Berkeley Therapy Service
CHERI TSAI
PSYCHOTHERAPY
LMFT #104656
Welcome to my practice. I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who provides psychotherapy in Berkeley. I work with adults, adolescents, couples and families, presenting with a range of symptoms. The fact that you have made it here likely means you are looking to get the help you need and make the necessary changes to experience a full life where you can be you.
Maybe you're here because you are needing to find someone you can freely talk with and who understands your experience and to talk about your issues including privilege, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity or race in an open and sustainable way. Or you are not a black or brown person and feel the disenfranchisement of being Asian. Or you want to work with someone who is different from you, not in your community, to work on issues such as white privilege.
Or maybe you're here because there is an inner critical voice that tells you that you're not good enough, something is wrong with you, or that you don't matter. You are confused and doubt yourself. You are struggling with self-esteem, meaning, or purpose.
Imagine addressing unnamed wounds of childhood. Imagine talking about your feelings of shame, self-hate, and self-doubt or imposter syndrome. Imagine healing these unnamed wounds that led to the human suffering and often showed up as emotional dysregulation, despair, anxiety and depression. Unmute yourself to ask the unasked questions and reclaim your voice!
SERVICES
Therapy is most useful for helping us get out those things that are out of our awareness. For example, sometimes when people get out of a relationship and they will say I’m never gonna date that kind of person again and they mean it 100%! Then they get into the next relationship and in a few months, they're like, oh my gosh! This person's like that too! Or people make vows like I'm not gonna do xyz anymore, and then they find themselves doing it again. This is something that we all do and it suggests that there are some things that are operating a little out of our awareness that exert an influence and that's the kind of thing that I'm interested in getting at. If you find yourself repeating the same patterns, I can help you uncover why you are stuck.
WHO I WORK WITH
- Working professionals needing short-term and long-term therapy
- Issues related to workplace and social relationships
- Adolescents
- Bicultural, Multiracial or people of mixed race
- LGBTQIA and non-binary gender populations
- 1st and 2nd generation immigrants and Asian Americans
You do not have to be ready for therapy. My focus is on meeting you in your process, understanding ambivalence as part of change. To begin the journey, you have to start somewhere. You are not alone and ultimately, with self-discipline and support, you will start to feel relief.THERAPY FOR PROFESSIONALS
Those seeking more immediate relief for work-related, personal development and relationship issues, I specialize in short-term therapy such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Brief Therapy. CBT examines the relationship of emotions, behaviors, and thoughts. The rationale behind CBT is that a person's negative thoughts produce negative emotions and behavior. Knowing this link, you can start replacing negative ways of thinking with more positive ones. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) can help those struggling with compulsions and self-destructive behavior. CBT and DBT tries to identify and change negative thinking patterns and work towards positive behavioral changes. It teaches skills to cope with, and change, unhealthy behaviors. This type of therapy can take about 3-6 months.
THERAPY FOR TRAUMA
Intergenerational trauma and collective stressors can be in-born and live in our body. Therapy is a method of treatment that offers a way of understanding ourselves, our relationships, and how we conduct ourselves in the world. Therapy helps people learn how they became who they are and why they do and feel the things they do. This understanding paves the way towards the emotional capacity necessary to make connections to our collective suffering and formally feel the grief and honor the pain of our ancestors.
THERAPY FOR POC
Having a POC (people of color) therapist can help anyone belonging to any level of marginalization to feel safe, promoting the space to to feel understood. It is this growing awareness of your mind that gradually opens the possibility for change, which can lead to increased self-compassion and a greater sense of agency in one’s own life and have successful ways of coping. It is possible to experience deep emotional connections with others and meaning in life.
About Cheri
Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist
As a bicultural kid growing up in Taipei and San Francisco Chinatown, I was surrounded by multi-cultural diversity from a young age. Since then, I've been interested and noticed when I feel different or feeling like the other. And the angst of living in between cultures.
I found psychotherapy to be frequently absent in API culture. In API/Asian-American families, talking about feelings is not very commonplace. When personal issues arise, it remains within the individual and becomes an invisible struggle, sometimes unbeknownst to the individual themselves. Further, Asians are less likely to seek therapy. When issues that arise are not addressed while in the family, it remains dormant, undigested, and eventually needs to be processed later on in life. The work of psychotherapy can be invaluable for one's health and well being. I have a Master's of Science degree in Counseling. I speak conversational Mandarin.
I formerly worked as a corporate management in Fortune 50 companies and small non-profits. I have worked in middle, high school, and community college students. As a masculine-presenting queer POC, I know how hard it is to deal with microaggressions and more overt oppression as a token minority. I understand what it's like trying to navigate job stress, the frustrations of working in corporate and non-profit organizations.SERVICES
Individual Psychotherapy
Phone Sessions
Video Sessions
- Get relief from painful feelings
- Improve personal relationships
- Become more productive at work
- Take more pleasure from life
- Prevent the past from interfering with the present
- End problematic patterns of behavior
- Gain greater control over life
- Unlock creative potential
- Understand yourself
- Feel understood
FEES
My fee is $175 a session. Couples $200. Sessions are 50 minutes. An initial consultation can help determine if psychotherapy is the best option for treatment. The initial consultation is $175. Fees are paid in full at the beginning of each session. Checks, Venmo, Zelle Pay, and Paypal are accepted for payment.
My cancellation policy is 48 hours notice.
While I am not on any insurance panels, I am happy to provide you with a monthly statement so you can seek reimbursement if your insurance provider covers a portion of your out-of-network care. HMO’s do not provide reimbursement for out of network, but PPO providers often cover 60-80% of the cost.
NOTICE
The Board of Behavioral Sciences receives and responds to complaints regarding services provided within the scope of practice of (marriage and family therapists, licensed educational psychologists, clinical social workers, or professional clinical counselors). You may contact the board online at www.bbs.ca.gov, or by calling (916) 574-7830.
Schedule your free consultation
15 minute initial phone consult
- Contact
I’ll help you think about whether therapy is right for you. In this pressure-free conversation, we can talk about what you’re struggling with. I’ll answer your questions and I’ll have a few of my own. Together we’ll discuss your options and help you figure out the next steps.
BERKELEY OFFICE
Copyright © 2018 - Cheri Tsai LMFT # 104656