Renee H. Tunkel
My name is Renee H. Tunkel, (I go by Hannah) a CA Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and transition guide who helps thoughtful, high-functioning adults navigate anxiety, burnout, trauma, grief, and major life transitions. Many of my clients have spent years being capable, responsible, and attuned to everyone else while feeling increasingly overwhelmed, disconnected from themselves, or uncertain about what comes next. Together, we make sense of the patterns beneath your distress with compassion and practicality. I integrate relational, somatic, mindfulness-based, attachment-informed, and trauma-informed approaches to help you understand how past experiences may be shaping your present emotions, relationships, choices, and nervous-system responses. Our work includes conversation, but does not stop at insight alone. We slow down enough to notice what is happening in your body, emotions, and relationships as it is happening, so that new understanding can become a more lived and durable change.
It is known that, "the body keeps the score," to quote Dr Bessel Van Der Kolk, meaning, the ultimate healing occurs at the body level.
My style is warm, grounded, and collaborative. I offer space for the complexity of what you are carrying, while helping you move toward meaningful change, greater self-trust, better relationships, and a life that feels more aligned, connected, and fully your own.
First session
Your first session is a chance for us to begin getting oriented together. We’ll talk about what brings you to therapy now, what feels most difficult, and what you hope might become different. I’ll ask about relevant history, relationships, current stressors, strengths, and any previous experience with therapy so I can understand the larger context of your life. You do not need to have a perfectly organized story or know exactly what you need. We will begin where you are. You will have space to ask questions, get a sense of how I work, and begin identifying an initial direction for therapy. My hope is that you leave feeling respected, understood, and a little clearer about what may help.
Strengths
My greatest strength is creating a space where clients can feel safe, understood, and met with compassion, presence, and inquiry that leads to insight. I listen closely for the patterns beneath what is being said, while staying attentive to what may be happening emotionally and in the body. I bring steadiness to difficult conversations and help clients move at a pace that respects both their readiness and their nervous system. I am especially skilled at helping people who have strong insight but still feel caught in anxiety, overthinking, people-pleasing, self-criticism, emotional shutdown, or repeating relationship patterns. I offer depth without losing sight of practical change. Together, we work not only to understand what is happening, but to develop clearer boundaries, greater emotional flexibility, and more trust in your own inner knowing.
Ideal clients
I work especially well with adults who are thoughtful, sensitive, and accustomed to holding a great deal together. You may be the reliable one at work, in your family, or in relationships, while privately struggling with anxiety, overthinking, burnout, grief, self-criticism, emotional shutdown, or a sense of being disconnected from your own needs. Many of my clients have already done considerable self-reflection, or even prior therapy, but still find themselves repeating patterns that no longer serve them. You may be navigating a relationship change, career uncertainty, family-of-origin concerns, trauma, or a larger life transition. I am a strong fit for people who want compassionate, depth-oriented therapy that also supports practical change: greater emotional steadiness, clearer boundaries, self-trust, and a more authentic way forward.
Treatment methods
Brainspotting
I have completed Levels 1 and will be getting level 2 training in Brainspotting, a trauma-informed approach that may be helpful when difficult experiences or emotional patterns feel hard to shift through conversation alone. When appropriate, I use focused attention, awareness of body sensations, and a supportive therapeutic relationship to help clients explore and process what is arising at a pace that feels safe and manageable. Brainspotting is always collaborative; clients remain in control of the pace and depth of the work.
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
I use an Internal Family Systems (IFS)-informed, parts-oriented approach to help clients understand the different aspects of themselves that may carry fear, self-criticism, urgency, protectiveness, or emotional pain. Rather than treating these reactions as problems to eliminate, we approach them with curiosity and compassion. This can help lessen internal conflict and support greater self-understanding, emotional flexibility, and choice.
Somatic
Somatic therapy recognizes that anxiety, stress, trauma, and emotion are experienced not only through thoughts, but also through the body. I help clients notice physical sensations, emotional cues, and nervous-system responses with care and without judgment. Through grounding, mindful awareness, and practical regulation skills, clients can learn to recognize overwhelm earlier, feel more connected to themselves, and respond with greater choice.
Mindfulness-Based Therapy
Mindfulness-based therapy helps clients develop a more spacious and compassionate relationship with thoughts, emotions, and habitual reactions. When it fits a client’s preferences and goals, I may incorporate brief mindfulness practices to support present-moment awareness and emotional regulation. This approach can be especially helpful for anxiety, self-criticism, overwhelm, and the tendency to react automatically under stress.
Integrative
I use an integrative approach, drawing from relational, attachment-informed, somatic, mindfulness-based, parts-oriented, emotionally focused, and trauma-informed methods according to each client’s needs and goals. Rather than applying one formula to everyone, we work collaboratively to find an approach that supports both meaningful insight and practical change. My work attends to mind, body, emotions, relationships, and the larger context of a person’s life. I use present-moment, experiential inquiry to help clients slow down and become more aware of what they are actually feeling, sensing, longing for, or avoiding. Rather than rushing to fix or explain experience, we stay curious about it together. This can support greater clarity, self-trust, meaning, and a more authentic relationship with yourself and your life.
Location
Virtual sessions
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Licensed in
- CaliforniaLicense 49316