Meet Ilana, LCSW in walnut creek and online across california
It’s possible to feel better in both mind and body
Maybe you’ve been coping with a medical diagnosis that has your thoughts racing and your nervous system on endless high alert.
Perhaps parenthood is bringing challenges you never anticipated. You never imagined the mental and physical fog would feel like THIS.
Or maybe the changes you’ve been experiencing feel more gradual and murky-and it’s hard to identify an exact reason. You get through your day under that constant cloud of irritability or sadness and often wonder what happened to the joy and lightness you used to be able to more easily access within yourself.
Things don’t have to stay this way. I’m here to help you begin to feel more grounded and peaceful in both mind and body.
I work with clients who are looking for genuine support in finding their path forward. For some people this may feel like climbing out of the darkness during (or after) a staggeringly difficult period in your life. For others this may mean figuring out how to find an increased sense of connection with yourself, family or friends and being able to integrate moments of calm and joy throughout your days.
No matter where you are starting from-I believe healing happens in the presence of a compassionate witness. We humans are just not biologically wired to do all of our healing alone.
I want therapy to be a place where you can have the time and space to bring your whole self-to breathe, think, wonder, feel, express and just BE. We can then discover together what feels most helpful to you on your path towards healing.
please Hear me when I say:
Seeking support when you feel lost and alone can be life-changing.
However you happened to come across my website-I’m glad you are here.
Deciding to try out therapy can feel a bit like stepping off of a cliff. This is especially true if you’ve never been in therapy before or had a previous therapy experience that ranged from unhelpful to possibly harmful. It feels daunting to take this first step or to try again. I understand and treat this sacred work with the utmost of care. You deserve to have a therapist who works from a trauma-informed lens, and learns and understands how to best support you.
What it’s like to work with me
Giving yourself a dedicated space where you feel heard and understood can make all the difference.
If it’s always been second-nature to you to give to others in your life and now you wonder how you ended up browsing therapist websites at 1 a.m.-I get it. Perhaps in the past you’ve gotten through tough times by talking with friends, reading books or listening to helpful podcasts. Yet here you are, trying all the things right now and still feeling irritable or sad or overwhelmed much of the time.
I’ve been there and I understand.
And I can help.
Clients describe me as warm, thoughtful and real. I’m always interested in our therapeutic relationship and how you feel about our work together. I listen carefully to what you share, and also to what might be in the space but you might not have exact words for. Therapy can look different week to week-and that’s ok! Some days therapy may feel like a free-flowing conversation. In other sessions, it might be helpful to bring the focus to the mind-body connection and try out a method such as Brainspotting, which can help you find relief without any talking necessary.
We get curious about what resonates most with you and helps you feel less stuck.
My toolbox is filled with a variety of approaches so I can help you identify the ways that truly work for YOU. With my background in social work and training in psychotherapy and somatic methods such as Brainspotting -we can discover what ultimately provides the most benefit to you.
Education, Training and Credentials
Licensed Clinical Social Worker #25825 (California)
Master of Social Welfare from University of California at Berkeley, 2004
BA in Psychology from University of California at Santa Barbara, 2002
Oncology Social Worker in hospitals and outpatient clinics for more than 15 years
Medical Social Worker with extensive experience working with:
people undergoing kidney dialysis
people living with dementia and their families
people receiving Palliative and Hospice Care
Trained in Brainspotting:
Phase 1
Phase 2
Expansion
Member of the Jewish Therapist Collective
specializing in: