Cheryl Lister

Currently I am offering a lower fee than my standard, in light of the unsettling, complex times we find ourselves in. For individual sessions, I offer $135; for couples my fee is $160. If you purchase a series of sessions we can discuss a discount. If you have extraordinary financial challenges, please discuss any possible additional reduction in my fee. Please note I do not take insurance.

I welcome any and all questions for you to feel comfortable with me prior to a session. If needed, we can have a short, free phone call if that would also help you get a feeling for me. Most often, sessions are once a week at the same time and day, for 50 minutes. In between, I welcome email exchanges as my clients often have "assignments" in between sessions, and I am always happy to know how it's going. I use venmo, PayPal, zelle for receiving payment prior to a session.

I hold a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from University of California, Santa Barbara; and a Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology from John F. Kennedy University in Pleasant Hill, California. I am an Ordained Minister and engage in non-denominational counseling with my clients: I meet you where you are, so each session may look quite different from one client to the next. My intention is to be highly attuned and present to you, to listen, to see you, to witness you. From there, we begin to discover the clues to who you are, where you want to go, and how to get there.

I have always been drawn to deep conversations with people. I am deeply interested in others, how we tick, what makes us the way we are, and how to transform our suffering ultimately into growth and healing. I am fascinated by human psychology in addition to spirituality so I often blend both in my work with clients. I have had a personal journey of trauma and decades of healing, so I do consider myself a "wounded healer," in that, I too, have "been there". I have a deep belief in us as humans ultimately being pure and good - yes, we all make mistakes, but we are not the mistakes. We can heal.

I work with a range of issues! Many of my clients struggle with past trauma, anxiety, depression; life - crossroad moments; couples - relationship challenges such as communication, emotional and sexual intimacy; fertility and family planning and grief and shame associated with it; death and dying and loss; addiction; spiritual crisis and emergence; bipolar, schizophrenia, soul searching. I’m highly skilled and experienced in work with adults, couples, families, and children. I’m concerned about the tip of the iceberg mental health crisis I believe humanity is facing due to the bizarre circumstances of having been isolated in trauma over a pandemic. We are losing our sense of community and our children more tuned into virtual reality than a walk in nature. We truly need all the help we can get to find the highest path forward. And I still Hold great hope in our possibilities as human beings are amazingly creative and resilient:). Together, we can find a path forward:)

I would contemplate my personal preferences for working closely with a person — do I respond best to someone who is confrontational, or gently inquiring? If I’ve had counseling in the past, what worked well and what did not? Do I have any specific preferences for gender? Age? Insurance or not? Availability? From there, I would ask myself what issues do I most wish to address in my life right now? What are my greatest obstacles to my meaning filled, joyful life? If I am depressed, how does it manifest? Am I sleepy? Suicidal? Temperamental? I’d share these understandings in a first session and ask the practitioner what tools they would use to help offer guidance and healing? Personally, I like to have more than the cliche “how do you feel about that” response from my counselor, so if that’s all I hear, I’d pass. I do well with someone who has many suggestions in a collaboration with me so that together we create new possibilities that neither of us could come up with alone. That’s me though - you are the true expert on you, and as a counselor, I want to know you in order to best support your process:). I would pay attention to see if the counselor is truly tuning into me, and not just putting me in a cookie cutter mold.

I would recommend contemplating what your present challenges are and your wishes and goals in seeking counseling. From there, ask yourself what the obstacles are in achieving your goals. Compare the outcome you desire with the inevitable shifts that will occur in your life with change. Often, we want to heal and grow yet there is resistance. It's good to know more about the resistance so when it rises up, we aren't caught off guard, but more have a sense of "Oh, here it comes, here it is, that part that just doesn't want to have to get so vulnerable," etc. Don't let the resistance stop you, let it become something you are curious about, not shocked by, not intimidated by. It happens. Push on anyway because your light and transformation are worth the work and effort:). I like to take baby steps forward so the healing is not traumatizing. I'll be with you every step of the way.