Registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist #163450
Depth-Oriented Psychotherapist
Psychodynamic, trauma-informed, and culturally attuned
Stef Palumbo, AMFT
MY APPROACH
I believe that every person has an inner source of wisdom, resilience, and direction. Throughout my work as a psychotherapist, I have seen that people are often stronger than they realize - not because life has been easy, but because they possess inner resources that can be cultivated, trusted, and strengthened.
Many of us lose connection with our authentic selves. Sometimes this happens through painful experiences, family expectations, relationships, cultural pressures, or simply the demands of modern life. Yet reconnecting with who we truly are is one of the most meaningful and transformative journeys we can undertake.
I work with adults, couples, and families seeking greater clarity, deeper relationships, and a stronger sense of Self. Together, we explore patterns, beliefs, emotions, and experiences that may be limiting growth while creating space for new understanding and possibilities to emerge.
One of the great paradoxes of modern life is that external success does not guarantee inner well-being. A person may have a successful career, the “right” relationships, or financial stability and still experience loneliness, anxiety, grief, conflict, or a sense that something is missing. Human suffering does not discriminate based on circumstance, and therapy offers a space to meet these experiences with curiosity, compassion, and honesty.
My role is to help clients gain insight about themselves, speak wisely and well about what matters most—their desires, fears, values, relationships, and aspirations. Through this process, greater self-awareness, wholeness, and freedom become possible.
Opening new pathways toward understanding, growth, and well-being is not only my commitment to clients—it is one of the greatest honors of my profession.
I work from a depth-oriented perspective, listening for unconscious patterns, emotional themes, and the influence of past experiences on present-day life. Drawing from Jungian, psychodynamic, somatic, family systems, trauma-informed, and evidence-based approaches, I offer an integrative style of therapy that attends to the mind, body, and spirit.
Feel free to send me an email if you are interested. I offer a complimentary 20-minute consultation call to determine if we are a fit.
“My job is to listen for unconscious material. And how the past might be highjacking your experience in present life.”
MY CREDENTIALS
I received a Master’s Degree in Clinical Counseling with an Emphasis in Depth Psychology and Marriage and Family Therapy from Pacifica Graduate Institute.
I completed my clinical training at Maple Counseling in Beverly Hills, where I worked with children, families, and parents, and at Liberation Institute in San Francisco, where I provided telehealth therapy to adults and couples.
My work is grounded in depth-oriented and Jungian psychology, with a special interest in intercultural relationships and identity. My published thesis research: The Globalization of Love: Culture, Identity, and the Future of Mating.
I am trained in Brainspotting (BSP), a brain-based modality that accesses and processes trauma held in the subcortical brain. My trauma-informed work also draws from Somatic Experiencing, Inner Child Work, and Internal Family Systems (IFS), integrating attention to the emotional, somatic, and relational dimensions of healing. I am also a Certified Jungian Coach through the C.G. Jung Centre. In my work with children and families, I have training in Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT). Through mentorship I have additional experience in Shamanic Hypnotherapy and Inner Journey Work.
In couples therapy, I draw from Relational Life Therapy (Terry Real) and the Gottman Method, offering a balanced approach that supports deeper pattern understanding and meaning, relational repair and the development of practical skills.
Across all of my work, I integrate a continuous dialogue with the unconscious, Gestalt therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Family Systems theory, and depth-oriented practices such as dreamwork, active imagination, sandplay, and shadow work.
—
As a third-culture kid raised in a multilingual home and through my experience living internationally as an adult, I bring a nuanced understanding of identity, belonging, and intercultural relationships into my clinical work.
—
My prior career was in startups, as a SaaS founder myself, which gives me a grounded understanding of the business, career, and entrepreneurial aspects of clients’ lives. This experience informs my work with high performers, founders, and professionals navigating ambition, stress, and meaning.