Christy Ruschmeyer

My name is Betel, and I am a California Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in my 6th year of practice. I received my MA from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, where I trained in a process-oriented, humanistic-existential style of clinical work. My background also includes coaching in ketamine-assisted care settings, and I am psychedelics-informed and educated.

At the foundation of my work is the belief that human being is an organic unfolding, in which mindful awareness plays an enduring and creative role. I therefore tend to work especially well with artists, young adults, the LGBTQ+ community, and anyone navigating major life transitions or places of in-between in their sense of who they are.

I follow a humanistic tradition that honors subjectivity. That means that I will guide our process from a stance of self-discovery, rather than self-correction. Sustained curiosity is a skill that I will encourage in both of us as we work together, with the understanding that developing awareness increases choice and authenticity. We might access such curiosity through insight, somatic mindfulness, or imaginative practices such as parts work.

Given that therapy is a relationship at heart, I may also at times ask us to notice our dynamic in the room as reflective of dynamics at play in your own life or the world at large.

If it is relevant to your experience, I also make space for experiences that transcend everyday, consensus reality - dreams, creative or spiritual processes, and non-ordinary states of consciousness can also be safely discussed in our therapy.

My aspiration is to set a tone of warmth, openness, and collaboration. Getting started in therapy is a vulnerable moment, and sharing with someone new often requires enormous courage. During the first few sessions, we’ll primarily focus on getting to know each other through conversation, during which we can both ask questions. At the beginning, I’ll be listening for the reasons you came to therapy, as well as your hopes for the course of the work. Your own shared perspectives will help me to decide what approaches might be most supportive to our process. Ideally, that spirit of welcome, mutual involvement will stay with us over time as we continue our work together.