Where I walk
Walking sessions in Berkeley
Hill paths, fire trails and the long view west, a format that suits people who think while moving.
Berkeley has one of the best networks of walkable public paths of any city in the Bay Area. Between the hill path system, the regional parks along the ridge and the flat routes near the water, there is nearly always a route that matches the energy someone actually has on a given day. That flexibility is the practical reason walking therapy works well here.
Sessions run for fifty-three minutes. We agree a meeting point beforehand, usually a park entrance or trailhead you can reach without a stressful drive, and we walk and talk from there. You set the pace, including the pace of the conversation. Some sessions cover ground steadily. Others involve stopping at a bench for a stretch because something needed proper attention. Both are the work.
A lot of the people I see in Berkeley are students, recent graduates and young professionals sitting on decisions that feel enormous: whether to finish the degree, whether to stay in the relationship, whether the career they have been building since nineteen is one they actually want. Others are parents in the early years, or teenagers who have made it very clear they are not interested in another room with another adult asking about their feelings. Walking sidesteps a surprising amount of that resistance.
The academic culture here has its own weather. Perfectionism, imposter feelings and burnout show up constantly, often in people who are objectively doing extremely well and privately convinced they are about to be found out. That gap between external evidence and internal experience is worth taking seriously, and it rarely responds to reassurance. It responds to understanding where the standard came from and who set it.
On privacy: outdoor sessions take place in public space. I pick quieter routes and times where I can, and we keep away from crowded pavements, but I will not pretend a trail offers the same acoustic containment as a closed room. That is a real trade-off, and it should be an informed choice rather than a surprise. Berkeley's weather adds a second practical note: from late autumn through spring, rain will occasionally make a route unworkable, and we move that week's session to video.
There is no office and therefore no street address. Everything is arranged directly with you, and telehealth covers anyone located elsewhere in California, whether that is a Berkeley student home for the summer or someone who has moved out of the area mid-treatment.