Therapy that doesn’t just talk about the past
Gestalt & Hakomi Therapy in San Francisco
Book a free 15-minute callRegistered Associate MFT (AMFT #165093) · Sliding scale · Evening & online sessions
Gestalt & Hakomi Therapy in San Francisco
Book a free 15-minute callRegistered Associate MFT (AMFT #165093) · Sliding scale · Evening & online sessions
My approach to psychotherapy is mainly inspired by the Hakomi Method and Gestalt therapy.
Gestalt therapy
Paying attention to what is happening right now, in your thoughts, your feelings, and your body, rather than only talking about the past.
Gestalt therapy is based on the idea that change begins with becoming more aware of our experience. We pay attention to what is happening in the present moment, including your thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations, and what happens between us in the room. The goal is not to ignore the past, but to understand how past experiences continue to shape the way you feel, relate, and respond today.
Difficulties can develop when important parts of our experience are pushed aside or become difficult to notice. To adapt to relationships, family expectations, or other circumstances, you may have learned to hold back emotions, ignore your own needs, or disconnect from parts of yourself. Over time, this can leave you feeling disconnected, conflicted, or less able to recognise what you want and need.
Sessions may include talking through what you are experiencing, noticing emotions and bodily sensations, exploring what happens in relationships, or trying gentle exercises that help you understand your reactions more clearly. Rather than telling you what to change, I help you become more aware of your patterns, needs, emotions, and choices. As these become clearer, new ways of responding often become possible.
Hakomi therapy
Using mindfulness to slow down and notice the beliefs and patterns your body has quietly been holding.
Hakomi is a mindfulness-based, body-centred therapy. Together we slow down and turn attention inward, getting curious about how your experience is organised: the beliefs, feelings, and bodily habits that quietly run underneath day-to-day life.
Many of these patterns formed early, as ways of staying safe or staying connected, and they live in the body as much as in the mind. Rather than analysing them from the outside, Hakomi helps you notice them gently, from the inside, as they show up in the present moment.
In a session we might pause on a feeling or a sensation as it arises and stay with it, with curiosity and kindness. Working this way, at the pace your body allows, tends to reach places that talking alone can miss, and lets new experiences, and new beliefs, begin to take hold.
In the room
Sessions are 50 minutes, and there is no script. We start with whatever you are bringing, and I follow what feels alive for you. Some of it is talking; some of it is slowing down to notice a feeling or a sensation as it happens. You never have to perform or find the right words, and we move at the pace that feels safe for you.
Hi, I’m Dhespina!
I’m a registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT #165093), trained in Gestalt and Hakomi. My work is relational, somatic, and experiential. I do not see therapy as simply a place to talk, but as a space where you can experience new feelings, perspectives, and ways of relating to yourself and others.
Therapy with me is exploratory and collaborative, with room for reflection, humour, and unexpected moments of insight. I support you in reconnecting with the part of yourself that knows what you need and how you want to heal, even when that part feels difficult to access.
The practical details
In the first fifteen minutes, you can tell me a little about what’s bringing you to therapy now, we can get a sense of whether working together feels right, and you can ask any questions you have.
Book a free 15-minute callOr send me a message first.