Creatively applying psychoanalytical theories and principles to somatic practice
“Psychotherapy has to do with two people playing together” (Winnicott)
I offer Somatic Psychotherapy (body-centered psychotherapy) as well as problem-solving Brief Therapy (MRI) and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) in Berkeley and San Francisco. I work as an MFTi (registered Marriage and Family Therapist intern, IMF # 70291) under the supervision of psychoanalyst and somatic psychologist Dr. John Conger (PSY 4778). I am very grateful to John Conger for all his support in my own personal growth and my professional development as a therapist. He has always modeled for me what is now most important for me in being a therapist: to be real. And it is my goal to help my clients feel real and come into their own true self.
Prior to starting my private practice, I worked at the Liberation Institute, a Community Mental Health Clinic, in San Francisco, and prior to that, at the Center for Somatic Psychotherapy in San Francisco.
I see individuals, couples, families and children. I work with all kinds of issues, the most common being anxiety, depression, developmental trauma, PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), eating disorders, bi-polar disorder, grief, issues concerning spirituality, relationships, immigration, career, etc.
In addition to "talk therapy", I use body-centered approaches. I draw mostly from Analytic Somatic Therapy™, as developed by John Conger, Reichian Therapy, Analytical Psychology, and Bioenergetics. The five foundations of Analytic Somatic Therapy are grounding, boundaries, breath, range of emotion, and intention to be here. I also like to work with dreams.
I am an advanced trainee in Analytic Somatic Therapy™/Bioenergetic Analysis, working toward my certification as a Bioenergetic Analyst. I was supervised for a year by prominent Bioenergetic Analyst Eleanor Greenlee. I am also training in Rosen Method Bodywork at the Rosen Center in Berkeley and am close to finishing up the Level 1 training. Rosen Method is a form of bodywork that works with emotions and the body. Additionally, I have been taking workshops in Somatic Practice with Kathy Kain, an approach which focuses on releasing trauma in the body. Somatic Practice, as I understand it, works with all body layers, muscles, bones, nerves, fascia, etc. and is focused on resonance between client and practitioner.
I've had a long-term passion for body-oriented approaches to psychotherapy and have, for my own personal growth and professional development, studied many modalities including Reichian Psychotherapy (Orgone Therapy), Rubenfeld Synergy Method, Gestalt therapy, Holotropic Breathwork, Jungian Dreamwork, Feldenkrais, Alexander Technique, Tai Chi (with Chungliang Al Huang), to only name a few.
I hold two Masters degrees, one in Somatic Psychology from California Institute of Integral Studies and the other in Science of Communication from the University of Arts in Berlin, Germany. I've had a twenty-year long career in learning and leadership development, and career coaching.
I am certified in systemic therapy, coaching and consulting (by Systemic Association, Berlin, Germany). I have extensively trained in Brief Therapy at the Mental Research Institute (MRI) in Palo Alto with Paul Watzlawick, Richard Fisch (1998-2002) and others and in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy at the Brief Family Therapy Center with Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg (2003-2005). I have had a total of 8 years of experience working in the field of psychotherapy and counseling.
I am fluent in German, my native language, and conversant in Spanish and French.
I provide invoices which you can submit to your insurance company for potential reimbursement. I am an out-of-network provider, and my clients tell me that their PPO insurance plans cover most, if not all, of the therapy.
Please email me at monika@somaticsclinic.com or call me via my Google Voice number (650) 898-7734 to schedule a session. Please note that I have a 24-hour cancellation policy.
Check out my Psychology Today Profile!
Monika S. Broecker
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