Healing depression, anxiety and relational trauma with compassion
INDIVIDUAL THERAPY IN REDWOOD CITY
You try to do all the "right" things—rituals, books, maybe even years of therapy—and still something inside feels unresolved: depression that won’t lift, anxiety that doesn’t quiet, cycles that keep on repeating.
It may always feel like there are too many people counting on you. There’s always more work to do or a sense you should be accomplishing something. Maybe you put a lot of effort into avoiding mistakes or find yourself constantly making comparisons and coming up short. There may be no obvious crisis—just a quiet ache, a question of who you are beneath the roles, or a feeling that something essential is missing and always has been.
Feeling Overwhelmed, Stuck, or Quietly Unraveling?
YOU'RE NOT BROKEN—AND YOU DON’T HAVE TO FIGURE IT OUT ALONE
Parenting can bring deep joy and intense challenges—especially if you’re carrying your own unhealed wounds, sometimes reflecting deep, intergenerational pain. Maybe you’re triggered by your child’s behavior in ways that surprise you. Maybe you’re exhausted from trying to do everything “right.” Therapy for parents in Redwood City is a safe space to unpack the hard stuff without shame. We’ll explore your family patterns, support your nervous system, build skills when needed, and help you feel more grounded and connected—both to yourself and your child.
Parenting Challenges
Whether you choose it or not, divorce is rarely just a legal process—it’s an emotional, relational, and often spiritual reckoning. It can stir up grief, shame, fear, and questions about who you are now and what comes next. Individual therapy might include processing loss, rebuilding self-trust, co-parenting challenges, or imagining a future that feels meaningful on your terms. We’ll move at your pace, holding both the heartbreak and the possibility. The end of a relationship is also a beginning—one that may offer a chance to rebuild in alignment with your truest self.
Separation and Divorce
The journey through infertility can be filled with invisible grief, relentless uncertainty, and emotional fatigue. It may feel like your body has betrayed you, or like life keeps moving while you’re standing still. Therapy for infertility in Redwood City creates a space to bring all of that into the light. We’ll explore how to honor your experience, tend to your body and heart with gentleness, and navigate the complexities of this path with greater clarity and self-compassion. This is about finding enough steadiness in yourself to meet your child—and your own inner child—with more presence and grace.
Coping with Infertility
Whether you're newly exploring your own or your family’s neurodivergence or have long known that your brain works differently, individual therapy can help you understand any diagnoses more deeply, and relate to yourself with more compassion. You may be navigating sensory sensitivity, social fatigue, executive functioning challenges, or a lifetime of feeling “too much” or “not enough.” This work isn’t about pathologizing your difference—it’s about unmasking, understanding, and learning to live in deeper integrity with how your system is actually built.
Neurodivergence & Late Diagnoses
Trauma isn't always a single event. It’s often the quiet accumulation of unmet needs, chronic stress, or developmental wounds that taught you to disconnect from yourself just to survive. Trauma lives in the body and must be moved through and composted. Therapy for trauma in Redwood City creates space to tend to all of the hurts. We’ll build safety in your body, work with protective parts, and slowly reconnect with the parts of you that have been shut down. Healing doesn’t erase the past—it changes your relationship to it, and opens the door to something new.
Healing from Trauma
Depression doesn’t always look the way people expect. You might show up for work, check things off your to-do list, even smile with friends—and still feel like you’re barely making it through. Maybe the world feels dulled down, or like you’re moving through it behind a sheet of glass. In individual therapy for depression in Redwood City, we slow things down. We’ll work together to understand what depression is trying to communicate, how it affects your nervous system, and what internal and external resources can support you—not just to survive, but to begin to feel fully alive.
Recovering from Depression
I offer in-person integrative therapy in Redwood City, as well as virtual sessions throughout California, for adults seeking not just relief from symptoms, but a deeper sense of clarity, self-trust, and connection.
Individual Therapy creates space to slow down, feel supported, and begin reshaping your life from the inside out.
areas of specialty
At the heart of my work is Compassion Focused Therapy—a gentle, yet powerful way to work with your thoughts and emotions. It’s particularly powerful for people who live with shame, perfectionism, or harsh inner critics.
Learn to understand your emotional brain and respond to your struggles with courage, kindness, and wisdom.
A FOUNDATION IN COMPASSION FOCUSED THERAPY (CFT)
- Parts work and inner child healing
- Somatic and mindfulness practices
- Narrative or imaginal techniques
- Psychoeducation to support clarity and understanding
- Relational and attachment-based work to deepen connection
Depending on your needs, we may also draw from...
- Replace harsh self talk with a more compassionate inner voice
- Notice how your body and emotions respond to stress
- Bring healing to the wounded parts of yourself
- Move through pain with more courage and less reactivity
We’ll work together to help you...
Many of my clients have spent years managing or overfunctioning. Here, we create space to meet—not manage—what’s actually there.
“I feel incredibly fortunate to be working with Dr. Kari. She's compassionate and accepting, and has helped me to look more closely at the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that are impacting my life. She truly ‘sees’ me as an individual and tailors her approach to treatment accordingly. I came to her feeling stuck—but with her gentle guidance, I've been able to make real progress toward achieving my therapeutic goals.”
Shelley
She truly ‘sees’ me as an individual and tailors her approach to treatment accordingly.
“I’m incredibly grateful for the support and guidance I’ve received from Dr. Kari. She has helped me become much more aware of the connection between my mind and body, which has brought me a lot of relief from anxiety and stress. Because of our work together, I feel more grounded and better equipped to handle the challenges that come up in daily life. I also deeply appreciate her calm presence and compassionate support—it makes it easy to open up and feel safe. I can’t recommend her enough.”
- Katie
Because of our work together, I feel more grounded and better equipped to handle the challenges that come up in daily life.
“Working with Dr. Kari has been transformative for my mental health. She excels at creating a safe space from day 1: she listens without judgement, provides genuine compassion, and gently guides me to look deep and find my own answers and insights. I feel more grounded, self-compassionate, and self-aware which helps me make better choices and build healthier relationships that are more in line with what I value. I can't overstate how much our work together has helped me grow.”
- Jackie
I can't overstate how much our work together has helped me grow.
“When I first started seeing Dr. Kari, a lifetime of ingrained self-criticism had me condemning myself for not being 'the best' at everything. Dr. Kari met me where I was, and has consistently shown me the power of self-compassion. She helps me understand and thoughtfully balance all the many parts of myself, and working with her has completely changed my attitude, reactions, and outlook—for the better.”
- MJ
Working with her has completely changed my attitude, reactions, and outlook — for the better.
“I have been working with Dr. Kari for several years and have been so glad to have a partner and guide through some difficult times and some fairly seismic life transitions. She finds the right way to both challenge and support me through transformative change in my life. Her approach has been flexible and dynamic, listening to what I need and truly want, and she is always compassion-led—reminding me often to give myself grace, patience, and support.”
— Kim
Her approach has been flexible and dynamic, listening to what I need and truly want
Progress in therapy doesn’t always look linear. Sometimes, it means feeling things more deeply before things start to shift. But over time, you might notice subtle changes—like being less reactive, setting better boundaries, or feeling more connected to yourself. I’ll regularly check in with you about what’s working and what’s not, so we can adjust and make sure the process feels meaningful and alive for you.
Many of my clients come to me after past individual therapy experiences that left them feeling like something was missing. My approach blends over 20 years of experience with the depth of compassion, neuroscience, and a pace that honors your inner timing. This is individual therapy for adults in Redwood City who are ready to relate to themselves in a more grounded, authentic way.
The first session is all about getting to know you, understanding what’s bringing you in, what’s felt hard, and what you’re hoping for. I’ll ask questions to help us get grounded, but there’s no pressure to share everything all at once. We move at your pace. This time is yours and we’ll create a treatment plan that feels aligned with your intentions.
I’m an out-of-network provider and can offer monthly superbills you can submit for possible reimbursement. Every plan is different, so I recommend contacting your insurance provider about out-of-network, outpatient mental health coverage in California.
Most clients begin with weekly sessions to create momentum and a strong foundation. Over time, we can adjust the frequency depending on your needs, goals, and capacity. We’ll talk about what feels sustainable and supportive.
Yes. In fact, therapy can be one of the few spaces where you don’t have to hold it all together. You can bring your grief, rage, confusion, numbness—whatever’s here. My role is to hold that with care, not to judge or fix, but to be with you as you discover your way forward.
Frequently Asked Questions
