(she/her)
My name is pronounced ahn-KEE-tha and I use she/her pronouns. I’m a queer woman of color and the eldest daughter of Indian immigrants, raised in the Midwest and living on unceded Ohlone land in the Bay Area for over a decade. I have my BA in Psychology and Gender Studies from the University of Michigan and my MSW from UC Berkeley. I’ve been a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in CA since 2020.
In our first session, I intend to meet you with an invitation to "arrive" in your own time and at your own pace. By this I mean you are welcome to share what is on your heart and mind to the degree that feels comfortable for you. I will offer reflections, observations, and questions, and possible pathways for going forward. It is an opportunity for you to feel into "fit," or the therapist-client match, name what you are hoping for in your therapy, and share any past experiences of healing you have had that inform where you are now.
I work in a way that is relational and depth-oriented, carefully attuning to you, your process, and the present moment. My work is informed by psychodynamic and contemplative traditions, somatic therapy, and parts-based approaches. At the core, I see you as a whole and complex person, with your own wisdom and capacity for healing. My role is to accompany and support you as you deepen the self-awareness that shapes your choices and your life.
I offer depth psychotherapy for BIPOC, queer, and/or highly sensitive people. My practice affirms queer and trans identities, nontraditional relationships, immigrants and children of immigrants, artists, activists, and those navigating complex trauma. We may process trauma and grief, explore relationship patterns and navigate conflict, work with anxiety or depression through a nervous system lens, strengthen boundaries and self-trust, and reintegrate forgotten or buried aspects of your identity.
Compassion Focused
Meeting you with compassion is foundational to my role. This means I offer reflections that might reframe a more judgmental or critical view, especially toward yourself. I fundamentally believe we are all doing our best, and bringing a compassionate context to our challenges can be a practice in self-love and love for others.
Culturally Sensitive Therapy
I believe cultural sensitivity is necessary to building trust and safety in any relationship, and therapy is no exception. I humble myself to learn about you, your cultural identities, and how they shape and influence your life. And I offer what feels true and authentic from my lived experiences as well. I hope to contribute to therapeutic environment in which you have a chance to relax into your multiple identities and feel known within them and beyond.
Psychodynamic
My post-graduate work was in a private practice setting for two and a half years training in an intensive relational psychodynamic program. Psychodynamics point to what is under the surface, acknowledging that our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs are formed not within a vacuum, but influenced by the relationships we had and have. This modality sees the therapeutic relationship as the primary vehicle for change, and honors depth, connection, and attending to the relationship as sacred.
Mindfulness-Based Therapy
I have eight years of training in vipassana, or insight, meditation in the Buddhist Theravada tradition. I have completed a Buddhist Psychology training program which integrates Western psychological concepts with Eastern spirituality. My mindfulness practice strengthens my ability to remain present with what is arising in session and invite in heightened awareness of bodily sensations, emotions, and thoughts. This in turn allows for deeper understanding of oneself and creates pathways for self-soothing, self-care, and insight.