Betsy Kassoff, PhD

Congratulations on your search for more meaning, more health, more intimacy, or a more vibrant life! I have been a psychologist for over thirty years and am grateful every day to do this work. I have been doing it long enough that I am good at what I do, and know what I can't do. I like to meet with people and assess together whether we are a good fit. I am direct, perceptive, intuitive, and straightforward. I have worked with many different kinds of people with different kinds of problems over the years and especially enjoy working with couples, women, therapists, people from minority cultures or orientations, and people who want to use the therapy relationship to heal. For people who are interested, I also do psychoanalysis, which is a more intensive form of therapy multiple times per week. I am a mother of an adult child, a lesbian, a gardener, and a long-term resident of San Francisco. Give me a call if you feel I might be a fit.

I also teach at various graduate programs and community mental health clinics, write poetry and professional articles, and read deeply in a number of subjects. I'm always happy to make book recommendations, but I've learned there are many ways to learn other than books! Feminism, social justice, and gender issues also inform my work. Mindfulness and spirituality are ways of being that I am happy to discuss and share if wanted.

I'm quite good at assessing quickly, creating a plan, and being transparent. I don't have magical powers, but I can talk about the variables that affect an outcome and dialog with you about your openness to trying different things.

I strongly encourage you to follow your intuition regarding whether you connect with a therapist. I encourage people to choose a few people and meet with all of them to have some options. Across all psychotherapy research, the experience of the therapist and the relationship with the therapist are the most positive predictors of a good therapy experience. Whether or not they are trained in various modalities with multiple initials is not necessarily important unless that is a consideration for you.