Marv Zauderer, LMFT

It is the song from within that keeps the pain of living from snuffing our lives. It is the song from within ignited, again, and again, that keeps the world going. — Mark Nepo

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Marv Zauderer, LMFT's style

Why Marv Zauderer, LMFT chose to be in the helping profession

In the early 1990’s, amidst a career in technology at Apple, I experienced an enormous loss. After several years of healing, including being in weekly therapy for the first time, I said to my therapist, "I'm so deeply grateful for all the support I've received; I feel called to give that support, in some way, to others. How can I do that?" She directed me to a program where 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 a few years of volunteering, my new passion for counseling led me into a challenging career transition, returning to grad school and ultimately becoming licensed as a psychotherapist.

For me, being in this profession feels more crucial than ever. Wars, the climate crisis, politics, COVID, economic pressures, traumas, the strain on relationships....there are so many forces that are making it harder and harder for many people to cope, heal, grow, and thrive.

As a result, my work with such brave and inspiring clients -- who honor me so deeply by inviting me into their hearts and worlds -- is tremendously meaningful to me; a core contributor to my own aliveness, fulfillment, and thriving.

Marv Zauderer, LMFT's approach

In working with me, psychotherapy is an individual and collaborative journey.

I use a “whole person” model in my work, understanding any somatic/physical, emotional/psychological, and social/relational components of what you wish to focus on in therapy, and using somatic, heart-centered, cognitive, behavioral, and relational techniques that help you find the growth, solutions, healing, or well-being you seek.

In doing so, I experience you as a human being who is integral to a variety of systemic, mycelial networks of life, such as your relationships, your culture(s), and our planet’s ecosystem.

I integrate a variety of therapeutic approaches, including cognitive-behavioral, family systems, and EMDR. I’m trauma-informed and internal Family Systems-informed, and I’m always actively continuing to learn and incorporate new, research-based therapy techniques. I’m warm and compassionate, and also direct and challenging when I feel it will serve you.

I’m deeply aware of the multisensory and multidimensional nature of human experience and learning, and I’m always assessing whether it might be wise to add components to our work, beyond talking, that might be a fit for you, such as somatic techniques including movement and embodiment practices, music and singing, creating art, experiences in nature, dance, mindfulness, and ritual, any of which can be crucial additions for some clients during, and/or between, therapy sessions. With some clients for whom it is a fit, I do outdoor therapy, eg. in public parks and on walks, which, for some, can enhance or accelerate the therapy.

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 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 too far away from my sense of humor.

What you can expect from sessions with Marv Zauderer, LMFT

I’m an experienced, direct, interactive therapist who brings a compassionate heart, an active mind, and a calm presence to this work.

I strongly believe in a collaborative approach to therapy. I’m deeply interested in learning what you know about yourself, including your strengths, pivotal experiences, and challenges. Integrating techniques from therapeutic models such as Internal Family Systems and cognitive-behavioral therapy, my trauma-informed, multi-dimensional approach to our work is attuned to your individuality and refined by your input along the way. 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 bring diverse professional and life experience, a responsiveness to culture and all other components of your identity, and an array of tools that you can use to find the growth, solutions, well-being, or healing you seek.

Marv Zauderer, LMFT's experience working with the Jewish community

I have a wide range of personal and professional experience with Jews of diverse backgrounds, spiritual practices, and Jewish identities. Foundationally, I'm a lifelong, committed, active member of the Jewish community and I'm curious about and open to, all aspects of the Jewish experience.

I have been a member of, or founded, Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative, Orthodox, Renewal, and unaffiliated Jewish groups, and my clients have often come from awareness of my work in the Jewish community. I have deep ties to Israel, lived there for several months, and am experienced working with clients who have a wide range of feelings and thoughts about the Israel of today.

As a child of a Holocaust survivor, and having received specific training from Rabbi Tirzah Firestone and others in working with trauma and intergenerational trauma, I have experience working with the unique challenges that some adult children of Holocaust survivors can face.

Marv Zauderer, LMFT's Book Recommendation Zone

• The Book of Awakening
• The Middle Passage
• The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook
• The Wild Edge of Sorrow
• Wounds Into Wisdom
• Mourning and Mitzvah
• To Begin Again
• Us
• My Grandmother's Hands
• Dusk, Night, Dawn

Approaches

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• EMDR
• Internal Family Systems (IFS)
• KAP
• Premarital Counseling
• Solution Focused Brief (SFBT)
• Trauma Focused Therapy

Concerns

• Anxiety
• Bereavement & Grief
• Cancer
• Chronic illness
• Codependency
• Dating
• Depression
• Divorce/Separation
• Emotion regulation
• Gender Identity Issues
• Infertility
• Insomnia & sleep issues
• Life purpose and meaning
• Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Panic attacks/panic disorder
• Parenting
• Relationships
• Religious Identity Issues
• Stress management
• Transitions & Change
• Trauma

17 years in practice

Licences

• Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist by CA 2006. License number LMFT43363
• Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist by AZ 2023. License number LMFT15972
• Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist by FL 2023. License number TPMF938

Degrees

• Master of Science by Dominican University 2002
• Master of Science by Stanford University 1987
• Bachelor of Arts by University of California, Berkeley 1984

Average costs per session

$180 - $220

Payment Methods

• Sliding Scale
• Free consultation
• Check
• Credit Card
• Zelle Quick Pay
• Venmo

Insurances

• out of network