Cope Ahead: The Power of Planning How to Cope in Advance

By Marielle Berg | November 7, 2018
Cope Ahead: The Power of Planning How to Cope in Advance

Have you ever found yourself doing the same thing over and over? The very same thing you swore you wouldn’t do next time? This is a common theme we see in our San Francisco therapy practice. One way to interrupt the cycle of repeating behaviors is to use a DBT skill called Cope Ahead. Cope…

Why Your Therapist Asks about Your Childhood (Part 3 of 3)

By Marielle Berg | October 17, 2018
Why Your Therapist Asks about Your Childhood (Part 3 of 3)

In the previous two posts, we’ve talked about why therapists ask about your childhood. We’ve explored: how your childhood sheds light on who you are today; and 
 the reasons why you might feel resistance discussing your childhood or family during therapy (and the reasons are many). This post is about the “payoff” for talking…

Why Your Therapist Asks about Your Childhood (Part 2 of 3)

By Marielle Berg | September 26, 2018
Why Your Therapist Asks about Your Childhood (Part 2 of 3)

In our Bay Area therapy practice, clients often ask why they need to discuss what happened in their early years. You may wonder the same. How will dwelling on the past help you move forward with your problems today? In Part 1 of this three-part series, we explained the reasons why most therapists ask about…

Why Your Therapist Asks about Your Childhood (Part 1 of 3)

By Marielle Berg | September 12, 2018
Why Your Therapist Asks about Your Childhood (Part 1 of 3)

The question “Why do we need to talk about my childhood?” comes up often in our San Francisco therapy practice. If you’re new to therapy, you may wonder why your therapist asks about how your childhood was. After all, you came to therapy because of something happening today, not necessarily because of what happened when…

What Is Rest? – More Than Time Off from Work

By Marielle Berg | August 29, 2018
What Is Rest? – More Than Time Off from Work

When was the last time you took a true vacation? One where you turned your phone off and completely unplugged from work. Can’t remember? If so, you are not alone. Here in our San Francisco therapy practice, we work with a lot of people who struggle to take time off from work. You may personally…

10 Common Myths About Emotions (and the Truth)

By Marielle Berg | August 22, 2018
10 Common Myths About Emotions (and the Truth)

Emotions can be confusing and overwhelming at times – and common myths about emotions can make things worse. Some myths imply that you should be in control of your emotions at all times. Other myths equate emotions with the truth of who you are. Growing up, you may have learned that certain emotions mean you…

Fog and Depression: How to Survive Summer in San Francisco

By Marielle Berg | August 15, 2018
fog and depression: how to survive summer in san francisco

June Gloom. Fogust (for our lovely August). If you’ve lived in San Francisco for any length of time, you’ve heard these phrases. And of course, the most famous, “The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco.” Although this last one is attributed to Mark Twain, there’s some debate about who actually said…

Why Do We Have Emotions?

By Marielle Berg | August 8, 2018
Why Do We Have Emotions?

In our San Francisco therapy practice, we see many people who struggle to understand their emotions. Some experience emotions as overwhelming and wish they didn’t feel things so strongly.  Others experience emotions as confusing or scary and wish they didn’t have to feel them at all. No matter where you fall on this continuum, you…

Self-Criticism Part 2: Finding Your Way Out of Self-Criticism

By Marielle Berg | August 1, 2018
How to find your way out of self-criticism and self-judgment | San Francisco therapy practice

In the first post of this series, we looked at How Self-Criticism is Hurting You. It’s something we see in our San Francisco therapy practice with a great many people. Which means we have a lot of experience helping our clients navigate their way out of the hurtful path of self-criticism and self-judgment. In part…

Self-Criticism Part 1: How Self-Criticism is Hurting You

By Marielle Berg | July 25, 2018
How self-criticism is hurting you and why you likely started engaging in this hurtful activity | San Francisco therapists

Do you often judge yourself harshly? Self-criticism and self-judgment are the most common underlying issues we see in our San Francisco therapy practice. Under the outward struggles people are dealing with – work stress, relationship problems, depression, or addictive behavior – there is very often a deep sense of feeling flawed. This sense of feeling…