Cheryl Bentley

My work as a therapist is deeply creative, engaging, and transformative. I believe therapy is not only a space for healing, but also a process of rediscovering your capacity to shape and create your life with awareness, courage, and compassion.

I hold a BA in Art Practice, an MFA in Studio Art, and a MA in Clinical Psychology. My path to psychotherapy grew naturally out of years immersed in creative process and embodiment — ways of seeing, feeling, and making meaning that now inform the heart of my clinical work. I am also trained as a doula, which has deepened my understanding of women’s psychological needs throughout the prenatal and postpartum journey, and the profound mind–body connection that accompanies major life transitions.

In addition to my private practice — which is the central focus of my work — I’ve practiced in community clinic settings and volunteered offering ocean-based therapy and art-oriented support for women and children in transitional housing who are recovering from addiction and domestic violence. These experiences continue to shape my understanding of resilience, repair, and the courage it takes to rebuild.

I often work with creatives, deep-feeling individuals, and women in their 30s navigating seasons of change, identity, and growth. My areas of focus include attachment and relationship issues, anxiety, and complex trauma, approached through existential, feminist, and Buddhist lenses. Together, we work to cultivate a deeper sense of self-trust, emotional clarity, and grounded confidence — a felt experience of living from the inside out.

At its core, my approach is both contemplative and practical — rooted in curiosity, connection, and the belief that transformation begins with awareness.

My approach is collaborative, relational, and rooted in deep respect for your inner wisdom. I see therapy as a creative and reflective process — one that helps you reconnect with your own voice, values, and vitality. Together, we make space to understand not just what hurts, but what’s trying to heal and what life can hold for you on the other side of healing.

I integrate attachment theory, somatic awareness, EMDR, and mindfulness-based practices through an existential, feminist, and Buddhist lens. This means we explore both your internal world — the emotions, body memories, and beliefs that shape how you move through life — and the external systems that have influenced your sense of safety, identity, and belonging.

I believe healing happens through relationship: within yourself, with others, and in the space we build together. My role is to offer steady presence, attunement, and tools for self-understanding that allow you to move beyond survival and into deeper connection and authenticity.

Therapy with me is both gentle and challenging — a space for honesty, reflection, and emotional risk in service of lasting change. Whether we’re tending to the impact of early attachment wounds, anxiety, or creative blocks, our work invites a return to your own aliveness — the place where awareness, compassion, and action meet.

Our first session is a chance to slow down and arrive — to begin understanding what brings you here and what you most want for yourself. I’ll invite you to share what feels relevant about your story, your current challenges, and what’s been feeling difficult or confusing. There’s no need to prepare or say things perfectly — it’s a space to begin where you are.

You can expect a conversation that feels curious and attuned rather than clinical or impersonal. We’ll talk about what you’re hoping to explore, and I’ll ask questions to help us understand your patterns, your support systems, and how your body and emotions tend to respond under stress. Together we’ll start to outline what healing and growth might look like for you.

My priority in this first meeting is to help you feel safe, seen, and understood — to create a foundation of trust and collaboration. By the end of the session, you’ll have a sense of how I work, and we’ll decide together whether it feels like a good fit to continue.