Therapy for Young Adults in San Francisco

Are You Struggling To Figure Out Who You Really Are?

Are you dealing with anxiety or depression related to career uncertainty, academic pressure, or financial instability? Have you lost interest in pursuing goals or passions that once mattered to you, yet feel unsure about what you should strive for now? Is this uncertainty around your next steps beginning to affect your sense of self-worth or confidence?

For many people, young adulthood is a period marked by deep questions about identity. You may feel undecided about your academic or career path, out of place around family or old friends, or worried that you haven’t met certain “milestones” as quickly as others. It can seem like everyone around you is moving forward while you’re falling behind. You might also be questioning aspects of your sexual orientation or gender identity, and feel unsure whether the people in your life would fully understand or support what you’re discovering about yourself.

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Young Adults Are Coming Of Age In A Fast-Paced Society

For many young adults today, the future feels uncertain, and it’s common to feel lost or unanchored. You may be trying to establish yourself in an intensely competitive job market, managing student debt, or attempting to make ends meet in a high-cost region like the Bay Area.

Early career pressures can push young people toward burnout as they try to meet expectations from parents, teachers, or even themselves—yet still feel like they’re falling short. On top of this, constant exposure to idealized social media content can create the illusion that everyone else is succeeding with ease, making your own struggles feel even more isolating. National data reflects this trend, showing that young adults experience some of the highest rates of anxiety and depression compared to other age groups (NIMH Mental Illness Statistics).

This stage of life can also be when questions about gender or sexual orientation surface for the first time. You might hesitate to share these thoughts because of fears about prejudice in your community or possible rejection from family and close friends. Keeping these questions to yourself can create a painful sense of disconnection from your own identity, as if you’re living a life that doesn’t reflect your true self.

Countless Young Adults Feel Trapped By Their Circumstances 

Many young adults want to create meaningful change in their lives but feel overwhelmed by constant news about political instability, social unrest, and global challenges such as climate change. It can start to feel like the world is too uncertain or chaotic to imagine a hopeful future. And because society has shifted so dramatically over the past few decades, many young people realize they can’t simply follow the paths or markers of success modeled by previous generations.

Recent community health assessments in San Francisco highlight how economic insecurity, housing pressures, and social instability are contributing to rising stress levels among young adults throughout the city (UCSF/SFHIP CHNA 2025). These findings mirror what many young adults describe when entering therapy in San Francisco and the broader Bay Area—the sense of wanting change yet feeling stuck.

Working with a qualified therapist can help you reconnect with who you truly are, rather than basing your self-worth on other people’s expectations. Therapy can bring clarity to your direction in life, allowing you to take intentional steps toward your own authentic goals—no matter where you’re beginning from.

Therapy Can Help Young Adults Make Life Decisions That Honor Their Values

As a therapist, I help young adults engage with the central question, “Who am I?” Together, we’ll identify the challenges that are keeping you from changing your circumstances and becoming the person you want to be. In our work, I’ll support you in uncovering parts of yourself you may have suppressed or overlooked, so you can cultivate greater self-acceptance and begin letting go of the weight of other people’s expectations.

What To Expect In Therapy Sessions For Young Adults

Many young adults reach out for therapy because they’ve hit a “crisis point.” You may have been struggling with your mental health for months or even years, but a breakup, job loss, or another tipping point can suddenly make it clear that you need professional support to regain your footing.

If you begin therapy while you’re in the midst of a crisis, our first priority will be helping you stabilize. We’ll start with simple, practical coping strategies that can bring more steadiness and structure to your daily life. Once you feel grounded enough to look inward, we’ll shift toward exploring the deeper roots of the challenges that brought you into therapy.

Treatment Approaches To Therapy For Young Adults

I primarily use a psychodynamic approach when working with young adults. Through psychodynamic therapy and psychoanalysis, I’ll help you question long-standing assumptions about yourself, explore how past experiences shape your current struggles, and expand your self-awareness.

If fears of abandonment, failure, or even success are keeping you from building the life you want, we’ll explore whether these fears might stem from trauma, family dynamics, or broader societal pressures. We’ll look at which aspects of your identity feel affirmed in your current environment and which parts of you feel restricted or unseen. Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy can help integrate these parts so you can live with a greater sense of wholeness.

Many young adults navigating anxiety or depression benefit from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) techniques to challenge thought distortions that fuel low self-esteem. Together, we’ll work on shifting negative self-talk, addressing black-and-white thinking, and gradually rewriting the internal narratives that have held you back. We’ll also explore the triggers that intensify your stress levels, and with mindfulness-based therapy, strengthen your emotional-regulation skills so you can approach life transitions with more ease.

Therapy also offers a space to practice asserting your needs in relationships and setting healthy, sustainable boundaries with the people in your life. Additionally, I’ll support you in creating routines centered around habits that nurture your mental, emotional, and physical well-being.

Whether you're struggling with depression, academic or career pressures, or questions about your identity, you don’t have to navigate these challenges alone. Therapy can help you see obstacles as opportunities for growth and open a new chapter rooted in honoring your own values.