Therapy with Garen
Hello, fellow human. I'm a pre-licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and provide psychotherapy to California residents, including adults, couples, and families.
If you’ve made it here,
you’re probably looking to make a change...
Perhaps you’re carrying so much pain and you can’t imagine carrying it any further.
Or you recognize that you’ve lost the capacity to love, and you’re looking to feel again.
Perhaps this is your calling to finally come home, and to grieve in the presence of another human.
We have many words for this kind of pain.
‘Trauma’ is the modern psychology word for it. ‘Colonial oppression’ is how liberation psychology may talk about it.
Soul wounding, or the disconnection from our own being, is how spiritual-based traditions understand trauma.
Soul Wounds are the result of violence against deserving to be loved.
We often think of trauma as a car accident or a sudden death. However, we forget about trauma as the painful wounding from early emotional neglect.
When we are not provided the opportunity to tend to these wounds, we enact harm on ourselves, on each other and on our planet.
slowing down and trusting what’s happening between us with compassionate curiosity.
It’s moving beyond the separateness and disconnection from ourselves, each other, the land and our ancestors. In Ram Dass’s words, it’s the act of walking each other home.
Soul Work, in this sense, is the process of…
“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.”
- Carl R. Rogers
Who Am I?
I’m a queer first-generation Armenian-American living on unceded Ohlone land, also known as the Bay Area. 'Garen' (he/him) is the name of the indigenous homeland of my paternal ancestors on the Armenian Highlands, occupied by Turkey. I’m currently an associate at Queer LifeSpace, a SF-based community mental health clinic serving LGBTQIA+ members.
I'm naturally empathetic and attuned to those around me. I value my own curiosity, and I help foster the same curiosity in others to facilitate their self-awareness & self-acceptance.
I graduated from the California Institute of Integral Studies with a Masters in Counseling Psychology. My research focuses on intergenerational resilience and the importance of ancestral grief work.
‘Garen’ Pronunciation
Why Am I Qualified?
I embarked on a personal journey to make meaning of ‘being’ human.
On this journey, I came across the contemplative practices of Vipassana, Zazen, yoga and collaborative inquiry.
I volunteered as a crisis counselor at the San Francisco Suicide Prevention, and worked with individuals facing the painful reality of suicidality, grief & loss, loneliness and substance use.
My queerness in the context of a traditional, insular Middle Eastern culture provides me with a unique lens of the outsider and the insider, simultaneously.
How Do I Work?
I take an integrative approach, combining Western psychotherapy with Buddhist-based mindfulness practices.
Rather than focusing on eliminating symptoms (including anxiety, depression, substance abuse, poor concentration, etc), we slow down & bring curiosity to these adaptive responses.
We honor that at one point, these responses were highly intelligent, yet we recognize the pain they cause in the present.
I work within a liberation psychology model.
This model brings attention to all the ways oppressive systems (incl. white supremacy, colonialism, patriarchy) have structured our lives, our bodies, & our psyches.
Together, we listen to what your soul is trying to express, all while examining the ways these systems show up between you & me.
Does this resonate with you?
Who Do I Work With?
I work with all human beings who are seeking to make meaning of ‘being’ human.
I specialize working with queer individuals, adults exploring the expansiveness of their gender and sexuality, immigrants, refugees, first generation folks and those living with disabilities, visible or invisible.
I also specialize in couples therapy, focusing on couples who are ready to work through communication and navigate relationship anxiety.
I accompany souls who are searching for their long-lost homes.
I credit much of the language and philosophy here to my peer Daniel Young.
My Rates
Individual Sessions (50 minutes) - $175
Relationship Session (75 Minutes) - $260
Relationship Session (90 Minutes) - $315
I believe strongly in the power of meeting weekly when we're starting out.
Insurance
If you wish to use your insurance to help with the cost of therapy, I will provide a monthly superbill for you to submit to your insurer for reimbursement. I am considered an out-of-network provider. Most PPO plans will provide some reimbursement for out-of-network mental healthcare, but I recommend checking with the member services department for your specific plan in advance.
Please contact me & we can talk about this further: therapywithgaren@gmail.com
