and nourished. A return to self in which you come to truly and intimately know yourself for the first time. I so looking forward to hearing from you & seeing if we might be a good fit to work together, should you choose to reach out!

You matter! Practical Tools on How to Survive and excel in College! Brief-Solution Focused Therapy to Turn your Life into a Success Story! You can be happy in spite of everything! How to live a long and healthy life. Therapy Reminds us how Brave we are. Licensed for 30 years, I can show you highly effective practical communication tools so you can experience joy, let go of anger and hurt and the disappointment that so often can get in the way of loving relationships. You will find a new level of confidence which will allow you to experience more joy and more happiness in your most important and sometimes confounding relationships. My therapeutic approach will help you overcome day-to-day anxiety, and defeat negative thoughts that too often lead to depression. If you struggle with problems in relationships or within yourself, with addiction, compulsion, or worry, dread and fear, you can call me.

Jessica C. Lief, MSW, LCSW, MLS Speciality: Eating Disorders, Body Image, Borderline Personality Disorder, Self-Harm, Substance Use LCSW and Psychotherapist Jessica C. Lief, LCSW is a licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist who specializes in the treatment of eating disorders, body image, Borderline Personality Disorder, self-harm, and substance use. Jessica completed psychoanalytic training through the William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis, and Psychology in the Eating Disorders, Compulsions, and Addictions (EDCAS) Program. She also completed the advanced clinical supervision training program through Smith College School for Social Work. Her approach is primarily psychodynamic but combines aspects of self-psychology, feminist/womanist theories, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Seeking Safety, mindful self-compassion, and mindfulness. She is particularly interested in the treatment of eating disorders as a social justice issue, as they relate to people of color and the LGBTQ+ community. She is also adept at treating individuals diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. Her grief and loss work is broad but focuses on motherless daughters, maternal grief and wounding, and emotional abandonment. Jessica also works with individuals who have experienced miscarriage, fertility-related issues, post-partum depression, anxiety, and psychosis, as well as post-partum PTSD. She also works with individuals undergoing IVF and who have struggled with women’s health issues, such as Endometriosis and PCOS, as well as individuals who are pregnant and struggling with an eating disorder. Jessica’s favorite part of being a therapist is guiding each client in their transformation and witnessing each step as it is achieved. Jessica will work with the client to identify what is deeply meaningful and important in that person’s life. The client will develop concrete skills to get their needs met directly. Jessica will help the client to develop powerful, inner resources, including self-compassion, emotion regulation techniques, radical self-acceptance, and confidence. Jessica earned her undergraduate degree from Sarah Lawrence College with a concentration in literature, nonfiction writing, and French. She earned a master’s degree in Advanced Clinical Practice in Social Work from New York University. She also earned a Master of Studies in Law with a concentration in Health Law with high honors from UC Law San Francisco. Currently, she is enrolled in a doctorate in social work program through Simmons University. LCSW# 87286 “Jessica’s style has been described as nurturing, empathetic, and empowering. She is direct, authentic and will never blame you for your suffering. She enjoys using humor in psychotherapy.”

I am from the Bay Area and went to residency at UCSF for psychiatry where I wad trained in student health. Since graduating residency in 2005, I have loved teaching and mentoring medical students, residents and peers at UCSF in many capacities such as: UCSF's Women, Mood and Hormone Clinic, Brain Mind and Behavior and a Dream Seminar. I have run a full time private practice in Cow Hollow from day 1 of graduating residency. It is therapy based with medication use/evaluations in that setting. I have an eclectic style and use many modalities: Psychodynamic, CBT, Dream interpretation, etc. In the last couple years, I have been more involved in organized psychiatry. I am currently an American Psychiatric Association (APA) Distinguished Fellow and Northern California Psychiatric Society (NCPS) Vice President. I look forward to connecting soon.

I am a licensed clinical psychologist providing individual and couple therapy to adults in Berkeley and San Francisco. I work with people from diverse backgrounds with a wide variety of concerns. I specialize in working with individuals with trauma, identity issues, eating and body image concerns, perinatal issues, and infertility. I also specialize in couple therapy and work with couples on many different aspects of their relationships including communication, sexuality, commitment, and family. In addition, I am a practitioner of EMDR, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, and PACT - the psychobiological approach to couple therapy. My work is informed by relational, psychodynamic, feminist, trauma, attachment, and sociocultural theories, as well as my background in mindfulness meditation. I am in-network for: Wellfleet Blue Shield for UC Berkeley.

If you are human, learning and living in today's complicated environment, you have probably experienced anxiety, stress and sadness. Therapy is like personal training or tutoring for feelings; it's curated one on one support to help you reach your emotional wellness goals. While totally normal, emotions can be difficult to navigate and result in suffering, numbing out with substances, acting against values, development of physical pain/illness and/or avoidance of situations and people. When emotions start to interfere with life, therapy can help. Inflow Wellness is a psychotherapy and coaching practice dedicated to helping people manage stress, re-establish life balance, and feel better through life's challenges; simply put- to ride waves of emotion and become more aligned in mind, body and heart.

Please visit my profile to learn more about my services.