Jared Michaels
About
I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Zen priest, and activist. I love being a psychotherapist. I’m always honored to be let into people’s lives and hearts, it makes me profoundly happy to help people heal and grow, and I am consistently inspired by how their growth makes the world a better place. Here’s the essence of what I do: I provide a deeply kind environment, which helps people’s inherent healing intelligence turn on.
How I Work
Psychotherapy is a profound way to heal and grow with the support of a good relationship. So I would try to form a strong, solid bond with you, and our connection would probably feel warm, grounded, and safe.
People naturally bloom with such a relationship. As we trust that we can be ourselves and not hold back, we gradually release stored painful emotions, transform self-limiting beliefs, discover our purpose in life, and realize that we are whole and beautiful.
How does Zen enter the picture? I am open to bringing spirituality into psychotherapy because it’s an incredibly helpful resource. At the same time, I deeply respect all worldviews and do not impose my beliefs on others. I have worked well for years with people from all walks of life.
My Practice
I exclusively see adults. I do some of my best work with trauma, including single-incident, childhood, and transgenerational. I frequently use a powerful, cutting-edge tool called EMDR, and I have completed the Attachment-Focused EMDR training from the Parnell Institute. I got my masters degree in Integral Counseling at California Institute of Integral Studies, and I’m ordained in the San Francisco Zen Center lineage.
My specialties include:
- Trauma
- Fear and shame
- Anxiety
- Low self-esteem
- Grief
- Major life transitions
- Life-purpose questioning
- Family therapy
- New parent adjustment issues
- Work/life imbalance
- Overwhelm about the state of the world
- Activist challenges
- Spiritual awakening and integration