Marriage & Family Therapist License #45806 3190 South Bascom Ave, Suite 180, San Jose, CA 95124 Office Phone (408) 850-1484 Fax (408) 604-0159 Email therapy@karastarkeymft.com
Creative, Compassionate Psychotherapist in Private Practice
Experienced in Conducting Therapy with Children, Adolescents, Adults, Couples, Families, and Groups |  |
Allow Me to Help You Succeed on Your Journey
My part-time private practice is conveniently located near the San Jose and Campbell border, close to the corner of Camden and Bascom Ave. My office is easily accessible from Highway 17 and San Tomas Expressway. I offer daytime and evening hours on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and treat children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families. I have background in school, agency, clinic, outpatient hospital, and private practice settings. I accept cash, check, credit cards, and FSA accounts as means of payment, and I am contracted with most major insurance plans including Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross, Cigna, United HealthCare, and Optum, I am also a participating member of many employee assistance programs (EAP). I provide long-term therapy, short-term counseling, and Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD). Sliding scale or income-based fee discounts may be available in cases of financial hardship.
I enjoy working with children of all ages, treating for school attendance problems, simple phobias, pervasive unhappiness, family divorce, grief or separation issues, disruptive classroom behavior, communication problems, suicidal tendencies, aggressive behavior, peer conflicts, physical/sexual abuse, neglect, oppositional tendencies, ADD or ADHD, poor self-esteem, problems adjusting to life transitions, withdrawal tendencies, and bizarre behaviors. I also have expertise working with children in the foster care system. A combination of play therapy, art therapy, and talk therapy is utilized, as appropriate per the child's developmental level.
I also treat adults experiencing a wide range of emotional and relational difficulties, such as depression, anxiety, trauma, parenting issues, stress, separation/divorce and other life crisis situations. In addition, I have experience performing in-depth psychological assessments for patients considering bariatric (weight loss) surgery. Though I dislike using labels, I tend to use a "relational" approach to psychotherapy, a combination of Object Relations, Attachment, and Humanistic theories. I also have specialized training in CBT, DBT, and perinatal mood disorders.
Treating "difficult" teens is also one of my specialties. I have led domestic violence intervention group therapy for teens, and treated many at-risk youth in the school and juvenile justice systems. I have experience treating adolescents who have challenges with depression, suicidality, anxiety, physical/sexual abuse, substance use/abuse, self-injurious behavior (i.e., "cutting" or "carving"), and teen pregnancy/motherhood.
My passion and unique specialty is animal-assisted therapy. A fully-trained animal is directed by a mental health professional with specialized expertise, and the therapy is designed to promote improvement in social, emotional, and/or cognitive functioning. Animal-assisted therapy may aid in increasing verbal interactions, increasing attention skills, developing leisure/recreation skills, increasing self-esteem, and reducing anxiety, depression, and loneliness.
Please feel free to call or email for an appointment or consultation, and I welcome any referrals that may be appropriate for me. Thank you for visiting my web site.
EDUCATION
Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA
Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA
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PROFESSIONAL PSYCHOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION MEMBERSHIPS
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