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Why Culturally Affirming Group Therapy Is Different and Why It Matters

Decorative graphic with eucalyptus branches and a circular frame reading "group therapy: why culturally affirming group therapy is different and why it matters" with the Center for Mindful Therapy logo

Reviewed by Kathryn Vercillo, MA Psychology | Last Updated: March 2026 If you have ever sat in a therapy group and felt like you were constantly explaining yourself, like your life required footnotes just to begin, you already understand why culturally affirming therapy exists. For many BIPOC individuals, therapy has historically been a space designed by and for white, Western...[ read more ]

Embracing the Inevitable: Join “The Change Circle” Group Series with Karen Baker, LMFT

Flyer for "The Change Circle," a 6-week online somatic group series for integrating change, led by Karen Baker, LMFT.

Change is the only constant. Whether it’s a chosen pivot in your career, an unexpected loss, a major life transition, or a subtle yet profound shift in your identity, navigating these moments can feel isolating and overwhelming. Too often, we rely solely on our minds to process these seismic events, leaving the body and spirit behind. This disconnect can lead...[ read more ]

How DBT Skills Support People Living with Suicidal Ideation

Living with suicidal ideation is often overwhelming. Thoughts of ending one’s life can feel relentless, leaving little space for hope or relief. For many, these thoughts are not a sign of weakness but a reflection of intense emotional pain and the absence of effective coping strategies. Dialectical Behavior Therapy, better known as DBT, was developed specifically with people in mind...[ read more ]

Internal Family Systems (IFS) and the Parts of Us That Want to Give Up

Suicidal thoughts often feel like an internal battle. One part of us longs to live, while another insists that giving up is the only way forward. For many, this struggle can feel shameful and isolating, as though the very existence of suicidal thoughts means something is deeply wrong. Internal Family Systems (IFS) offers a compassionate alternative. It reframes suicidal ideation...[ read more ]

Transpersonal Psychology and the Search for Meaning Beyond Suicidality

When someone is living with suicidal thoughts, the pain often runs deeper than daily stressors or surface-level struggles. At the heart of suicidality there is often a profound crisis of meaning. People may feel cut off from purpose, from belonging, or from a sense of connection to something larger than themselves. Transpersonal psychology offers a way to reframe despair not...[ read more ]

Working with Dreams in Gestalt Therapy: A California Therapist’s Guide to Dream Integration

Working with Dreams in Gestalt Therapy: A California Therapist’s Guide to Dream Integration

You wake from a dream feeling unsettled. You remember only fragments ... a staircase that leads nowhere, an old friend whose face you haven’t seen in years, a glowing object just out of reach. The dream lingers like fog, leaving you with the distinct sense that it meant something, even if you can’t quite say what. In a place like...[ read more ]

Here and Now Awareness: Using Gestalt Therapy to Break Free from Anxiety Loops in San Francisco

gestalt therapy for anxiety

It's 3 AM and you're lying in bed, mind spinning with tomorrow's presentation, next month's rent, and that conversation from last week that you can't stop replaying. Your body is tense, your breathing is shallow, and despite being exhausted, sleep feels impossible. You're caught in what feels like an endless anxiety loop. Your mind is jumping between past regrets and...[ read more ]

Somatic Activism: How Your Body Holds Both Trauma and Resilience

Somatic Activism: How Your Body Holds Both Trauma and Resilience

Your heart pounds as you join the crowd gathering to protect a neighbor from deportation. Your shoulders carry the weight of generations of struggle. Your breath quickens as sirens approach. Your feet know the rhythm of marching for justice, even if your mind feels overwhelmed by the complexity of the moment. Your body is not just present at the protest—it...[ read more ]

When Your Parts Are at War: Using IFS to Navigate Internal Conflict During Social Upheaval

When Your Parts Are at War: Using IFS to Navigate Internal Conflict During Social Upheaval

You wake up to news of another ICE raid in your community. Immediately, different parts of you spring into action: one part wants to drop everything and join the protest, another part reminds you of the work deadline that can't be missed, while yet another part just wants to turn off the phone and hide under the covers. By noon,...[ read more ]

Understanding IFS Therapy: A Guest Post From Associate Therapist Elizabeth Dausch

This month, our featured associate is Elizabeth Dausch. One of her primary modalities is Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS), and in this blog, she offers an insightful introduction to how it works and why it matters. You can also learn more about Elizabeth from our Conversations with Clinicians Interview. As a therapist, I’m continually struck by how many tools and...[ read more ]

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