Sharon L. Rafferty

Clinical Psychologist

Specialties: Holistic psychotherapy (psychodynamic, humanistic, transpersonal), mind-body awareness and interventions (yoga, mindfulness meditation, pranayama, energetic anatomy)

Services Offered: Individual, group, couples, psychedelic integration (individuals), pre- and post-ritual counseling, holistic approaches, mind-body therapy, psychodynamic therapy, somatic therapy, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, mindfulness training, yoga therapy

Sessions: Teletherapy (NY, CA) and In Person (San Francisco and Oakland, CA)

Biography

Dr. Rafferty is a Clinical Psychologist licensed in the states of California and New York. Currently in private practice, she maintains office locations in both San Francisco and Oakland, California and is available via video conferencing for residents elsewhere in California and throughout the state of New York. She offers traditional psychotherapy for individuals, couples, and families, and yoga therapy for individuals and groups. She is also the founder of The Collective, Inc where she facilitates wellness workshops and mindfulness retreats. Dr. Rafferty graduated from the California School of Professional Psychology in 2002 and holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology.

Dr. Rafferty is a registered yoga teacher (RYT) with the yoga alliance and received her certification and training from Synergy: Center for Yoga and the Healing Arts in Miami Beach, Florida in 2002. She is a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT). Dr. Rafferty is also a level II Reiki practitioner, initiated into the Usui Lineage by Reiki Master, John Latz, founder of the Institute for Structural Integration (ISI) in Miami, Florida. Most recently, she has completed the Certificate Program in Psychedelic Assisted Therapies and Research at the California Institute of Integral Studies.

Dr. Rafferty has over 15 years of clinical experience with a wide range of mental health issues including anxiety and panic disorders, depression and other mood disorders, trauma and PTSD, attention deficit disorders, anger management, infidelity, eating disorders, women’s issues and issues related to work, relationships, and spiritual development. She has worked in school based settings, with adults in community mental health centers, and has led several groups focusing on women’s issues and on yoga as a therapeutic intervention. From 2003-2012, Dr. Rafferty also served as the clinical coordinator and training director for Learning Services of Northern California, a non-profit agency serving at-risk youth and their families. Here, she was also responsible for the training and supervision of graduate students in the provision of mental health services in a school based setting. Dr. Rafferty has provided psychological assessment (cognitive and personality testing) for children and adults and has an educational background in multicultural issues.

How I work with clients

As a holistic psychologist, I treat each client as an entity comprised of body, mind, and spirit. Treatment generally begins with traditional psychotherapy but can include yoga, breathwork, and energywork or recommendations for other holistic therapies, as appropriate. I also consider clients’ presenting symptoms in the context of the chakra system and may offer interpretation, feedback and interventions that restore balance at the energetic level. As there is great healing power in our ability to expand our perspectives and allow ourselves to be open to new experiences, I also organize and facilitate workshops and “retreats” from daily life where our intention is to increase contact with the natural environment and to broaden our understanding of culture.

As a psychologist living and working with clients in the West, it has also become clear to me that there is a real need for culturally relevant ways of integrating psychedelic experiences into our modern lives. Similar to the Sanskrit definition of the word yoga, integration implies union, or the process of combining multiple parts into a harmonious whole. In my practice, I help clients to integrate and to solidify a deeper understanding of themselves. This includes the connection between their body and their mind, their psyche and their spirit, and after an experience with psychedelics, the everyday sense of themselves that exists in this realm (commonly referred to in psychology as the ego), with the experiences of themselves in the more mystical realms, where the ego has seemingly been dissolved.