Pavi Sandhu
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As a psychotherapist in private practice, I help individuals and couples struggling with depression, anxiety, drug or alcohol dependence, relationship challenges, or career concerns. I also work with clients on issues of trauma, grief, meaning, personal growth, and creativity. My experience includes:
  • Therapy with adults, couples, families, and children at New Perspectives Counseling Center, a non-profit agency in San Francisco.
  • Individual and group therapy at Walden House, a residential treatment center in San Francisco. Worked with adults having a dual diagnosis of substance abuse and a severe mental health condition such as major depression, ADHD, PTSD, schizophrenia, or borderline personality disorder. 
  • Trained in multiple modes of treatment including psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and somatic approaches.
  • MA in counseling psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA. 
  • Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT license #103288). 

​Prior to training as a therapist, I gained 15 years of professional experience, in multiple fields. 
  • Business — Technical and management roles at various technology companies. Founded a consulting company and grew it to 30 employees before selling it to a large, multinational firm. 
  • Journalism — Published articles in Scientific American, The News & Observer, Down to Earth and other journals, and received the AAAS Mass Media Fellowship for science writing.
  • Academia — Visiting scientist at national labs in MIT, Los Alamos and Tallahassee. Received a PhD in physics from Boston University, and published 15 papers in research journals.
This diverse background gives me a broad perspective, and multiple options for working with clients, so I can adapt my approach to each individual's needs and preferences. 

Trainings and Workshops
  • Affect Regulation and Attachment in Psychotherapy, Allan Schore, PhD, Alameda, CA
  • The Trauma of Everyday Life, Mark Epstein, MD, Lafayette, CA
  • Somatic Experiencing, Peter Levine, PhD, San Francisco, CA
  • Focusing and Psychotherapy, Eugene Gendlin, PhD and Ann Weiser Cornell, PhD, 15-week phone class
  • Collaborative Couple Therapy, Daniel Wile, PhD, San Francisco, CA
  • New Frontiers in Trauma Treatment, 2-day workshop, Bessel van der Kolk, MD, San Francisco
  • Hakomi: Body-Centered Psychotherapy, 6-day training at New Perspectives Counseling Center, San Francisco
  • Attachment Theory in Psychotherapy, David Wallin, PhD, San Francisco
  • Mindfulness and Psychotherapy, 3-day training at New Perspectives Counseling Center, San Francisco
  • 100th Annual Conference of the American Psychoanalytic Association, San Francisco
  • Drugs on the Couch, Marc Wallis, LCSW, 3-day course on treatment of substance abuse, San Francisco Center of Psychoanalysis 
  • 24th Annual Conference on Control Mastery Theory, 3-day conference, San Francisco Psychotherapy Research Group 
  • Personality Disorders and Thought Disorders, 1-day training by CA Dept. of Rehabilitation, San Francisco
  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy, 2-day course at Walden House, San Francisco
  • The Challenge of Intimacy: Control Mastery Couple Therapy, Dennis Zeitlin, MD, UCSF, San Francisco
  • Staying in the Now: Maintaining Mental Health Through Mindfulness, Stuart Eisendrath, MD, Director, UCSF Depression Center, San Francisco
  • Maintaining Mood in Late Life, Craig Nelson, MD, Leon J. Epstein Chair of Geriatric Psychiatry, UCSF, San Francisco
  • The Biology of Depression: How Stress Affects the Brain and the Body, Owen Wolkowitz, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, UCSF, San Francisco
  • Introduction to Control Mastery Theory, George Silberschatz, PhD & Kathryn Pryor, PhD, San Francisco
  • Cognitive Behavioral Interventions for Depression and Anxiety, Jeffrey Wood, PsyD, Berkeley, CA
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