Erica Mainshine, MA

Marriage & Family Therapist Intern,
IMFT License #52423
Prelicensed member of
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
415.820.3203
Supervised by: Katy Wray, MFT License #MFC30519

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People come to therapy for help with a wide range of issues. Some seek healing from abuse, trauma, or addiction. Others struggle with depression, anxiety, loneliness, or grief, are in periods of transition or are dealing with relationship difficulties. Working together in therapy, I can help you to identify and understand the issues you are currently struggling with, and heal and grow from pain from the past.

I draw on a variety of tools and modalities, based on your needs and what emerges in our work together. In addition to more traditional therapeutic methods, I sometimes integrate dreamwork, sandplay, body-awareness practices, art therapy, imagery, and experiential exercises. Looking at your core beliefs about you and at your early experiences, we can see how these dynamics might be affecting your life.

I also honor your strengths and resources, and can help you to expand and more fully integrate them. As our work deepens, you might find that you are more able to find paths that lead to greater happiness and satisfaction, and that your life feels richer and more free and fulfilling.

In addition to my work with individuals, I work with couples of every kind. I encourage couples to come to therapy not as a “last resort,” but also as a chance to grow and explore together, to create more harmony and intimacy, and to help small issues develop into opportunities for greater closeness and growth, rather than quietly growing into large problems. I also help couples who are struggling with very difficult periods around communication, intimacy, commitment, transitions, sexuality, and entrenched patterns or feelings of “being stuck.”

Relationships can activate some intense feelings and past wounds within each partner, and I can help you to develop greater awareness of when and how this is happening, and to discover new tools to better manage these stormy feelings. I also work with separating couples to help navigate this difficult period with more compassion, grace, and ease. I have experience with issues specific to cross-cultural relationships and LGBTQ couples.

My work integrates mind, body, and spirit, with a strong focus on helping you to develop greater awareness and connection to yourself. I have worked successfully with adults, adolescents, and couples from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and of all sexual orientations. I am committed to creating a safe space for you to bring whatever is “up,” and to explore and integrate experiences, thoughts, and feelings to reduce suffering, deepen self-understanding, and create a more balanced and satisfying life.