Joanne Rodriguez
I think of therapy as part detective work, part puzzle: laying out the pieces of a life and tracing the threads between things that never seemed connected until you see them side by side. I believe a good clinician is a moldable one, someone who adapts to the person in front of them rather than fitting people into a fixed approach. My work is collaborative, insight-oriented, and grounded in the belief that you are the expert on yourself. Together, we explore the patterns, stories, and relational blueprints that shaped how you see yourself and the world, and we work to rewrite the ones that no longer serve you. I work with individuals and couples across the lifespan, and I am proudly affirming of the LGBTQIA+, kink, and BDSM communities. I specialize in trauma, identity, depression, anxiety, relationships, and sexual health, and I bring the same nonjudgmental, culturally humble approach to every client I see. I also offer faith-integrated counseling for those who wish to bring spirituality into their healing. Whether you arrive ready to dive in or full of resistance, I'll meet you where you are. I am bilingual and bicultural, and I welcome clients who move between both languages and worlds.
I am bilingual and bicultural, and welcome clients who move between both languages and worlds.
First session
Our first session is not standard therapy, and intentionally so. We will spend our time together on intake and getting to know one another. I want to hear your story, understand what brought you in, and begin forming a sense of who you are and what you need. My goal is for you to leave feeling heard and like your story matters, with a sense of how I work and what our work together might look like. Behind the scenes, I am already beginning to tailor my approach to you specifically. The deeper processing and challenging work comes later. Our first session is simply about showing up and beginning.
Strengths
My greatest strength is adaptability. I do not have a one-size-fits-all method, I build my approach around each client, which is why I have rarely lost someone to a poor therapeutic fit. I can hold space for the client who is ready to do deep work and the one who arrives resistant, and I find something valuable in both. I work from a hybrid psychodynamic and narrative foundation, which means I am always looking beneath the surface, at the blueprints, patterns, and stories that were written long before you walked into my office. I bring curiosity, directness, and warmth to that process, and I treat what we uncover as something we make sense of together rather than something I diagnose at you. I am also particularly comfortable in the places other clinicians shy away from: sexuality, shame, identity, and the intersections of culture and mental health. Clients who have felt unseen or misjudged elsewhere often find this is a space where they can finally bring their full selves.
Ideal clients
I am best positioned to serve anyone who is ready to show up, whether that means diving in headfirst or arriving with resistance. A good clinician is a moldable clinician, and I pride myself on tailoring my approach to each individual I work with rather than fitting clients into a fixed method. I work with teenagers through elders, individuals and couples, and across the full spectrum of gender identity and expression, including transgender, non-binary, and gender-fluid clients. I am affirming and knowledgeable in my work with the LGBTQIA+ community and with clients navigating KINK and BDSM identities. My areas of strength include depression, anxiety, trauma, identity, relationship issues, codependency, attachment, sexual concerns, and the intersection of all of these. What matters most is that you are willing to be in the room. I'll meet you wherever you are.
Treatment methods
Narrative
Narrative therapy is central to my practice with individuals across the lifespan. I use externalizing techniques to help clients separate their identity from their struggles, and we explore the frameworks and relational influences that shaped their internal narratives, examining who instilled those stories and whether they still serve them. Through metaphor, imagery, and collaborative re-authoring, clients begin to rewrite their narratives in ways that align with who they truly are and who they want to become. I find this approach particularly powerful in work around identity, trauma, self-worth, depression, anxiety, internal conflict, codependency, and attachment. All treatment is grounded in trauma-informed care and approached with cultural humility, honoring each client's unique background, identity, and lived experience.
Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy sessions are offered as standalone, one-off experiences separate from traditional talk therapy. Using guided imagery and induction techniques, these sessions access the unconscious mind directly, giving it a voice and creating space for deep exploration. I use this modality for inner child work, parts work, and past life regression, as well as to gently address deeply seated behaviors that once served as coping mechanisms but may no longer be functioning in the client's best interest. All treatment is grounded in trauma-informed care and approached with cultural humility, honoring each client's unique background, identity, and lived experience.
Psychodynamic
Psychodynamic theory and attachment theory serve as core foundations of my practice, often used together and woven into a hybrid approach. I explore clients' childhood dynamics and early relational experiences to understand the frameworks and blueprints that were formed, examining who shaped those patterns and how attachment styles developed as a result. From there, we look at how those blueprints and attachment patterns are showing up in their present-day lives, relationships, and behaviors. By making these unconscious cycles visible and tracing them to their origins, clients develop a deeper understanding of themselves and the dynamics they find themselves in, particularly around relationship issues, codependency, and interpersonal conflict. I apply this lens across all my work, regardless of presenting concern. All treatment is grounded in trauma-informed care and approached with cultural humility, honoring each client's unique background, identity, and lived experience.
Solution Focused Brief Treatment
I incorporate solution-focused therapy primarily in the middle to later phases of treatment, with both individuals and couples. Rather than centering the problem, I help clients identify solutions they have already used successfully in the past and explore how those strategies can be adapted and applied to their present-day challenges. With couples in particular, this approach helps shift the dynamic from gridlock to possibility, building momentum toward meaningful change. All treatment is grounded in trauma-informed care and approached with cultural humility, honoring each client's unique background, identity, and lived experience.
Sex Therapy
I bring sex-therapy techniques into my work through psychoeducation and destigmatization, with both individuals and couples. A significant part of this work involves addressing shame, particularly for clients navigating KINK and BDSM identities and practices. I also work with clients presenting concerns around compulsive sexual behavior, often labeled as 'sex addiction' or 'porn addiction.' Rather than pathologizing these behaviors, I use psychoeducation and normalizing techniques to explore the underlying issues driving them, whether personal, emotional, or relational. I often use the metaphor: if sex were golf and a partner was upset about excessive play, the real question is never about the golf itself. It's about what the golf represents and what is being left unaddressed. This framework helps clients and couples move past shame and into the real work. All treatment is grounded in trauma-informed care and approached with cultural humility, honoring each client's unique background, identity, and lived experience.
Location
Virtual sessions
In-person sessions1070 Concord Ave, Concord, CA 94520, ste 105
Identifies as
Top specialties
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Licensed in
- CaliforniaLicense 155357