Marv Zauderer, LMFT
Licensed Psychotherapist
San Rafael CA
You can expect our work to take place in a safe, attuned space of connection, collaboration, and change. I bring presence and empathy when listening and witnessing are what you need, and I bring a lively spirit and an action orientation when you are looking for movement and growth — I won’t just say, “How does that make you feel?”
In our work, I’m deeply sensitive to, and celebrate, differences among all human beings, be they cultural, racial, ethnic, physical ability, gender identity, national origin, sexual orientation/attraction, age, religion & spirituality, class, socioeconomic status, neurodiversity, language and all other characteristics that make up our individual and collective identities. I use an intersectional approach to understand how injustice and oppression may contribute to my clients’ mental health symptoms.
I’m direct and focused on the change you seek; using the words one of my teachers, Terry Real, uses to describe his approach, I avoid being “heavy on nurture and short on truth.” I combine your goals for therapy, an understanding of your history and strengths, and my experience to develop, in collaboration with you, a customized plan for our work that is attuned to your individuality. Together, we monitor progress toward your goals and make changes to the plan if needed.
If it feels right to you, I give you things to work on between sessions. And I’m never far from my sense of humor.
I’m Marv Zauderer (he/they).
In the 1990’s, in the midst of a career in technology at such companies as Apple, I was trained as a volunteer grief counselor. Under the supervision of a licensed therapist, I provided counseling to clients who had had someone close to them die or who were facing a terminal illness.
After several years of volunteering, my new passion for counseling led me into a challenging career transition, returning to grad school for my M.S. in Counseling Psychology at Dominican University of California in San Rafael, California and ultimately becoming licensed as a psychotherapist in 2006. Beginning in 2002, I launched my private practice, at first under the supervision of noted family therapist Dr. Rodney Shapiro until I became licensed, working with individuals, couples, and families.
I’ve since trained with such therapists as Terry Real, Francis Weller, Dr. Sue Johnson, Dr. Richard Schwartz, Dr. Peter Levine, Dr. Tirzah Firestone, Dr. Daniel Foor, and Dr. Karyl McBride, and have developed a wide range of specialties in my work with therapy clients. I’m a Certified CIinical Trauma Professional and I’m certified in Psychological First Aid for disasters. I had another career in hunger relief, and in addition to my Dominican degree, I have degrees from Stanford University and UC Berkeley.
I live in Marin County, California; I work in person locally and via Zoom & phone with clients who live anywhere in California, Arizona, or Florida, and also provide pro bono therapy to undocumented people through Immigrants Rising. I’m the proud father of adult children, and I love to connect deeply with family and close friends, sing in community, and ride my bike — preferably with a bakery stop involved — in my spare time.