Relational, Somatic & Gestalt Therapy · San Francisco, CA
Relational, Somatic & Gestalt Therapy · San Francisco, CA
Something in this might feel familiar
You may have spent years navigating different worlds: different cultures, different families, different versions of yourself, fluent in all of them, but fully at home in none.
You may be good at adapting. Good at reading rooms. Good at showing up for everyone else.
And you may be tired of being good at it.
In my work, I've sat with people who are reaching for something more. Not a different life necessarily, but a truer one. One that isn't built entirely from other people's expectations, other people's dreams, other people's definitions of what a good life looks like.
You may be here for yourself. Or you may be here because you're watching your teenager struggle, and something in it feels uncomfortably familiar.
Either way, I'm glad you're here.
You might be here if…
This isn't therapy as you might expect it
I'm not the therapist who'll hand you a worksheet or give you a five-step plan for fixing yourself. I don't think you need fixing.
What I bring is genuine, deep curiosity. Not clinical curiosity. Genuinely curious. In my experience, when someone finally feels truly seen without judgment, something in them begins to open.
You don't have to sit still, speak perfectly, or perform wellness. You may want to pace around, face the wall, yell into a pillow, or just sit in silence.
You don't have to come in knowing what's wrong. You don't have to have language for it yet.
You don't have to be the version of yourself you've been polishing for everyone else.
Whatever is real and alive for you belongs here.
Together we slow down. We get curious about your body, your reactions, the story underneath the story.
We look at what you're carrying and ask: is this actually yours? Or was it given to you?
I work in-person from a small office in San Francisco and online throughout California.
What working together actually looks like
Most of what's painful in your life happens faster than you can see it.
Someone says something at work. Before you've even registered it, something in you has flinched, judged itself, and rearranged your face. By the time you're aware of feeling bad, the moment that caused it is already gone.
My work is to slow that down.
In a session, we might stop mid-sentence so you can notice what just happened in your chest. I might ask you to say something again, slower. We pay attention to your breath, your tone, the moment your eyes dropped. Not to analyze you, but because the body knows what's true before the mind does.
What we're looking for is the gap. The half-second between something happening and your familiar response to it. That gap is usually invisible. In our work together, we make it visible.
Once you can see it, you have a choice. Maybe a small one at first. But a real one.
This is what change actually looks like. Not insight that doesn't translate. Not a five-step plan. A growing capacity to notice the moment before you do the thing you always do, and to do something different.
I show up as a whole person, not a role.
I'm a relational and experiential therapist trained in Gestalt and Hakomi, with a background in AEDP and continuing training in Internal Family Systems. I hold an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist license and practice under licensed supervision.
In practice, that means we don't just talk about your life from a distance. We pay attention to what's happening right now: in your body, in the room, between us. These approaches trust that the body holds wisdom, that the present moment is full of information, and that real change comes through felt experience, not just insight.
I bring my full humanity into the room, and that creates space for yours.
Book a 15-min callWorking Together
Get In Touch
The first step is often the hardest. A free 15-minute consultation is a good place to start. No commitment, just a conversation.
Book a free 15-min callOr send me a message below:
Or email me directly: with@dhespina.com
Currently based in San Francisco · Offering in-person and online sessions
