Betty Tharpe, M.S.

Individuals · Couples · Families · Children · Adolescents · Adults

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
License No: MFC 36402

About My Practice

Our problems are the human problems that come with living life. If you feel anxious, depressed, or lonely, stuck in a troubled relationship, hobbled by grief, haunted by childhood trauma, or for some reason unable to move forward, it’s a sign that something inside needs sorting out. But when we are in the middle of painful of confusing feelings, it can be hard to make headway alone. At these times, entering into therapy is a very responsible thing to do. Working together, we can begin to clear away the brush and let the light shine through.

I provide psychotherapy to individuals, children and teens, and to families and couples, both gay and straight. I work with parents and children to balance the often conflicting demands of growing up: helping young people know themselves, be themselves, and express themselves in ways that help them be successful in the world. With adolescents, we “hold both roots and wings” — working together to help them develop separate yet still connected identity, balancing family and friends and society’s expectations during the sometimes rocky transformation to adulthood.

I support individuals through the long-term transformative work of unearthing and reworking early childhood difficulties, and through the short-term work of life transitions — ending the old and beginning the new, negotiating the challenges of the collective culture. I offer support to couples dealing with intimacy and sexuality, and to families navigating the intricacies of parents and children together.

I believe that everybody is moving toward health and wholeness, even when the path is difficult. I am honored to be able to support you through your personal search to find the roots of difficulties, realize the changes you want to make in your life, and come to truly believe you can do what you hope you can do.

Professional Interests:

• Transforming difficulties arising from trauma, loss, and difficult childhood experiences.
• Increasing confidence, self-esteem and self-acceptance, healing feelings of anxiety and depression
• Providing support through life transitions
• Helpings parents through adoption, divorce, step-parenting, and other parenting issues
• Working with children to express their feelings positively and successfully, and with teens as they struggle to find their authentic place in the world
• Working with couples to improve relationships, intimacy, and sexuality
• Supporting exploration of sexuality and sexual identity issues

Education:

• Masters of Science (MS) in Counseling Psychology, San Francisco State University, 1986

Experience / Training:

I have been providing psychotherapy in the Bay Area for over 20 years. I have postgraduate training in developmental and attachment theories, contemporary psychoanalytic theories and family systems; creative art therapies, sandtray, and dream work. I also enjoy training and supervising intern therapists and providing consultation to licensed clinicians and agencies.

Professional Affiliations / Activities

• The Psychotherapy Institute, Berkeley
• California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
• American Association of Family Therapists
• Clinical consultation and supervision