(415) 890-3815
TELEHEALTH PSYCHOTHERAPY
Contact me today for a free 15 minute consultation. New client inquires please email ambermercader@gmail.com
AMBER N. MERCADER
Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist
She/Ella/Siya
A BIT ABOUT THERAPY
Healing is attainable.
I believe that healing is possible. I believe that everyone deserves consensual loving relationships. I believe that therapy is an excellent tool to help you integrate wellness into your life. I believe that being your therapist is an honor and a privilege as I walk with you on your journey.
I believe that through building a trusting therapeutic relationship, we will be able to explore your core beliefs, extract your inner hopes and dreams, begin to address potential barriers such as self-doubt and fear, and bring deeper awareness to your inner experience. Together we will draw on your strengths to guide us through any areas you feel "stuck" and begin to make shifts. It is my goal to always provide culturally-humble, quality, trauma-informed, strengths centered, collaborative, and client-centered psychotherapy.
My approach is psychodynamic and I integrate interventions of Somatic therapy, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Mindfulness, and support around helping client recenter ancestral connections.
I have advanced training supporting clients that identify with the LGBTQI+ Community, Addiction & Recovery community, Women of Color, Activist communities, Kink communities, Poly/NonMonogamous Communities, and Spiritual communities. I have experience and training in supporting those who experience trauma and oppression in its many forms.
A BIT ABOUT ME
"I am my best work- a series of road maps, reports, recipes, doodles, and prayers from the front lines" - Audre Lorde
A Queer Woman of Color Psychotherapist providing Individual, Partnership, and Family Psychotherapy.
Since I was young, I knew I wanted a career path that would make a difference in people’s lives. This grew into my passion for teaching, to which I became a preschool teacher for 7 years. I loved supporting young people and their families through their learning and development and I realized I wanted to support people in a much deeper way! It is from this love of teaching and learning that I began my transition into psychotherapy work.
As someone who is born and raised in the Bay Area, I understand the importance of intersections of my identity on how I view the world and my responsibility to affect positive change. I hold a strong connection to my heritage and my identity as a Mexican and Filipino Queer femme and the healing traditions they offer into my work. Ancestral connections, plant medicine, and healing through re-centering around indigenous medicine has been a profound tool for me during my own healing journey and has sustained my work in community. I believe these intersections allow me to bring my passion for wellness and healing, my commitment to social justice & equity, my love for community, and dedication to teaching to my work as a therapist. I believe that trauma is inherently political and being able to hold its complexity is key to healing.
I truly care for all of my clients and work hard to help find them find the answers they seek.
Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist #107982
Audre Lorde
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
SERVICES I OFFER
INDIVIDUAL THERAPY
Depression & Anxiety
Grief & Loss
Size Acceptance/HAES
Work Life Stress
Sex Industry
Gender Expansive Issues
Sex & Relationships
Kink
Traumas
Addictions
Oppression Experience
Deepening Spiritual Connection
COUPLES THERAPY
Communication & Connection
Safety & Trust
Intimacy & Sex
Polyamory & Consent
Queer Couple Support
Pre-marital Support
Parenting Issues
Intentional Uncoupling
Relational Skills Building
FAMILY THERAPY
Family Loss
Chronic Illness
Blended Family Issues
Separation & Divorce
Identity Transition Support
Family Stress
Building Intentional Connection
Limits & Boundary Support
Adoption & Foster Support
TRAINING
PROFESSIONAL
Clinical Supervisor (Contracted): Homeless Children's Network SF, 2023 current
Queer and Trans Internal Family Systems (QTIFS) Foundations, Dr. Sand Chang & Nic Wildes, LMHC 2023
Somatic Embodiment & Regulation Strategies, Linda Thai 2021
Adjunct Faculty: Community Mental Health Clinical Psychology MA @ The California Institute of Integral Studies Summer 2020
EFT and Queer Couples-Queer Couples Center SF: Brendan Hall, 2017
Supporting Families of Color in Community Mental Health Consultation Group with Sandra Schueling, 2017
Supporting Foster Youth of Color in Community Mental Health Consultation Group with Satwinder Mahabir, Hayward, CA 2016
Supporting Queer & Transgender Youth Consultation Group with Tracy Davis, Hayward, CA 2016
Harm Reduction and Recovery within Opiate treatment with Isaac Burns, San Francisco, CA 2013
Somatics and Social Justice Training: Generative Somatics with Staci Haines, Oakland, CA 2011
Sexual Assault Survivors Support Training & Crisis Counseling with San Francisco Women Against Rape 2010 Ongoin
EDUCATION
Masters in Counseling Psychology, Community Mental Health at California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA 2013
Bachelors of Arts at San Francisco State University Major: Psychology, Minor: Human Sexuality, San Francisco, CA 2011
CONTACT ME
Contact me today for a free 15 minute consultation.
New client inquiries please email ambermercader@gmail.com
Oakland, CA
Due to Covid-19, sessions will be conducted online until further notice.
(415) 890-3815
CANCELLATION POLICY
I require one week notice for cancellations.
If there is an unplanned cancellation, I will do my best to provide you open day/times that our session can be rescheduled during that week. Open days/times to reschedule are not guaranteed. As per your signed therapy agreement, if we cannot reschedule our session, then full payment of session is required. Emergencies (illness, hospitalizations, etc) are exceptions to this policy. You may email or leave a voice message of any scheduling issues.
Good Faith Estimate ( GFE)
As of January 1, 2002, under Section 2799B-6 of the Public Health Service Act you have the right to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” explaining how much your medical care will cost with any of your medical providers. If you are planning to pay for services yourself and would like a Good Faith Estimate from me at any time during our work together, please ask. We will review this GFE anytime there is an adjustment to fees in the future.
To be clear, I request payment at the time of therapy services, so you should not receive a bill from me unless you have not paid for a service when rendered. You will also be given and will need to sign a clear confirmation of my fees (session fee, cancellation fees, and any fees associated with your treatment such as lawyer consult, etc.) in your informed consent forms when we begin working together. However, if you were to receive a bill that is at least $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate, the law states you can dispute the bill. Make sure to save a copy or picture of your Good Faith Estimate. For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises
Please feel free to contact me with any additional questions you may have.