Patricia Alsup, Ph,D.
Petaluma, California
VerifiedTelehealth Available
Professions: Creative Arts Therapist, Clinical Psychologist
Languages: English
Telephone: 530-629-5250
My Approach to Therapy
Humanistic Psychology is based on a positive view of the psyche, and mental illness is often seen as a call from the psyche to pay attention, to become more mindful, and to be willing to listen to your own heart's desire to change and to heal. I profoundly enjoy working with people in an accepting and non-judgmental way that helps them actualize their potentials for healing and for being the very best that they can be. I work with people to "wipe the fog off of the mirror of self-reflection" as they learn to see themselves more clearly. As your psychotherapy proceeds, we work to create a safe relationship through which you can experience unknown or even feared aspects of your personality. We explore possible adjustments in your behaviors, habits, thinking, and emotional processing to improve your life, increase happiness and self-efficacy, and deepen self-love; and we will explore how you can make these changes.
My Practice & Services
People coming to my home-based psychotherapy practice--Humanistic Healing--find the environment very comforting and relaxing. It is a safe and protective place to build creative, trusting relationships within which to heal emotionally, psychologically, cognitively, creatively, and spiritually. You are welcome to work with me on any area of your life that needs your own loving, courageous attention.
Specific Issue(s) I'm Skilled at Helping With
"Be a Bitch, Build a Boundary." Please excuse my french, as the saying goes. I use this affirmation to help women remember that learning to create good personal boundaries after a lifetime as a pleaser feels like you are becoming a selfish, heartless human being. You may seem to be losing all of your former graces and the qualities that made you a "really nice person," such as deeply warm compassion for others, and an uncanny sense of how to make people happy. My own children told me when I began to change, "Mama, you used to be nice." I know the pains of changing such a deeply entrenched way of being in the world, and the joys that such deep inner work brings. You are no longer a victim of your own knee-jerk reaction to create and maintain harmony at any cost when you learn to say, "No," if you need to, or "Yes," if you decide to.
What I Love about Being a Psychotherapist
I love working with someone in a non-pathologizing manner as they grow from being frightened and ungrounded to becoming a person of courage and honesty. I get to see the very best in people, witness their vulnerabilities, help them give voice to their weaknesses, and to find comfort and healing in their strengths. I love witnessing and supporting people as they find their way home to their own best self.
Expertise & Specialties
Age Groups I Work With
TeensAdultsElders
Groups I Work With
Currently, I am working out of my home, and I use audio-visual means to talk to my clients. If you are not familiar with telehealth and talking to a therapist through the phone alone or through the audio-visual program, please call me and I can explain it to you. Once you get used to using these methods, it can be almost as good as seeing me in person. This way of meeting through telehealth is necessary to stay safe during the Covid-19 pandemic. When it is over we will all celebrate our freedom. May you and yours be safe and stay healthy.
Therapy Services & Specialties
Concerns & Challenges Addressed
Adjusting to Change / Life TransitionsAging and Geriatric IssuesAnxietyChronic PainCommunication ProblemsControl IssuesCreative BlocksDepression
Therapeutic Approaches & Evidence-Based Methods
Creative Art TherapyDepth TherapyDreamworkGottman MethodHumanistic Psychology (humanism)Journal TherapyJungian PsychotherapyMindfulness-Based Interventions
Industries & Communities
Union First