Talk Therapy in Oakland, CA (Bay Area)
Talk therapy is what most people picture when they think of therapy - sitting together and talking through their struggles. I incorporate interventions from several evidenced-based therapeutic approaches including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). My integrative approach allows me the flexibility to combine styles to meet your individual needs.
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My work also emphasizes Mindful Self-Compassion. Research shows that practicing deliberate self-compassion is an effective tool to manage anxiety and stress. Clients that learn to offer themselves kindness and acceptance are more able to step outside their comfort zones, and are therefore better equipped to overcome the fear and avoidance that fuel anxiety. In our work together, you will develop skills to integrate self-compassion into your everyday life.
Understanding CBT, ACT, and DBT
The three main therapeutic approaches I use in my practice - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy - are overlapping and complementary. The following section provides more detail about each approach. If you are curious about how these therapies might help you with the challenges you are facing, please reach out to schedule a consultation.
​Thoughts
Emotions
Behaviors
How Talk Therapy Uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
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CBT focuses on the relationships between your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Each of these processes has power to influence the other two. CBT helps you to break out of unhelpful patterns of thinking and behaving that lead to negative emotional experiences.
In social anxiety treatment for example, if you have negative beliefs about how others perceive you (thoughts), and you feel afraid, ashamed, or sad (emotions), it is likely you will avoid other people (behavior). Each of these responses reinforces the other two, keeping you caught in a cycle of anxiety. But if you are able to change just one of these, it gives you the opportunity to disrupt the cycle, have a new experience, and gain new information that might change your thoughts and emotions. An example of a CBT intervention might be talking to your neighbors more often (a behavioral change) and learning to reframe distorted beliefs about yourself and others (a cognitive change).
Making these types of changes repeatedly over time, with the support of therapy, can help you to develop healthier patterns, lessen emotional suffering, and live life more fully.
Present Moment Awareness
vs. caught in past/future
Acceptance
vs. experiential avoidance
Cognitive Defusion
vs. fused to thoughts
Psychological
Flexibility
Values
vs. lack of direction
Committed Action
vs. inaction
Observing Self
vs. inability to step back and observe
How Talk Therapy Uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
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The goal of ACT (pronounced "act") is to increase your "psychological flexibility"meaning the ability to stay in contact with the present moment regardless of unpleasant thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations, while choosing behaviors based on the situation and personal values. In other words, the ability to accept your experiences of suffering when they occur, cope through them effectively, and commit to acting in accordance with your values despite your struggling.
In social anxiety treatment for example, if you have negative beliefs about how others perceive you (thoughts), and this makes you physically anxious (fast heart beat, sweating), and you feel afraid, ashamed, or sad (emotions), you will likely avoid other people (behavior). An ACT intervention might be: acceptance of your body sensations and thoughts; cognitive defusion from your unhelpful thoughts; identifying your value of social connection; and committing to an action like talking to your neighbors more often.
ACT focuses on strengthening the six core skills associated with psychological flexibility.
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ACCEPTANCE
+
CHANGE
Mindfulness
Emotion
Regulation
Distress Tolerance
Interpersonal
Effectiveness​
How Talk Therapy Uses Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
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The cornerstone of DBT therapy is the belief that in order to make changes in your life you must first accept how things are in the present. This does not mean that you are "okay" with how things are; it means that you acknowledge the reality of your external circumstances and your internal experience. From this point you can begin to make changes in your life by practicing the 4 core DBT skills, shown at left.
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For example, if you have negative beliefs about how others perceive you (thoughts), and you feel physically anxious (fast heart beat, sweating), or afraid, ashamed, and sad (emotions), it is likely you will avoid other people (behavior). A DBT intervention might be: mindfulness of body sensations; distress tolerance to reduce their intensity; emotion regulation to cope with your emotions; and an interpersonal effectiveness skill such as asking a friend to go to a social event with you for support.
Many people do not learn healthy coping skills in childhood, making it difficult to manage life's inevitable challenges as adults. Efforts to cope may feel all encompassing or draining, leaving little time to discover joy and meaning in life. The goal of DBT is to learn to cope effectively with the challenges you face and, along the way, intentionally build a life worth living.