Anna Kerman-Greenberg

What it’s like to be in therapy with me

You might be coming to therapy because things feel overwhelming, confusing, or just plain hard. Whether it’s stress at work, home, or school, friendship or relationship struggles, anxiety, sadness, or feeling like no one really understands what you’re going through. Whatever it is, you don’t have to go through it alone.

In therapy with me, you’ll find a warm, supportive, and nonjudgmental space where you can show up exactly as you are. I’m not here to tell you what to do or to try to “fix you,” but rather to walk alongside you as a partner who’s here to help you make sense of what you’re feeling, understand yourself more deeply, develop more positive relationships with yourself and others, and learn to trust your own voice.

I’m here to listen and help you feel seen, and while I’ll always be compassionate, I’ll also gently challenge you when needed to help you notice unhelpful patterns, rethink negative self-talk, and grow confidence in how you manage life’s challenges. Most of all, I want to help you build more self-compassion, clarity, and trust in yourself.

How I approach therapy

As a therapist, I believe the therapeutic relationship is central to healing and growth. I strive to create a trusting, compassionate, and nonjudgmental space in which you feel seen, supported, and safe to explore the most vulnerable parts of yourself and show up as authentically you. I also believe that you are the expert in your own story, and therapy should be an experience as unique as you and tailored to your needs and goals.

While I work from a relational and psychodynamic foundation, I think of myself as an “eclectic therapist” drawing from various modalities I have training in to tailor treatment to each of my clients through a strengths-based and client-centered lens. I also believe therapy doesn’t always have to feel heavy. Integrating humor and levity into my sessions allows for more authenticity, connection, and a shared human experience. Therapists are just people too after all!

Sometimes therapy isn’t just about the individual, it’s also about how we show up in our families. You might be coming to therapy because things at home feel tense, confusing, or disconnected. Whether there are arguments, silence, misunderstandings, or big changes happening, therapy can be a place to slow things down and really listen to yourself and to each other.

When I work with teens and families, my goal is to create a space where everyone can be heard. I don’t take sides or assign blame, instead I work with you as a team to understand what’s not working and what each person might need to feel more connected, respected, and understood. I will help you ask the right questions, express your needs, and work through difficult patterns. I’ll gently challenge stuck dynamics while supporting each person’s perspective, and I’ll help you build communication tools that make space for honesty, empathy, and growth. Most importantly, I want every member of the family, especially teens, to leave feeling more confident, compassionate, and capable of navigating challenges both at home and beyond.

Education and Professional Background

• Bachelor of Social Work from San Diego State University

• Master of Social Work from University of Southern California, with specialization in Children, Youth, and Families.

Clinical Training and Experience

Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of working with a wide range of populations and in various different settings. Prior to completing graduate school, I worked as an advocate for survivors of sexual and domestic violence, providing crisis response services and support while they navigated next steps. It was during this time my passion for helping survivors of trauma grew, and I knew I wanted to pursue becoming a clinician.

During my time in graduate school, I gained experience supporting children and teens with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges in a school setting, and providing individual and family therapy at a non-profit organization geared towards assisting low-income families access mental health services. These opportunities helped provide me with a foundation of supporting young people and their families, as well as those from diverse backgrounds.

Immediately following graduate school, I worked for a Department of Mental Health contracted agency providing field-based therapy for clients experiencing chronic and serious mental illness. The resilience, hope, and positive growth I witnessed in my clients was inspiring, and reinforced the importance and power of human connection.

Most recently, I worked for a private intensive outpatient program for teens and young adults where I provided individual, group, and family therapy to help clients heal from complex trauma, deepen their understanding of themselves, explore and discover their identities, navigate life transitions, and develop more positive family dynamics. I also helped support clients through crises including self-harm and suicidal ideation, further reinforcing my understanding of the importance of safety, compassion, and trust within the therapeutic relationship.   

A thread throughout my career has been supporting clients who have experienced trauma. I am trained in Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), a technique used to help individuals process and heal from traumatic experiences.

I am honored to have been able to foster such positive therapeutic relationships with my clients across all settings, and am looking forward to continuing to do so with my new ones.

A bit more about me

Like many others, I was inspired to become a therapist through my own experiences in life and in therapy. I know first-hand what it feels like to struggle with self-esteem and negative core beliefs, and also what it’s like to feel different. Therapy helped me navigate an at times challenging upbringing, as well as offered me a safe space to explore parts of my identity (neurodivergent and queer) and better understand and accept myself. It gave me the tools to feel more secure and live more authentically, and I’m deeply grateful to be in a position to support others through their own process of growth and self-discovery. Outside of my work as a therapist, I find joy in spending time with those closest to me (my partner, friends, and family), and being outside in nature with my beloved rescue pup.

My specialties