Adrian Scharfetter, PhD, LMFT, CST
Certified Sex Therapist & Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
Sacramento CA
I believe therapy works best as a genuine partnership. When we work together, my focus is creating a space where you can actually breathe, where nothing is too difficult to talk about and nothing about you needs to be hidden.
I tend to be direct and real in sessions. I'll ask questions that get to the heart of what's happening and offer observations when I notice patterns. But I'm not here to tell you what to do or push you toward some predetermined version of "fixed." You're the expert on your own life. My job is to help you access that expertise, especially when it feels buried under stress, shame, or confusion.
My approach draws on relational therapy, somatic awareness, and the understanding that healing often comes through surrender rather than control. We'll move at your pace, follow what feels most alive or most stuck, and trust that your system knows what it needs to work through.
Ultimately, I'm here to help you build a life that feels integrated and authentic, where your professional success, intimate relationships, sexuality, and sense of self all get to exist without constant conflict.
Hi there! I'm Adrian Scharfetter, and I'm genuinely glad you're here.
If you're reading this, you might be navigating something difficult, stress that won't let up, anxiety that colors everything, depression that makes even small tasks feel impossible, or a major life transition that's left you feeling unmoored. Maybe you're working through a psychedelic experience that opened doors you're not sure how to walk through. Or perhaps intimacy and sexuality feel complicated, confusing, or like territory where you don't quite belong.
Whatever brought you here, I want you to know: there's no judgment in this space. Just genuine support for wherever you are right now.
Here's what I've learned in this work: when we face difficulty, whether it's relationship struggles, sexual challenges, identity questions, or life circumstances that won't stop throwing curveballs, we essentially have three options. We can resist what's happening and stay stuck. We can white-knuckle our way through and just survive it. Or we can lean into the challenge, learn from it, and grow a bigger, more authentic life as a result.
My role is to walk alongside you in that third path. Not to fix you (you're not broken) or to tell you what to do, but to help you uncover your own wisdom, reconnect with your true self, and start living a life that feels genuinely yours.
I'm an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, which means I bring deep training and awareness to the complex territory of identity, relationships, sex, and sexuality. I work with people who are struggling with questions of self, intimacy, desire, and what it means to truly surrender—not as giving up, but as a pathway to transcendence and self-realization.
Whether you're dealing with performance anxiety, intimacy that's gone cold, relationship patterns that keep repeating, or simply feeling "othered" by your experiences or identities, I'm here to help you find your way through.
I'm excited to be part of your journey toward awareness, healing, and integration. Let's discover what's possible together.
I offer a variety of integrative services, as well as KAP through Journey Clinical.