Dr. Palak Kothari, Licensed Clinical Psychologist CA PSY 29842
P: (858) 922-8018
IG: @KothariWellness
KOTHARI WELLNESS
Your Well-Being Is in Good Hands
You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.
Maya Angelou
My Approach
I'm Dr. Palak Kothari, a California-licensed clinical psychologist providing telehealth psychotherapy to adults throughout California.
Life can become incredibly painful when we find ourselves caught in patterns that once helped us survive but no longer allow us to fully live. Whether you're struggling with trauma, chronic stress, insomnia, anxiety, grief, reproductive life transitions, or simply feeling disconnected from yourself, therapy offers an opportunity to slow down, understand what is happening beneath the surface, and create meaningful, lasting change.
Many of us experience very different challenges on the outside, yet share a common internal experience: fear, self-criticism, emotional overwhelm, avoidance, or the feeling of carrying too much for too long. These experiences often leave us feeling stuck—not because we are broken, but because our minds and bodies have adapted in ways that once made sense. Together, we can begin to understand these patterns with curiosity rather than judgment.
My approach is grounded in evidence-based psychotherapy while remaining deeply human. I believe healing happens not simply by managing symptoms, but by developing a more compassionate relationship with ourselves, processing painful experiences, and building the confidence to move toward the life we want rather than away from the emotions we fear.
I have specialized training in the treatment of trauma and PTSD, Behavioral Sleep Medicine, occupational stress and burnout, anxiety disorders, and reproductive and women's mental health, including fertility-related concerns, pregnancy, pregnancy loss, postpartum adjustment, perimenopause, and menopause. I also work with adults navigating ADHD and neurodiversity, as well as professionals in healthcare, technology, engineering, academia, and other high-demand careers.
Whether you're seeking relief from symptoms, navigating a difficult season of life, or hoping to better understand yourself, my goal is to provide a collaborative, thoughtful, and compassionate space where healing can unfold at a pace that feels both meaningful and sustainable.
SERVICES OFFERED
Virtual Therapy
AREAS OF SPECIALTY
Services Catered To Your Needs
I offer secure, HIPAA-compliant telehealth psychotherapy to adults throughout California.
For many people, virtual therapy quickly begins to feel as natural and connected as meeting in person. Once our work begins, the technology often fades into the background, allowing us to focus on what matters most—your experiences, your relationships, and the challenges that have brought you to therapy. My commitment is to create a space that feels warm, collaborative, and deeply present, regardless of where you are. You can expect the same thoughtful, evidence-based care, compassion, and attention that I would provide if we were sitting together in the same room.
GASTROINTESTINAL HEALTH
Improved Immune System Health
Our emotional and physical health are deeply interconnected. Stress, anxiety, trauma, and other emotional experiences often manifest not only in our thoughts, but also throughout the body. You may notice muscle tension, changes in breathing, headaches, fatigue, or digestive symptoms that seem to worsen during periods of stress.
Research has increasingly highlighted the close relationship between the brain and the gut through what is known as the brain–gut axis. This bidirectional communication helps explain why emotional distress can influence digestive functioning, and why chronic gastrointestinal symptoms can, in turn, affect mood, sleep, and overall well-being. For many individuals, conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), functional gastrointestinal disorders, chronic nausea, bloating, or abdominal discomfort are influenced by a combination of biological, psychological, and environmental factors.
Psychotherapy is not a replacement for medical care, but it can play an important role in helping individuals better understand the relationship between stress and physical symptoms, develop more adaptive ways of responding to distress, and reduce the cycle in which emotional and physical symptoms reinforce one another.
My goal is to provide a space where every aspect of your experience is welcome—including conversations about your physical health. If digestive symptoms, chronic stress, or the emotional impact of living with a medical condition have become part of your daily life, we can work together to better understand the connection between mind and body while collaborating with your medical providers when appropriate.
Common Concerns Addressed
-
Disorders of Gut–Brain Interaction (DGBIs)
-
Functional gastrointestinal symptoms
-
Chronic abdominal pain or discomfort
-
Bloating
-
Constipation and diarrhea
-
Stress-related digestive symptoms
-
Health anxiety related to gastrointestinal concerns
-
Adjustment to chronic gastrointestinal conditions
-
The emotional impact of living with chronic digestive illness
SLEEP
A Happier, Healthier You
Sleep is essential to both physical and emotional health. When sleep becomes disrupted, it can affect nearly every aspect of daily life—including mood, concentration, memory, relationships, work performance, and overall well-being.
Whether you're struggling to fall asleep, waking frequently throughout the night, waking earlier than intended, experiencing distressing nightmares, or feeling exhausted despite spending enough time in bed, persistent sleep difficulties can become frustrating and isolating. Over time, many people understandably begin to worry about sleep itself, unintentionally creating patterns that make restful sleep even more difficult to achieve.
Behavioral Sleep Medicine offers evidence-based, non-medication treatments that address the biological, psychological, and behavioral factors contributing to sleep problems. Rather than relying solely on general sleep advice or temporary solutions, treatment focuses on identifying and changing the patterns that are maintaining your sleep difficulties.
Our work together begins with a comprehensive evaluation of your sleep history, daily routines, medical factors, and lifestyle. From there, we develop an individualized treatment plan designed to restore healthy, restorative sleep and rebuild confidence in your body's natural ability to sleep.
I offer evidence-based treatments including:
-
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) — the gold-standard psychological treatment for chronic insomnia.
-
Sleep Restriction Therapy (SRT) — a structured approach that strengthens the body's natural sleep drive and improves sleep efficiency.
-
Nightmare-Focused Treatment — evidence-based interventions to reduce the frequency and intensity of nightmares, including trauma-related nightmares.
-
Circadian Rhythm Interventions — behavioral strategies to help realign sleep timing for delayed, advanced, or irregular sleep schedules.
-
Common Sleep Concerns Treated
-
Difficulty falling asleep
-
Frequent nighttime awakenings
-
Early morning awakening
-
Chronic insomnia
-
Nightmare disorder
-
Trauma-related sleep disturbances
-
Circadian rhythm disorders
-
Sleep anxiety
-
Shift-work related sleep disruption
-
Irregular sleep schedules
-
Difficulty returning to sleep after waking
Whether your sleep difficulties developed gradually over time or emerged following stress, trauma, pregnancy, a medical condition, perimenopause, menopause, or another significant life transition, treatment is tailored to your individual needs. My goal is not simply to help you sleep better, it is to help you restore trust in your body's natural capacity for sleep and improve your overall quality of life.
TRAUMA
Here For You
Trauma is not simply defined by what happened to us. It is also shaped by how our minds and bodies adapted in order to survive.
Many of the reactions people experience after trauma—including hypervigilance, emotional numbness, intrusive memories, nightmares, difficulty trusting others, avoidance, guilt, shame, or feeling constantly "on edge"—are not signs that something is wrong with you. They are often intelligent adaptations to experiences that overwhelmed your ability to cope at the time.
The difficulty is that these adaptations, while once protective, often continue long after the danger has passed. They begin to shape how we see ourselves, how we relate to others, and what we believe is safe or possible. We may find ourselves anticipating danger where there is none, questioning our worth, withdrawing from relationships, or feeling disconnected from parts of ourselves that once felt alive.
I believe healing begins not by asking, "How do I stop feeling this way?" but by asking, "What has my mind been trying to protect?"
Understanding the purpose of these protective responses allows us to approach them with greater curiosity rather than judgment. From there, change becomes possible—not because we force ourselves to "move on," but because we no longer need these adaptations in the same way they were once needed.
Our work together is collaborative and grounded in both compassion and science. I utilize evidence-based trauma therapies while recognizing that every person's experience of trauma is unique. Treatment is tailored to your history, your goals, and your readiness. Together, we will make sense of what has happened, process the experiences that continue to hold emotional weight, and help you move toward a life that feels guided less by survival and more by choice.
Evidence-Based Trauma Treatments
-
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) — explores and reshapes beliefs that may have developed following traumatic experiences.
-
Prolonged Exposure (PE) — helps reduce avoidance by safely processing trauma-related memories and situations over time.
-
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) — facilitates the brain's natural ability to integrate traumatic memories so they become less emotionally overwhelming.
Areas of Focus
-
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
-
Complex Trauma
-
Childhood Trauma
-
Medical Trauma
-
Sexual Trauma
-
Workplace Trauma
-
Grief & Traumatic Loss
-
Moral Injury
-
Adjustment Following Traumatic Life Events
Healing from trauma does not require forgetting what happened or pretending it no longer matters. Rather, it is about helping your mind and body recognize that what was once necessary for survival no longer has to define the way you live today.
ANXIETY
Calmness and Strength
Anxiety is not simply something to eliminate—it is often an attempt by the mind to protect us.
Sometimes it prepares us for uncertainty. Sometimes it keeps us hypervigilant after painful experiences. Sometimes it urges us to solve, prevent, or control what feels unpredictable. While these efforts are understandable, they can gradually leave us feeling trapped in cycles of overthinking, reassurance-seeking, perfectionism, avoidance, or emotional exhaustion.
I often find that anxiety is less about the presence of fear than it is about our relationship with uncertainty.
Rather than asking, "How do I get rid of this anxiety?" we begin by asking different questions: What is this anxiety trying to protect? What feels uncertain? What would it mean if my greatest fear came true? Understanding anxiety in this way often transforms it from something that must be fought into something that can be understood with greater clarity and compassion.
Our work together is both practical and reflective. We will explore the patterns, beliefs, emotional experiences, and life circumstances that contribute to your anxiety while developing evidence-based strategies to help you respond more flexibly and effectively. Over time, the goal is not to eliminate uncertainty—which is an inevitable part of life—but to cultivate greater confidence in your ability to move through it.
Common Focus Areas
-
Generalized Anxiety
-
Health Anxiety
-
Relationship Anxiety
-
Perfectionism
-
Stress & Burnout
-
Life Transitions
-
Existential Concerns
-
Adjustment Difficulties
-
Anxiety Related to Medical Conditions
-
High-Achieving Professionals
MEDITATION
Freedom is the chance to make a choice of where you place your energy - Easwaran
Much of our lives is spent either replaying the past or anticipating the future. In doing so, we can lose contact with the present moment—the only place where change is actually possible.
Meditation is not about emptying the mind, forcing ourselves to relax, or eliminating difficult thoughts. Rather, it is the practice of cultivating awareness. As we learn to observe our thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations with greater openness, we become less governed by them. Over time, this creates the space to respond more intentionally rather than reacting automatically.
I often think of mindfulness as strengthening our relationship with experience rather than changing the experience itself.
A growing body of research has shown that mindfulness and meditation can support emotional well-being by improving attention, reducing stress, increasing psychological flexibility, and enhancing our capacity to navigate difficult emotions with greater resilience. For many individuals, mindfulness also complements evidence-based psychotherapy by helping integrate what is learned in session into everyday life.
My meditation classes emphasize mindful awareness, breathing practices, and developing a more grounded, compassionate relationship with yourself. Whether you are completely new to meditation or have an established practice, the goal is not to meditate "perfectly," but to cultivate greater presence, clarity, and connection in your daily life.
PRICING
Breakdown
-
Free 15 minute consultation
-
I do not accept any insurance.
-
Inquire about sliding scale and/or shorter appointment windows.
