Jenifer Butera, LMFT

she/her

Licensed in CA #39219

Insurances Accepted: Anthem Blue Cross, Health Net/MHN, Aetna

My approach to therapy is client-centered, with mindful tending to each client's psychological space.

My Focus Areas

Anxiety, Burnout, Chronic Illness, Depression, Family Conflict, Grief, IPV/DV, Life Transitions, Panic, Personality Disorders, Self-Harm, Sexual Trauma, Sleep, Stress, Trauma

My Therapy Style

I am person-centered, trauma-informed, and strength-based in my approach, and I work with all mental health concerns in adults, especially with trauma, anxiety, work-related stress, disordered thinking, personality disorders, and depression.

My approach to therapy is client-centered, with mindful tending to each client's psychological space, exploring answers to problems, and discovering how to respond most effectively to changes. I draw on mindfulness-based and trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Psychodynamic, and Interpersonal treatment therapies.

My Approach

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Harm Reduction, Interpersonal Psychotherapy, Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Motivational Interviewing, Psychodynamic, Strengths-based

Education & Training

MA - Counseling Psychology, Pacifica Graduate Institute

Get to Know Me

Why did you become a mental health professional?

I believe that psychotherapy is one of the best ways to live an examined life, opening doors to a deeper understanding of oneself and to a new way of being in the world. Instilled with this perspective from my psychiatrist father and psychoanalyst mother, my journey to becoming a therapist has been a natural progression from my earliest years, through my formal training and clinical practice. Engaging in the process of improving a client’s life, I have repeatedly witnessed how even unavoidable and unpleasant experiences can be a source of psychological freedom.

What is one thing you do daily that supports your well-being?

Meditation and mindfulness.

What book have you read more than once?

Sapiens by Yuval Harari. This is a fascinating, provocative, and very graphic history of how we have survived and evolved over hundreds of thousands of years. I refer back to this book when I need clarity and to see the big picture of humankind.

Favorite organization/non-profit?

Living in a safe and predictable environment is essential for normal mental and physiological development, and being in the helping profession as a psychotherapist, I support all ethical humanitarian efforts, and one in particular that I believe is extraordinary and that aligns with this premise of safety is the International Rescue Committee (IRC) which was founded by Albert Einstein who was a refugee in New York in the 1930s, and who sought to rescue refugees from Europe. This organization continues to respond to the world's worst humanitarian crises of internally displaced peoples and refugees.