About Jeannie Brown, PsyD
Hi! My name is Jeannie Brown, and I’m a licensed psychologist with a private psychotherapy practice in San Rafael, California, and an online therapy practice serving residents throughout California.
While the focus of my work is helping clients better understand themselves and create true healing and growth, people often want to know a little bit more about me, how I work, and why I’ve chosen this profession …
Like many people, I grew up in what may best be described as a dysfunctional family. However, despite some of the trauma that entailed, I didn’t set out to become a psychologist or psychotherapist.
I’ve come to this profession from a very diverse and creative background, including a career as a fashion designer. And I’ve done a lot of soul searching along the way.
I read a lot of books, attended a lot of groups, and was fortunate enough to have found a great therapist who I worked with for years.
It was the work this therapist and I did together, and how it helped change my life, that led me to helping others create the profoundly positive, lasting changes they desire and deserve.
So, after receiving a B.A. in Psychology from UC Berkeley, I went on to grad school and received my Doctorate from the California School of Professional Psychology.
I’ve also trained intensively and extensively in the neurobiology of trauma, as well as in mindfulness-based therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), EMDR, and Internal Family Systems (IFS Therapy) and parts work, and am currently working towards certification in both of the latter.
All of this is to say that I draw from a LOT of sources in my work with clients – my own personal experiences, as well as my years of experience helping clients, my years of grad school and professional training, and my ongoing self-education that I’ve been involved with for decades.
I don’t believe there’s a one-size-fits-all approach to therapy, and am ready and willing to use whatever therapy techniques are most effective during the course of our work together.
I’m also not one of those therapists who’s just going to sit there and listen.
I’ll laugh with you. I may cry with you. And I’ll provide lots of feedback and “homework” exercises, so you can continue to make progress towards achieving your goals outside of our work together.
Most of my clients have described me as being kind and warm, and many end up laughing with me during the course of our work together. I’m sure part of that is just my personality, but I’ve also found being able to appreciate life’s ironies and laugh at the lighter side of things helps to balance some of the heaviness of this work.
It’s all about the “state of play,” as being able to play is an important indication of our self-esteem and mental health.
Outside of my work as a therapist, I enjoy ________, _________, and ___________.
However, I’ve found few things in life that are more rewarding than helping people who feel traumatized, “broken,” guilty, or shamed to realize their own power to change the course of their lives and create that change they seek. I look forward to helping you do the same!
I encourage you to contact me today, schedule a free, initial phone consultation, and ask any questions you have. I look forward to meeting you … but the person you’re really about to meet is your Self!