Substance Use

LaTasha Smith

September 9, 2023 by LaTasha Smith

Therapy is successful when one feels heard, understood, and accepted. Regardless of circumstances, my priority is to help you feel comfortable enough to explore unfamiliar territory. My role is simply to guide you towards asking the hard questions, in becoming curious about your life and encourage you to explore new behaviors and ways of thinking. You and I will address your most immediate and important concerns, while also paying attention to underlying issues and reworking old behavioral patterns and ways of living that you feel are no longer helpful to you.

I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. I received a Master of Social Work degree from Loyola University Chicago and a PhD from Smith College School for Social Work. My experience is based on of post graduate training, professional experience and lived experience. My work has involved working with trauma survivors of all ages, as well as the conditions that are most commonly associated such as eating disorders, self injury, behavioral addictions (shopping, emotional eating, gaming etc.) and depression.

My mission is to help those who have experienced trauma rebuild from brokenness, thereby creating more meaningful lives and relationships. Although trauma is commonly associated with life threatening events, I use a broader definition in my work. I believe that any experience that has a negative impact and interferes with healthy functioning, can be traumatic. I am honored to walk alongside you in this journey.

Tessa Hernandez

January 13, 2023 by together@soulcentriccollective.com

Tessa is a bi-racial (Mexican-American), first-generation college student, mother. Her love for therapy began when she had a therapist help her through difficult family transitions. Her experience with the power of therapy and how unconditional positive regard can truly help a person grow is what drives her to serve in this way. Being able to witness a patient’s growth, resilience, and strength is truly a privilege for her. She is motivated to serve this way because everybody can benefit from some form of mental health services. She wishes to contribute to the normalization of people of all identities, socioeconomic statuses, and belief systems to be able to access affirming and affordable mental health care.

Tessa’s ideal patient is someone who is open to change, and collaboration, and interested in co-creating the therapy experience. She serves as a guide to help patients use their strengths to decide their goals and to understand what works best toward achieving their goals. Her aim is to provide patients a warm and nurturing environment that is free of judgment. Tessa has extensive experience working with the LGBTQIA+ community with a trauma-informed lens.

She wants patients to feel empowered during and after working with her. She wants them to be able to identify their unique qualities and strengths that were always there, but they may have just needed a little help seeing and experiencing them from within.

Jeremy Prillwitz

September 24, 2022 by together@soulcentriccollective.com

Hello there! My name is Jeremy Prillwitz, and I’m a Licensed Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LAADC).

I have worked as a harm reduction-based counselor for the past ten years, helping people make changes in their substance use.

Though I am trained and certified as a substance use counselor, I have trained and studied extensively in psychoanalytic technique and theory. Harm Reduction Psychotherapy is the holistic treatment philosophy I have embraced throughout my career, inspired by pioneers in the field such as G. Alan Marlatt, Patt Denning, Jeannie Little, and my personal mentor Dee-Dee Stout.

My eclectic approach also incorporates ancient Buddhist teachings, Motivational Interviewing, Attachment Theory and a wide range of psychoanalytic practice and theory.

If you are working with me, you are the expert on your life, and we are partners in finding what works best for you.

I was born and raised in Northern California, and am now centered in Sacramento after working as a harm reduction-based substance use counselor for nearly ten years at The Stonewall Project in San Francisco.

When I am not working, I am usually reading psychoanalytic literature and playing music. Before completing my education as a Licensed Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LAADC), I worked as a political reporter, political consultant and researcher. My MA and BA degrees are in Government. I practice meditation, and consider spirituality and compassionate action to be the heart of my existence.

Thomas Perkins

June 15, 2022 by Thomas Perkins

I specialize in empowering people who have experienced trauma, depression, and anxiety to access their innate resilience and healing which persist in spite of stressful life circumstances. It inspires me to make restorative connections with people built on mutual trust, safety compassion, and positive regard to get results, I combine trauma-focused and trauma-informed CBT with integrative mind-body practices, psychodynamic/psychoanalytic techniques, and Mindfulness breathwork, which together promote healing on a conscious and unconscious level.

My journey as a therapist started seven years ago during a nine year career as a high school teacher and interim dean of students. While I love children, I ultimately realized my true path lies in serving others in the clinical realm working with adults. I have always been passionate about nutrition, hiking, mental health, exercise/athletics, dreams, music, art, and spirituality, and like Carl Jung, I believe that it is who you are that heals rather than simply what you know.

An ideal patient for me is three-fold: you are a person who is committed to finding your true essence, you are interested in dreams and open to writing them down, and you are seeking to love yourself and others more compassionately. While dreams can be an important resource during therapy, they are not a prerequisite for working with me. I am privileged to be your fellow traveler, and I look forward to joining you on a path of self discovery.

Marissa Whorton

January 13, 2022 by Marissa Whorton

Are you experiencing critical thoughts or feeling that you’re not good enough? Have these thoughts started to cloud your sense of who you are and weigh you down?

I am here to help you put these painful thoughts to rest.

The burdens of tough experiences pile up and cause both an emotional and a physical toll. You may have noticed that not only are you feeling down, but your work and relationships are also suffering. When our feelings have not been sorted out, it is common to feel the weight of them and to feel stuck.

I view myself as a guide to walk side-by-side with you, supporting you with getting to know the parts of yourself that at times lead you to spiral as well as the parts of yourself that help you to thrive. Confidence, courage and connection are a few of the natural results of working mindfully to manage both what is pleasant and unpleasant.

As you learn to experience calm, it helps with resilience and continued self-discovery so that you enter into a sustainable relationship with yourself and those around you.

When you feel good on the inside, you radiate on the outside.

Click on the “web site” button to schedule a consultation so that we can learn more about one another. I’m excited to hear about the goals you have for yourself and explore ways I can help you to accomplish them.

Virtual Ongoing Harm Reduction Therapy Support Groups

July 14, 2021 by Cynthia Hoffman

These groups are designed to provide additional support for clients who have completed the 8-Week Harm Reduction Psycho-educational Group or have had previous experience with harm reduction therapy.

In this support group, we will go into a more in- depth exploration of substance use strategies, check-ins and goals. Everyone is encouraged to share their experiences with moderation of or abstinence from substance use.

On Wednesdays, group one from 5:30 to 7pm and group two from 7:10 to 8:30pm.

Psycho-educational Harm Reduction Therapy Group

July 14, 2021 by Cynthia Hoffman

The 8 week Introductory psycho-educational Harm Reduction Therapy group is for those who are new to Harm Reduction.

Group members will learn about the philosophy of harm reduction and help identify effective harm reduction techniques that work for them. They will also work to identify and help navigate the feelings are associated with alcohol and other drug use. CBT, DBT, self-compassion and mindfulness are used to teach coping skills. This group will implement modest goal setting and exploration around the ability to adhere to set goals.

Assessments are being scheduled now for the upcoming group.

Theresa Soltzberg

April 8, 2021 by Theresa Soltzberg

I am honored to support your healing and growth in the next phase of your personal development. No matter where you are in your life journey and what challenges have brought you to therapy, I believe that you have the inner resources and wisdom to move forward and realize your goals and potential. I am here to provide a safe and nurturing place for you to explore your internal world, relationships and whole self as you move forward.

I am a Marriage and Family Therapist Trainee currently completing the Master of Arts in Psychology – Holistic program at JFK University. I chose this program because I believe that growth depends on bringing together all aspects of who we are. We carry past wounds in our bodies and in the younger parts of ourselves that often did not have the words yet to make sense of our story. We can heal these parts of ourselves by paying attention to and accepting ourselves exactly where we are, and by using our creativity, imagination and higher selves to help navigate our inner world and change our everyday lives.

I offer a variety of tools and approaches based on what works for you and what fits you best. Some of the tools I’ve learned and have benefitted from personally include Hakomi, Internal Family Systems, narrative and writing, mindfulness, developmental trauma and attachment informed therapy, expressive arts therapy, movement, and ecopsychology. I work mainly with adults and young adults in life transition, bringing to my work over 20 years of experience in the field of corporate adult learning and development.

Congratulations on taking this next important step and may your journey bring you everything you need and want from life.

All Identity Adult Relational Growth Group

November 24, 2020 by Karla Amanda Brown

For accomplished adults who are ready to go from internal turmoil and suffering as the result of old wounds to thriving with internal safety and social confidence!

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to better understand your inner world and how to:

– slow down or completely stop being triggered & high jacked

– quiet the inner critic or inner perfectionist that sabotages your greatest efforts

– release yourself from the grip of stuck, stale and painful relationship patterns

This group uses Internal Family Systems (IFS) as a foundation for teaching about parts of your personality and exploring how they interact with each other. Group members will learn to recognize and identify those emotions, thoughts and reactions that create internal and external challenges throughout life. Sessions will include getting to know those parts of ourselves, and learning how to access the core qualities of a Self that is present within all of us.

With others, you will have an opportunity to:

– Work through discomfort and anxiety so that you can achieve the level of closeness and intimacy you desire

– Courageously connect with vulnerability and anger rather than engaging in avoidance and repression

– Experiment with expression of Self which will help you to increase assertiveness, self-confidence and calm

– Practice welcoming all of your parts while increasing presence, awareness and mindfulness

IFS is a powerful tool that can help you achieve greater well-being and balance by not only becoming more aware of these internal patterns, but by going toward them with curiosity and compassion to better understand and heal them.

Get to know your Self better, understand why you act the way you do, and develop a toolkit you can use to empower your sense of courage and creativity.

NEXT Step? Email our office to schedule a brief phone chat with Karla. We would be delighted to answer any questions you have about the group and support you with preparing for the learning and growing experience ahead.

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Jeremy Prillwitz

Marissa Whorton

Virtual Ongoing Harm Reduction Therapy Support Groups

Psycho-educational Harm Reduction Therapy Group

Theresa Soltzberg

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