Susan Berger, M.A.

Individuals · Couples · Clinical Consultation · Adolescents · Young Adults · Adults · Older adults

Licensed Marriage Family Therapist
License No: MA 21193

About My Practice

You might feel that your life is tied up in knots which resist any attempt at untangling. You might feel frustrated with trying to force yourself to change. I like to think about therapy as a unique kind of relationship in which you have the opportunity to feel deeply accepted and profoundly understood. You can begin to trust that you can share what you could not share before. Therapy becomes a place where you can stop holding your breath. What you express will be responded to in new ways leading to surprising changes in the way you experience yourself, your relationships, and the world around you.

I have a strong background in ethnic and cultural diversity; and have worked with individuals from all over the world. Understanding how culture and class have effected your life can be eye-opening and healing.

Couples Therapy

I understand that many couples avoid therapy because they fear that opening up will worsen the situation or even destroy the relationship. It is important to know that couples therapy is not about finding out who is right or who is wrong or assigning blame for difficulties. It is about getting underneath endless arguments and cold silences, and working through angry and hurt feelings in a safe place. I help couples bring back feelings of connectedness, loving kindness, and passion, and build a strong sense of true partnership.

Are You Struggling With an Affair?

The fallout from affairs can be painful, and is frequently traumatic. I see couples who are attempting to put the pieces back together, and individuals who find themselves caught in the web of deceit. I also see individuals who are questioning their involvement with a married person or whose partner has had an affair. (Visit my blog, AboutAffairs.com).

In addition to the following areas, I have experience working with a wide variety of issues that adults and adolescents bring to therapy.

Professional Interests:

• Relationships: Working through blocks to loving, secure and fulfilling connections.
• Depression: understanding and working through the roots of your depression such as loss, low self esteem or interpersonal dynamics.
• Affairs: Healing the trauma and finding new direction
• Multicultural, Multiethnic relationships: culture clashes, racism, internalized racism.
• Relocation: including immigration; grieving the loss of the old and creating something new that can eventually feel more like home.

Education:

• M.A. from California Institute of Integral Studies at San Francisco, 1982

Experience / Training:

26 years clinical practice, 19 years teaching graduate and community students of psychology, 16 years supervising interns and consulting licensed clinicians

Professional Affiliations / Activities

• Former Adjunct Faculty, New College of California, San Francisco
• Former Teacher, University of California Berkeley Extension
• California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists Clinical Member