Find a therapist in Oakland, CA — covered by insurance


Top therapists in Oakland, CA accepting new patients
Oakland's mental health landscape is evolving with growing access to talk therapy and medication management. Headway serves residents throughout the city, including Downtown Oakland, Piedmont Avenue, and Fruitvale, with providers available within two weeks. Work with your insurance to make mental healthcare affordable and accessible.
I’m a licensed therapist trained in somatic psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies. I work with individuals, couples, and men, supporting clients with anxiety (including social anxiety), depression, ADHD, relationship challenges, trauma, and life transitions. I also help people navigating loneliness, work-related stress, and cultural or identity-related experiences, including multiracial relationships. My goal is to help people better understand themselves, their patterns, and how they relate to others. I tend to be warm, down-to-earth, and collaborative, while also being direct when it’s helpful.
Hi, I'm Mark.
I work with adolescents, teens, young adults, and adults who struggle with anxiety, depression, anger, and relationships.
If you feel overwhelmed by emotions, we can face these challenges together with a good plan and the right tools. I have a lot of experience working with neurodiversity, anxiety, and self-harm.
Therapy can expand and strengthen your network of support, especially during difficult times. Reach out today--I'd love to answer any questions and share more.
For the past 20 years, I've worked across private practices, youth development centers, schools, and mental health clinics. My passion is to work with adults navigating major life transitions. Whether you are a college student or approaching retirement, my hope is to walk alongside you during this time of change and uncertainty; to help create the conditions for you to reconnect with your authentic self and remember what lights you up. We can explore ways to recognize and acknowledge your anxiety that moves beyond words. Incorporating expressive arts, guided imagery, and embodied exercises to help you strengthen your awareness with your emotions and rewrite old narratives.
I’m a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (NY & CA) with an MSW from NYU and a BA in Communications from Northwestern. With 14 years as a professional actor and teaching artist, I incorporate creativity into my eclectic therapeutic approach, which includes CBT, mindfulness, expressive arts, and psychodynamics. I specialize in supporting clients with anxiety, depression, identity exploration, relational challenges, and personal growth.
Anxiety and perfectionism have turned your mind into a battleground. Your inner critic nitpicks every interaction, leaving you exhausted by thoughts of “Damnit, why can’t I just be better!” Painful memories get louder, no matter how hard you try to ignore them. Daily invalidations of your Latina, queer, or immigrant identity sting, and you feel isolated as you keep your suffering to yourself. You’ve tried everything: doom scrolling, drinking, and self-help books, but nothing has worked. You're left feeling hopeless and weighed down.
Taking the step to seek out therapy can feel scary. You may even be wondering, "how can therapy help?" But feeling alone and overwhelmed with trying to "do it alone" simply isn't working. Welcome...I am so glad you're here. I offer a safe, warm, empathic space to explore what's going on in your life. I help people feel less alone and more able to move through their challenges by bringing curiosity, care and compassion to the work of therapy.
Life is a lot right now. Work stress, family stress, parenting stress, political stress, economic stress. Together, we will chart the path forward to help you feel more like yourself.
I have been a therapist (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) for 11 years and am constantly amazed at the resilience of the human spirit.
I am also an ICF-credentialed Associate Certified Coach (ACC). When appropriate, I'll integrate certain coaching frameworks with clients to support them towards their goals.
I have a deep commitment to seeing people flourish in relationship to themselves, and to others. For many of us, we have some sense of what makes relationships great and what makes them terrible. Knowing and experiencing what makes great relationships stronger, and what turns terrible relationships around, is where I can work alongside you. As someone who has been stepped in Attachment science, I love allowing for people to make more coherent sense of their internal world, to build or restore bonds with others.
Dr. Cristina LaFarre
Psychiatric Mental Health NP
Virtual & in-person • 7.2 mi away • San Francisco, CA
I'm an interactive bi-cultural somatic expressive arts therapist who brings a lot of joy to the work she does, creating safety to address challenges people face. I offer a unique blend of person-centered, humanistic, transpersonal-oriented somatic-based Expressive Arts therapy and energy practices in German and English. I welcome a variety of clients across cultures, ages, lifestyles, and sexual/gender orientations.
I’m a licensed therapist in San Francisco with over 15 years in private practice. I specialize in Eating disorders, body image and trauma and work primarily with adults who are exhausted by the cycle of restriction, compulsive eating, shame and self criticism and are ready for something to genuinely shift. My training includes, IFS, Somatic therapy, EMDR, CBT and Expressive Arts therapy, which means we will not only engage in supportive talk therapy, but also have real tools to work with. My clients often express that not only do they heal and find peace with food, disordered eating and body image, but they also become more able to feel and tolerate emotions and regulate moods, while building trust in their bodies and discover true hungers, desires and enhance creativity and vitality. This can lead to more ease and comfort in your own skin, with the potential of more meaningful work and healthy relationships.
I have found a calling that allows me to bring my full self – head, heart, and soul – to my work.
I found this calling after a fulfilling career in social services. In addition to working as a teacher, program manager, policy advocate, and peer counselor, I have also married, raised a family, coached youth sports, and pursued mindful self-care, creativity, and personal growth.
I earned my Bachelor’s in English from Harvard and my Master’s in Counseling Psychology from The Wright Institute.
About our therapists located within 20 miles of Oakland, CA



- 97%Anxiety
- 90%Stress management
- 90%Depression
- 87%Relationship issues
- 84%Trauma

- 92%Aetna
- 48%Anthem Blue Cross California
- 48%Providence Health Plan
- 44%Carelon Behavioral Health
- 35%Curative

- 96%English
- 15%Spanish
- 4%French
- 3%Hebrew
- 3%Hindi

- 89%In-person or online
- 11%In-person only

- 70%Woman
- 27%Man
- 4%Non-binary

- 58%Licensed Marriage/Family Therapist
- 19%Licensed Clinical Social Worker
- 11%Clinical Psychologist
- 8%Nurse Practitioner
- 4%Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor

- 99%Individual therapy
- 32%Child or adolescent therapy
- 25%Family therapy
- 16%Couples therapy
Frequently asked questions


Find the right therapist for you
Headway makes it easy to find support for your mental health — from finding the right provider, to understanding costs, to scheduling with ease.
Factors to Consider When Choosing a Therapist in Oakland
Searching for therapists in Oakland starts with knowing what kind of support you want from therapy. Oakland has a broad mental health care community, with therapists who work with concerns like anxiety, depression, relationship challenges, grief, trauma, and life transitions. As you compare options, look for therapists whose listed specialties, training, and approach match what you want to focus on. Their profiles can also show whether they use approaches like cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, or acceptance and commitment therapy.
Location and format can shape which therapist is the best fit for your schedule. In Oakland, you may prefer an office near Downtown Oakland, Temescal, Piedmont Avenue, Lake Merritt, or Fruitvale, especially if transit access or commute time matters. Virtual therapy can also make it easier to meet with a therapist whose availability fits your calendar. Before booking, review each therapist’s profile for appointment times, whether they offer a free phone consultation, session format, and how they describe their communication style.
Therapy in Oakland can be a significant expense without insurance. Using in-network insurance is one of the most reliable ways to reduce session costs and understand what you may pay before you start. Headway helps you find Oakland therapists who are accepting new patients, compare detailed bios, verify your insurance, and see estimated costs before booking. You can browse therapists, review fit, and book directly when you’re ready.
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