Therapist Berkeley, Group Therapy, Relationship Counseling

Mindfulness Centered Psychotherapy

Helping people feel more comfortable in their own skin and empowered in their lives

Therapy Posts:


When Old Survival Strategies Block You from Being Your Full Self Today: Part IV

In Part IV, we will talk about how the use of intentionality in therapy can help you separate from old survival strategies and move towards being your authentic self. “Men go to far greater lengths to avoid what they fear than to obtain what they desire.” —Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code Role Of Intentionality… read post

“I Want Us To Be Able To Communicate Better As A Couple.” Part II

Exploring The Challenges Of A Deeper Heart Connection  When a conversation about needs and how one partner can meet the other’s stays at the cognitive level of communication skills and techniques, it’s staying on the surface. But what feelings underlie these unmet needs? What history? There can be a tendency in your communication in a… read post

“I Want Us To Be Able To Communicate Better As A Couple.” Part I

The most common reason couples give for coming to therapy is that they want to be able to communicate better. Couples communication issues take a variety of forms. Here are some common complaints: “We just have problems communicating.” “My partner doesn’t listen.” “My partner doesn’t make space for me or take my needs into consideration.” “That’s… read post

Recognizing Shame And Self-Criticism Is An Integral Part Of The Therapy Process (Part II)

Recognizing Shame And Self-Criticism Is An Integral Part Of The Therapy Process (Part II)

Part 2: From Shaming Ourselves To More Deeply Honoring Ourselves Though people coming to therapy often state that they want to stop beating themselves up, it’s hard for many to imagine that they could actually overcome shame. Although there are things they have done well in their lives, they might insist, “Ivan, you and I… read post

Recognizing Shame And Self-Criticism Is An Integral Part Of The Therapy Process (Part I)

Recognizing Shame And Self-Criticism Is An Integral Part Of The Therapy Process (Part I)

Part 1: Shaming Ourselves, The Challenges People come to therapy for a variety of reasons. Sometimes people come to therapy because they are struggling with feelings of depression and anxiety. Sometimes they come because of feelings of worthlessness. Whatever brings them to therapy, it often emerges that on top of the depression or anxiety or… read post

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How to Identify and Overcome Childhood Wounding

In the last article, we briefly explored how the (inner) critic can affect our relationships. The critic comes from childhood wounding that we subconsciously couldn’t deal with otherwise. The critic inside can be good, but if it is not controlled, then it can lead to very destructive and hurtful behavior. How To Overcome Childhood Wounding… read post

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Understanding Your Inner Critic and How it Affects Your Relationships

Sometimes we’re too hard on ourselves and often this issue is ignored because everyone has an inner critic to a certain degree. However, there is certain point in which we start wondering if this critical behavior is normal. How Past Criticism Affects Your Relationships It may be hard to identify the root cause of some… read post

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Individual Challenges, Norms, and Roles: What People Bring to Group Therapy

When people come to group counseling, they bring a lifetime of emotional accumulation. They are bringing more than just themselves- they are bringing a lifetime of experience, societal influences, and individual challenges. Norms are the unspoken rules (or agreements). You may not even realize it, but we all look at others to determine where we… read post

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The Therapist’s Role

It’s hard to open up – that’s why it’s easy for someone to get lost in the crowd or fall through the cracks. However, it is the role of the group therapist to notice. Nobody talks about the therapist the way they do other members of the group, so let’s take some time to discover… read post

Photo credit: FreeImages.com/Julia Freeman-Woolpert

What Group Therapy Can do For You

Who are you in life? The Victim, Bully, Hero, Loser, Go-getter? Who do you want to be? There are a lot of misconceptions about the benefits of group therapy and it may seem quite intimidating at first. You may think it’s easier to talk to one person, instead of a whole room full of people…. read post