San Francisco psychologist, Alisa S. Burgess, Ph.D.’s private practice is located in the heart of the city on the elegant Union Square in downtown San Francisco. Her office address is 391 Sutter Street, Suite 614, San Francisco, CA 94108.
Dr. Burgess works primarily with adult individuals and couples, specializing in Individuation and Relationship Issues, couples counseling, EMDR, anxiety, stress, depression, bulimia, boundaries in the social media and group therapy. While she was classically trained in Psychodynamic and Object Relations Theory, she has developed her own unique approach to therapy, integrating psychological theory with meditation, esoteric concepts and spiritual principles. Her approach is set forth in her new book, “How to Grow a Second Skin for Your Soul: For Those Who Feel Hurt, Judged, Criticized, Abandoned, Invalidated, When Someone Else Acts Like a Jerk” (Oaklea Press, 2002). This book may be purchased at Amazon.com
Among her specialties is working with people who are in problematic relationships with difficult or personality-disordered individuals. The people her clients have difficulty with may be spouses, bosses, family members or friends. Dr. Burgess helps her patients to stay centered and neutral when others explode or regress. Using concepts, tools and techniques from her book, she helps her patients to develop healthy, flexible boundaries and to develop a solid sense of self.
Often times, panic, anxiety and depression ensue when one is dealing with a personality-disordered partner, relative, boss, friend, etc. One may become susceptible to losing one's boundaries, certainty or sense of self. Dr. Burgess works with the core anxiety and depression that can develop either during the relationship or, in some cases, after a separation or break-up. She guides one through the process of tolerating the (often times) intense negative affect that is experienced and that is reminiscent of early, buried emotional traumas in order to develop a solid core and ultimately a stronger, more confident and assured sense of self.
In all her work, Dr. Burgess’s primary focus is on assisting the client’s soul growth and development and to that end, she is interactive and engaging in her therapeutic approach. Whatever the client’s issue may be, he or she is met with communication and connection to their soul. Complicated processes are explained and worked with using intuitive and metaphorical language that resonates with the core of the individual. While the process of connecting deeply to one’s truth and emotions may initially cause discomfort, the ultimate connection to one’s own soul in the therapeutic arena can be pleasurable, satisfying and profoundly life-altering.
Depending upon the client, she may use one of a variety of therapeutic techniques. For some, she may employ classic techniques and interactive dialoguing in order for the client to gain access to one’s unconscious or conscious feelings and to learn effective ways to handle life’s issues in the present. Yet with others, she may teach visualization techniques and meditation or use guided hypnosis or EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) to assist in the connection to one’s core. In addition to the goals set forth for each individual’s therapy, the underlying goal in her work is to assist the client in developing a solid sense of self and developing healthy, flexible boundaries, thus increasing self-esteem and decreasing anxiety and/or depression.
Dr. Burgess is an expert in Couples Therapy and has been conducting couples counseling for over 23 years. She uses transactional analysis to determine from where the communication impasses arise. She works with couples to stay centered when one or both partners regress, act out or overreact to any given issue. She works with communication patterns and helps patients become aware of how background histories may cloud perceptions in present time. In the end, she helps partners establish mutually healthy boundaries and reach a space of understanding and/or forgiveness.
Dr. Burgess also specializes in EMDR Therapy. She was among the first in her field to apply this method to treat numerous issues and concerns and has had extensive training in this technique. Symptoms of anxiety, depression, PTSD, somatic complaints, trauma and problematic, reoccurring issues are greatly reduced or relieved through her skilled use of EMDR.
Another area of expertise is treating bulimia and weight-related disorders. Dr. Burgess's earliest research focussed on bulimia before this disorder was heard about in the mainstream. Her undergraduate Honor's Thesis and doctoral dissertation brought attention to the progression and perpetuation of this disorder. She integrates cognitive-behavioral and psychodynamic/object-relations perspectives with EMDR to alleviate the symptoms of bulimia.
In addition, Dr. Burgess specializes in Group Therapy. As the Director of Group Therapy at City College in San Francisco, she led over one hundred groups during a seventeen year span. She continues to lead ongoing groups in her private practice.
Dr. Burgess’s office is easily accessible as parking and public transportation are near by. The Stockton/Sutter Parking Garage in downtown San Francisco is conveniently located across the street from the office building on Sutter Street between Stockton Street and Grant Street. Both the Montgomery Street and Powell Street BART stations are within walking distance. The Powell Street Cable Car line and MUNI bus lines are also close by.
To discuss the possibility of working together and/or to schedule an appointment, you may reach her office at (415) 986-5078.
******
To learn more about Dr. Burgess's Groups/Workshops/Retreats, Book, Background, Publications, and Radio Talk Shows/Appearances, please click on to the specific links in the upper left corner of this section.
******
Alisa S. Burgess, Ph.D.
San Francisco Psychologist
391 Sutter Street, Suite 614, San Francisco, CA 94108 Office; Appointments (415) 986-5078
