Therapists for college students near San Francisco, CA
Hi! I’m Dr. Ruth Rayikanti, a Board-Certified Psychiatrist and the Founder of A Blank Canvas. My greatest passion is helping people find clarity, confidence, and deep inner peace so they can live life with intent, purpose and presence. I was raised in San Francisco and went to UC Davis for my undergraduate studies. After earning my medical degree at Ross University, I completed my psychiatry residency at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, followed by a year of specialized training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Kaiser Permanente. But beyond credentials, what truly defines my approach is that I take the time to listen to your story, understand your goals, and provide compassionate, evidence-based care tailored uniquely to you as a whole person. Throughout my career, I’ve worked with high-achieving individuals including students who are navigating life transitions, burnout, or feeling disconnected from themselves. Whether you’re managing ADHD, anxiety, depression, or simply seeking to connect with who you truly are, together we will explore solutions that create real, meaningful change in your life. Outside of my private practice, I founded A Blank Canvas, a wellness platform dedicated to mindfulness, inner peace, and peak performance. This space is designed to help individuals reconnect with themselves in a deeper way and realign with their purpose. I believe within each of us lies a blank canvas – a place of infinite potential waiting to be expressed. If you’re seeking a psychiatrist who sees you beyond your symptoms and will partner with you to create lasting transformation, I invite you to reach out. I look forward to connecting with you. Be well!
I provide psychotherapy for children, adolescents, and adults. I work with people who are struggling with depression, anxiety, histories of trauma, relationship issues, life transitions, work issues, and low self-esteem. I also work with people who are looking for support in processing and understanding difficulties related to cultural identity. This includes issues pertaining to race, gender, sexual orientation, immigration, and second-generation Americans. Lasting personal change can develop within empathically-attuned relationships. This belief forms the basis for my work. My style is warm and collaborative, with a relational psychodynamic approach. We'll pay close attention to your story and inner experiences while always attending to how things play out in current relationships.
Client's that work well with my collaborative style are often people who are struggling with life transitions. I often connect with people who are working to find different methods to manage anxiety and perfectionism. I also hold space in my practice for queer couples.
Medical training can be deeply meaningful—and relentless. High expectations, long hours, constant evaluation, and responsibility for others can make it difficult to maintain perspective, extend yourself the same compassion you offer patients, or stay connected to the people and parts of life that matter to you. I’m a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Registered Expressive Arts Therapist (REAT) with extensive experience integrating the arts into psychotherapy. Expressive arts practices offer a way to step outside habitual thinking, gain perspective, and reconnect with creativity, self-compassion, and balance. No artistic experience is needed. Together, we can address perfectionism and self-criticism, anxiety or low mood, relationship challenges, or simply the difficulty of feeling like yourself within a demanding environment. I spent fourteen years at UCSF, where I integrated creative approaches into treatment for people experiencing moderate to severe mood symptoms. I also hold a credential in perinatal mental health. I offer online psychotherapy throughout California and walk-and-talk sessions in San Francisco parks. My goal is to help you find some space around what feels difficult, reconnect with what matters to you, and enjoy more of the life you’re working so hard to build.
Adulting is hard. As we go through transitions in our lives, it can be a time that is both exciting and stressful. In my work, I enjoy supporting college students as they tackle all the ups and downs that come their way. I especially love helping those who are the first in their families to go to college because I've been in their shoes. In my practice, I specialize helping individuals who have experienced trauma and I love blending my passions for music, dance, fitness, and yoga with my professional experience to help young people find their way, develop, and overcome challenges.
The challenges and struggles we face in life can leave us feeling helpless and hopeless. Perhaps you’re overwhelmed with responsibilities. You might be taking care of other people and neglecting yourself. Or you might be struggling hard to make an important relationship work. You’ve tried more traditional kinds of self-help or therapy, and you’re ready for a different kind of therapy which integrates the mind, body and spirit.
Many people find their way to my work simply because they feel a sense of “stuckness” or dissatisfaction. Together, our work will explore your aspirations, struggles, and life experience, in order to gain a deeper understanding of yourself and increase aliveness in all areas of your life.
Please visit my profile to learn more about my services.
I help teens and young adults seeking help with depression, anxiety, stress management, self-criticism/perfectionism, and improving communication and relationships. I apply multiple techniques including CBT and mindfulness practices.
Comprehensive Psychiatric Services (CPS) is an established behavioral health medical group that has been in existence since 1979. CPS has 40+ MD and DO level psychiatrists that treat children adolescents and adults. The majority of our doctors are board certified or board eligible. With this array of providers, we are averaging 2 weeks or less for a new patient appointment. Our psychiatrists see members with varying diagnosis, ages and other differentiating factors. Besides treating patients that speak English only, we have doctors that are fluent in other languages like Spanish, French, Hindi, and Farsi. CPS also provides video sessions through HIPAA compliant video communication services. These remote services make behavioral health services more convenient; giving patients more access to treatment. What makes our medical group stand out from the rest? Well, it is our availability, and ability to integrate both psychopharmacological and psychotherapeutic paradigms. Furthermore, our mental health professionals think holistically, and consistently consult with primary care physicians to ensure excellent patient care. We would like to bring our talents and specialized care to all colleges and universities.
Welcome — I'm so glad you're here. You are so not alone in what you're carrying and you don't have to have it all figured out to move forward; this is exactly where we start. Being in college can be a huge adjustment, one that often comes with anxiety, loneliness, major academic pressure, and figuring out how to build authentic community. Whether you're navigating academic pressure, relationships, family stress, sexuality, gender exploration, or just the uncertainty of what comes next, I want to be in that space with you. Together we'll find insight using creative expression, mind-body connection, and shedding the internalized ideas of who we think we’re supposed to be. This is a place where everything is process over product and where we are actively seeking the imperfect. My approach is rooted in deep empathy, expressive arts, somatic practices, social justice lenses, and whole-person centered frameworks. I specialize in working with identity exploration, neurodiversity, queer folks, as well as young adults navigating the internal and external complexities of college life. We will start our work together with meeting right where you are and will walk together the rest of the way. My goal is to help you find more empowered, centered, and become more connected to yourself and others. Through our time together, however long that might be, my hope is that you're able to explore the many wonderful, scary, and magical layers that we hold. You can find me in my virtual office space or in-person at my Hayes Valley office. When I’m not sitting in the therapist chair, I’m usually guiding expressive arts workshops, working with queer & trans youth, reading multiple books at one time, out enjoying nature, or spending lots of time adventuring. I hope we get to meet soon! "I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become." - Carl Jung
Hi! Welcome to my practice. I understand that seeking mental health support can be overwhelming so congrats on taking the first step to be here! I work with women who sometimes feel lots of anxiety when it comes to their relationships and connections with others. I am deeply curious about how our toxic patterns form. My goal is to support you to have a better understanding of that as well so that you may lead a happier, more fulfilling life.
Kindful Body brings together therapists who are passionate and expertly trained in helping our clients transform their relationships with their bodies and food. We help our clients to heal parts of themselves that keep them stuck in destructive behaviors, so they can make the changes they desire to live with more ease, balance and authenticity. Our unique approach is informed by Internal Family Systems (IFS), Mindful Self-Compassion, Brené Brown’s Shame Resilience Theory, Intuitive Eating and Health At Every Size®. At Kindful Body we believe that our struggles provide us with opportunities for growth and to discover new strengths; the quality of our lives depends on the quality of our relationships; and that self-compassion is key ingredient for our well-being. The Kindful Body team is ready to help you on your healing journey.
Welcome to my practice! As a psychoanalyst, I am available to students who are interested in understanding themselves and their deepest thoughts and feelings which can often include anxiety and doubt. As a clinical social worker, it is also important to consider each person’s family history and current intellectual and social environment in order to maintain an emotional balance while striving to meet your designated life goals
You and your life isn’t one note. You are multifaceted and the demands you face happen to be as well – particularly when you are a student. Currently, the sound-track of your life has moved away from the sounds of a harmonious symphony -or maybe from an upbeat pop song- to something more unnerving and stressful (like the alarm you use to wake up to in the morning or the background music in a horror film—building tension, bracing yourself from some known or unknown threat). It makes sense that life has been overwhelming -increased responsibilities and life demands alone would contribute to this feeling. Add fears about the future, a recent breakup, challenging relationship dynamics with family, and/or other stressors and you might find yourself tipping the scales of your emotional bandwidth. I help students focus on the unique aspects of their lives that are no longer serving them – with empathy, tools, problem-solving, and emotional healing and growth. I believe you can have a richer and higher-quality of life– free from the overwhelming influence of your current life demands, harmful past experiences, poor modeling, and environmental toxicities (psychological). Call me to schedule an initial consultation (415) 356-9897 or fill out contact form https://www.alexandrialeedy.com/take-action.
Whether borderline, narcissistic or simply toxic, wounded and self-centered parents create wounded children. And these children grow up without the basics of warmth and kindness, acceptance and encouragement. In order to survive, we adapt to the needs of our demanding parents. That might mean we learn to parent our parent. Or we develop antennae and quickly respond to their changing moods and needs, simultaneously ignoring our own. We hope if we do and say the right thing long enough, then one day they will be strong enough to finally take care of us. But that day may never come. We can spend our whole life looking for what we didn't get in our childhood. Attract partners who are carbon copies. Perceive other people's innocent remarks as attacking or critical. Maybe we're never quite satisfied with the attention we receive. Or no amount of success is enough. Therapy is a way to find answers and chart a new course; transcend the past and move forward. My approach is pragmatic and straightforward. I do more than just say, "Um huh," or "How does that make you feel?" I offer acceptance and encouragement, as well as feedback and suggestions.
Please visit my profile to learn more about my services.
Are you looking to make a change in your life? Feeling stuck with behaviors that used to serve you and now seem to weigh you down? Do you have plans and dreams that you never quite get around to enacting? You are not alone. We have all been there at one time or another. I know I have been. In fact, by some estimates, at any given time 80% of people are feeling ambivalent about a significant decision or change they want to make in their lives. It was with this in mind that Time for Change, Psychotherapy Services was born. I offer an approach that is respectful, compassionate and hopeful. I believe you will find me easy to talk to and a place where you can find courage, take risks and be vulnerable. I am humbled and honored when people trust enough to share their personal stories and together we can seek to find a way forward.
If you are having difficulty in your personal life or with school, give a call or send an email so we can talk about what you are looking for. I have been in private practice for 40 years, have extensive experience and training, and I know how to help. If you want to know more about me and how I can help you, click on the link to my website below. I look forward to talking with you.
Yvonne Perez-Sallaberry, LMFT is a bilingual (English/Spanish) therapist who supports students in navigating anxiety, trauma, stress, and life transitions. She uses evidence-based approaches like CBT and strengths-based practices to help clients build coping tools and reach their goals. With experience working with both adolescents and adults—and over 15 years in education—Yvonne understands the unique challenges of academic life and the pressures that come with high-stakes environments.