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Therapy in Russian · San Diego & California

Therapy in the language you think in.

You can describe a problem in English. Feeling it is another matter. If Russian is the language of your childhood, your family or your arguments, therapy can happen in it: in person in San Diego, or online anywhere in California.

Who comes

One language, many countries

Russian is shared by people with very different histories. You may have come from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Baltics or Israel. It may be your first language, or the one your parents speak at home while you answer in English.

I don’t assume your story from your language. I ask. What Russian gives us is a faster way in: the idioms, the family roles and the things nobody says out loud need less explaining.

Where

San Diego in person, California online

Sessions are in person in San Diego, or online for clients located anywhere in California.

Online sessions work the same way for someone in Los Angeles, Orange County, the Bay Area or Sacramento as for someone ten minutes away. The one legal requirement is that you are in California while we meet.

Why it matters

What changes in a first language

I spent fifteen years as an interpreter before training as a therapist, and I hold degrees in social psychology and linguistics. The gap between what a person says and what they mean was my job long before it was my clinical interest.

In a second language people tend to sound more reasonable and feel less. In a first language the feeling arrives with the words. Therapy in Russian lets you say обида or тоска without first hunting for an English word that almost fits.

Related reading: arguing in a second language.

What we can work on

Common reasons people reach out

  • Recurring conflict or distance in a relationship: couples therapy, Gottman Method Levels 1 and 2 trained
  • Anxiety, overwhelm and major transitions: individual therapy
  • Parents and children growing up in different cultures under one roof: family therapy
  • Emigration, homesickness and starting over: therapy for immigrants and expats
  • Couples where one partner’s first language is Russian and the other’s is English

По-русски

Информация на русском

Я веду приём на русском и английском языках: очно в Сан-Диего и онлайн по всей Калифорнии. Подробности о том, как я работаю и с чего начать, есть на русской странице.

Questions

FAQ about therapy in Russian

Can the whole session be in Russian?
Yes. Sessions can be entirely in Russian, entirely in English, or move between the two. Many people start in one language and find the other arriving when the subject changes.
Where are you located?
Sessions are in person in San Diego, or online for clients located anywhere in California.
I live in Los Angeles or the Bay Area. Can we work together?
Yes, online. I see clients by video anywhere in California, including Los Angeles, Orange County, the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento. In-person sessions are in San Diego.
I live in another state. Can we work together?
No. I can only work with clients who are physically located in California at the time of the session.
Are you a психолог?
In Russian, психолог is the everyday word for anyone you talk to about your inner life. In California, “psychologist” is a separate license. I am a Marriage and Family Therapist Trainee: a clinician completing a graduate degree who sees clients under the supervision of a licensed therapist. More on what that means.
My partner doesn’t speak Russian. Can we still come?
Yes. With couples and families where one person speaks Russian and another doesn’t, sessions run in the shared language, and I can follow what gets said in the other one.

Next step

Find the words. Start with a short, free call.

English or Russian, your choice. No pressure and no commitment.

Book a free consultation