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Staff Biographies
Staff members are Licensed Clinical
Social Workers (LCSW), Marriage and Family Therapists (MFT)
and MFT Interns under supervision.
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Elaine
Chan-Scherer |
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I love being a psychotherapist. My work allows me to connect with people on a deep and honest level. I feel privileged that my clients trust me enough to let me "in" during some of their scariest and most uncertain, as well as happiest and most meaningful moments. My clients are like you and me - normal people who have encountered difficulties in their lives. Usually it takes courage for them to reach out for help. When my clients are in crisis, I help them to stabilize and move out of crisis. When they are more themselves, we go deeper to explore experiences from their childhood that helped to grow the psychological and emotional protections they have today. I work with individuals, couples, teens, children and families. Here's how I work: I use a number of different methods, such as talking, analyzing dreams, visualizations and journaling, to help you explore what is going on inside of you. I also use expressive arts. The sandtray, for example, is a simple but powerful process for getting to places in your psyche that words may not be able to describe. My work is informed by my knowledge of the unconscious workings of families, individual personality types, and effective ways to change behaviors. I value and encourage creativity and intuition. I explore the role of diversity, class and cultural issues in your past experiences and current choices. I respect and integrate your spiritual beliefs into our work together. Our bodies give us information that can help us; the body is a gateway to the unconscious. I welcome working in conjunction with your body worker, medical or Rosen Method practitioner. My goal is always to create a safe space so you can be more of who you really are. I work with you to help you understand your dreams, conflicts, desires, darkest thoughts, and unspoken worries. In becoming more conscious, you will be able to make choices that are healthy and thoughtful. Since 1985, I have helped people with parenting questions, depression, anxiety, interpersonal conflicts (with partners, parents, siblings, children, friends, coworkers, etc.), cross-cultural issues, transitions, career decisions, and the search for deeper meaning in life. I have great respect for all of my colleagues here at CCI. If you need a good therapist, relax, you have found the right place. |
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Jana Silverman |
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I am a licensed marriage and family therapist and an art therapist with a compassionate and caring approach. My style of therapy is empathic and respectful of personal values and lifestyles. Originally from Germany, I received my Diploma in Psychology (Bachelor of Arts) from Humboldt University in Berlin and a Master's Degree in Art Therapy and Marriage and Family Therapy from the College of Notre Dame in Belmont, CA. I have worked as an art teacher, counselor, therapist and art therapist with children, adolescents, adults, and seniors. I have led support groups, art therapy groups and art therapy workshops. I joined the California Counseling Institute in the spring of 2007. While using the visual arts in the therapeutic process clients communicate feelings that cannot be expressed by words alone. Clients create images as a visual response to what goes on in their minds. Those images often come from the unconscious and hold important personal meaning. The images produced externalize and resolve internalized fears, conflicts and blocks. The creative process and the reflection on the art help you express and understand feelings and patterns of behavior. You do not need any art experience. I am specially trained to promote change through involvement in art making within the context of a therapeutic relationship. By providing a safe environment and unconventional means of exploration, young children, adolescents and adults work through conflict, grow by facing life's challenges and accept themselves. Art therapy improves self-awareness and self-esteem. I passionately enjoy sharing the healing power of art with my clients. I believe that art and creativity bring out the best in every human. For more information on art therapy and my style of work please visit my website at www.arttherapysf.com . |
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Tina Smelser |
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I have experience working with individual adults, couples, and elementary school-aged children and their parents. Some of the issues that I can help you with include:
I provide a safe, non-judgmental space in which you can explore and heal the parts of your life that cause you pain, as well as celebrate the parts where you experience creativity and joy. Through our work you will begin to feel more connected to your deeper self and to have a clearer sense of the priorities in your life. You will gain self-awareness that will improve communication and the quality of your relationships. I am trained in the use of the expressive arts such as imagery, body awareness, and drama therapy. The language of imagery and the messages of the body can provide an added richness to help you tap into your inner wisdom. I speak French and have worked with French clients who are adjusting to life in the United States. I have a special interest in working with people from other cultures and of mixed cultural backgrounds. I am excited about seeing all my clients make discoveries about themselves that inspire and enrich their lives! |
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Carolyn Swearingen |
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I work with both adults and adolescents in individual therapy. Some of the areas in which I have particular knowledge and clinical training include:
Therapy can help you better understand your thoughts and feelings and can support you to thrive personally and professionally and deal effectively with life’s challenges. Because each person is different in what they want to work on in therapy and how they approach their life, I work collaboratively with clients to meet specific individual needs. My therapeutic style offers warmth, care and support, as well as feedback and ideas about how you may work to improve areas of your life you are seeking to change in an effort to meet your specific goals. I place great value on the therapeutic relationship as the basis for healing and change. I therefore strive to create an atmosphere of safety and trust so that you can feel comfortable sharing all of your thoughts and feelings in an accepting environment emphasizing understanding and support. With me you will develop an ongoing relationship with someone who genuinely cares, really listens, is fully present and attentive, is nonjudgmental and informal, and is easy to talk with. I want you to feel safe, comfortable, and cared for during our time together.I integrate several different treatment approaches in my work and tailor my interventions to individual client needs. Each person’s life develops in a particular context with multiple influences operating on one’s psychological development. Factors such as cultural background, gender, sexual orientation, religious or spiritual beliefs, geographic location, societal messages, personal values, socioeconomic status, family context and relational history uniquely shape each person’s sense of self and relationships with others. I work with my clients to understand how past and current life circumstances have impacted and currently affect who they are today. Through this type of dialogue we can work together to put current struggles into a larger life context, help you to gain a sense of perspective, foster a deeper sense of self-awareness, develop different ways of thinking about and reacting to life’s challenges, and utilize your strengths to facilitate desired changes. |
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Julie Terraciano |
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I truly love being a psychotherapist! One of my greatest interests in life is communication, between family members, partners, friends and people of different cultures. Since 1988, I have worked at the California Counseling Institute, helping individuals, couples, children and families navigate the rocky passages in their lives and learn to talk with those with whom they are having difficulty. My clients come from all backgrounds and have been, typically, functioning fairly well in their work and in their lives. However, there are times, in all of our lives, when we lose someone close to us, face difficult decisions or can’t understand our own behavior or the behavior of those closest to us. It is helpful to have a caring and objective third person to listen non-judgmentally and give us feedback that reflects our deepest knowledge of ourselves and elicits our own curative powers. Like many psychotherapists, I use a variety of methods to help my clients become aware of the healthy parts of themselves and practice skills that reinforce their natural tendency toward vitality. I will listen carefully, give you feedback that fits your situation, help you confront disparities in your behavior or reasoning processes, suggest concrete ideas to change behavior and communication that are ineffective, and support to practice new behavior. In addition to my experience as a therapist, I have been a parent, a French teacher and advisor, in a K-8 school, a volunteer for a women’s program in Africa, and a founder of the Parents’ Coalitions of Bay Area High Schools. In all of these domains, I have learned the importance and value of listening to children and to each other, providing support and structure for one another, connecting with people from varying backgrounds and the wisdom and pleasure that can bring to the individual and to the family. As a therapist, I do see my clients in the context of their families of origin as well as within the framework of their current situation. I will work with you to understand why you are feeling the way that you do right now and what, in your past, brought you to this point. I will use talk therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, journaling, dream work and other appropriate means to help you sort through grief, anxiety, confusion or sadness that you may be experiencing. All of us face challenges that seem daunting at times. In reality, we all do live one day, one step, one breath at a time. With support, we can look at each day, and more moments, as time when we choose to move inward, reflect, smile and reclaim our most vital and essential selves.
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Brenda Wong |
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I believe in the resiliency and creativity of human beings, in their capacity to face and heal from life’s challenges. I approach therapy holistically, working with the whole person, which includes the Mind, Body and Spirit. While we all have great ability to think, our bodies and spirits offer us equal, if not more, amounts of wisdom and information which contribute tremendously to the healing process. In addition to utilizing psychodynamic, cognitive behavioral and a humanistic/existential perspectives, I specialize in body-oriented (somatic) therapy. Working with the body’s wisdom interweaves very well with all the above approaches. An important focus and area of experience for me is working with people from varied cultural and ethnic backgrounds such as Asians, African Americans and Hispanics and Latinos. I also find that having partial fluency in Cantonese and Spanish has enhanced the therapy process. |
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Eugenia Salomon |
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Psychotherapy is helpful to most of us at some point in our lives. It can help us find relief from stress and anxiety, from pain, fear or insecurity, or from overwhelming demands in our personal and public lives. It leads to a better understanding of our own nature and the dynamics that effect us, whether from past trauma or current stressors. This in turn allows us to feel more in control of our lives and better able to make good choices. Psychotherapy can also help us tap into our creativity, whether through artistic expression or through finding ways to live more creatively. This can mean creating and sustaining more rewarding friendships, intimate relationships, or fulfilling and meaningful work. Through a gentle, respective, and collaborative approach, my role as a therapist is to allow my clients to reconnect with their true nature. Every client is unique and my approach to psychotherapy is based on the individual. I work from a holistic approach with a deep sense of respect for the inner and outer experience of each individual. I hold degrees from The New School for Social Research (BA) and Pacifica Graduate Institute (MA). My training is in Jungian and analytic psychology with an emphasis on depth-oriented psychotherapy. I am also trained as a bodyworker and am a certified yoga and Pilates instructor. |
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the American Psychological Association and the National Association of Social Workers.