About Colette

I have been a professional helper since 1998 when I joined the staff of Bay Area Women Against Rape as a Rape Crisis Counselor and Legal Advocate. Prior to being a therapist, I delivered babies for 15 years.  I provided holistic prenatal, birth and postpartum care as a Licensed Midwife. 

I’ve attended over 400 deliveries. In each one I learned about human resilience.  To contend with pain and come out stronger in the end is a process birth and therapy have in common. In the prenatal and postpartum periods, we open ourselves to fears, physical discomfort and anxiety about the unknown process ahead. I feel that the pain that motivates people to seek therapy is similar. I see it as a pathway to greater love, both for your self and those around you. 

I bring a lifetime of dedication to my own healing when working with my clients. I have struggled with anxiety, depression, self-esteem, family trauma, sexual assault and more. Psychotherapy and good friends have saved my life, more than once. I am a student of earth-based spiritual traditions and Buddhist meditation. I am also a gardener.  I’m obsessed with plants. I have two cats. I’m older than I look. 

I graduated with a Master’s degree in Integral Counseling Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies in 2018. I am part of the teaching staff for Relational Somatic Healing. I work part-time with a team of clinicians at the Temenos Center in Petaluma, CA offering Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy. I am trained in Gestalt, Relational Somatic Healing, Hakomi, body-centered approaches to trauma, Mindfulness and Integral Psychology. In the past, I have provided in home therapy to moms with postpartum anxiety and depression as well as grief counseling with parents who have lost children to medical complications through UCSF.

I am striving to confront my own privileges and live with integrity in these complicated times. I have a social justice lens, considering how oppression impacts mental health.  I am committed to being a white anti-racist ally and I am still learning. I am hopeful for a time when people will be free to be themselves fully without rigid cultural norms and systemic oppression.