Counseling with real-life understanding:
A therapist who gets it
Hi, I’m Rachelle Bloksberg, a California Licensed Marriage Family Therapist (LMFT), #119841.
I live in Nevada County, in the beautiful Sierra Nevada foothills of Northern California. I am providing online therapy, also known as teletherapy, throughout California.
I went back to school to earn my Master's degree in Counseling Psychology after both my children were grown and out in the world. I have been a Neurofeedback Therapist offering coaching since 2009.
Before that, I was a stay-at-home mom, though I'm not really sure you could call me that. I wasn’t home much, because I was constantly running around with my children. My husband and I homeschooled our children for years. The way we did it, much of homeschooling did not really happen at home.
I have lots of life experience that gives me a foundation for psychotherapy and coaching. When I was fifteen, I lived through the trauma of losing my mother to suicide. I have lost two more family members to suicide since then.
I also have life experience in a long-term marriage, parenting two children to adulthood, supporting family members with mental illness, and caregiving for elderly family members.
I suffered a debilitating brain injury later in my life and had to work to get my life back. I am now able to function and live my life to the fullest.
After that, I was diagnosed with a serious, chronic illness. I've experienced many of the problems in the medical system, being dismissed, and have traversed many barriers to healthcare.
I live with some rare chronic illnesses, that seem to be less rare than researchers once thought - - Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS), Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (PoTS), Mast Cell Disease, Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, and a few others that come along with these. While I am still dealing with my chronic illnesses, I live the life I want.
My life experience and counseling with real-life understanding
I have been married to the same wonderful man since 1984 and we have raised our two amazing children together. We have also started and run several business together. We moved to Nevada County about 27 years ago to live in the kind of rural environment we enjoy.
I enjoy working with clients of all ages and backgrounds. I am neurodiversity, LGBTQ+, and BIPOC affirmative. I have a neurodiverse, ADHD brain and understand the benefits and challenges of being neurodiverse. I love coming up with creative and unique solutions with my clients. My clients often comment that counseling with real-life understanding is extremely helpful to them. They enjoy working with a therapist who gets it. I truly understand what it's like to live with difficult circumstances. My clients don't need to go into detail about their chronic pain unless they want to. I live with it too.
I developed many of my specialties through life experience and have added formal training. Other specialties I have learned by working with clients and finding additional training to take my knowledge deeper. I have taken what I've learned from my relationship, added client experiences with couples therapy training and have become a relationship expert for couples therapy. Young couples appreciate my perspective and couples in long-term relationships appreciate working with therapist with life experience similar to theirs.
My main specialties are:
Neurodiversity
chronic Illness and pain
relationships
parenting
co-parenting
addictions
I am particularly experienced at addressing the things that commonly co-occur with my main specialties :
communication
stress
anxiety
depression
suicidal thoughts
self-harm
self-esteem
Autism
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Pathological demand avoidance (PDA)
polyamorous relationships
grief and loss
supporting family members with mental illness
recovery from abusive relationships
caregiving
medical trauma
addiction recovery
work-life balance
creating habits
calming
time management
Working with a therapist who gets it
My life experience and my formal education have come together so that I can pursue my passion for helping people. I like to connect with my clients and create a safe environment for exploration. Counseling with real-life understanding is personalized. Each client is unique, so I believe in tailoring our time together to meet your specific needs.
You'll never be dismissed for your pain. You'll never be judged for the medications you take. I'll never ask you to do anything you don't want to do. I want you to feel safe. I'm a therapist who gets it. I'm in a similar situation myself.
My passion is working with marginalized populations. I want to support you when others don't seem to understand. I want to be there for you when nobody believes what you're going through. Together, we can think outside the box and find solutions that will make your life better.
I am particularly interested in, and am always continuing my training in Solution Focused Brief Therapy. I love learning and improving my skills.
Counseling is a healing process. Please don't wait any longer, if you want or need help. We can work together so you can start living the life you want and become the best version of yourself.
Northern California Marriage and Family Therapist
I live in Northern California in the rural Nevada City-Grass Valley area, but work virtually with clients throughout California. Most of my clients live in metropolitan areas like Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area. Click the "schedule now" button below to schedule a free 15 minute consultation. I look forward to meeting you.
Rachelle is a California Licensed Marriage and Family therapist who is passionate about maintaining a small ecological footprint. She is a Climate-Aware Therapist. Her therapy practice is virtual and doesn't require anyone to travel to receive mental health services. She is aware of the impact environmental changes can have on mood and motivation and practices from a Climate Psychology lens. She subscribes to the emotional healing nature provides as EcoTherapy.