 Binge Eating Disorder affects many people and its important to know that you are not alone. Some of the symptoms of this disorder are eating much more rapidly than normal, eating until feeling uncomfortably full, eating large amounts of food when not feeling physically hungry, eating alone because feeling embarrassed by how much one is eating and feeling disgusted with oneself, depressed, or very guilty afterward. Don’t worry! There is treatment that can help! The variety of treatments include medications and therapy. Binge eating isn’t just about eating two pizzas and a box of donuts every hour until you pass out its much more than that, its psychological. At East Bay Area Therapy, we work with Binge-Eating Disorder issues, as well as other compulsive problems with food.
East Bay Area Therapy Honors Past and Present LGBTQ+ Clients for more than just PRIDE month!6/21/2019  East Bay Area Therapy honors past and present LGBTQ+ individuals, couples, and families who have graced our doors with their stories of pain, perseverance, and triumph. We have watch courageous individuals come out of the closet...sometimes one toe at a time. We have a specialization in working with LGTBQ+ people of color who come from religious backgrounds and we have conducted countless sessions of family therapy with unaccepting, accepting, and ambivalent family members. We have helped married same-sex and transgender/cisgender couples through queer couples therapy work together toward a more peaceful union. We have witnessed the incredible wins of gay, lesbian, and transgender asylum seekers and immigrants in their immigration cases with the assistance of a psychological evaluation. At East Bay Area Therapy, the rainbow does not end and we embrace, support, and celebrate the vast diversity of the LGBTQ+ community year round....in English and Spanish!
I am so excited to announce my eight-lecture Adios Anxiety Video Series Course on Udemy.com! Adios Anxiety: A Video Series Course incorporates education, research-based theory, coping skills, and -in-course practice of newly learned stress and anxiety management techniques. This course offers stress reduction, teaches mindfulness meditation , builds coping skills, and offers in-course relaxation exercises. It is designed for those who would like to learn about psychological principles from a real licensed psychotherapist apply easy-to-learn skills right away. The course focuses on material that would be best helpful for anyone struggling with stress, anxiety, and panic attacks. TO TAKE THE COURSE, VISIT: https://www.udemy.com/share/100WGz Please note that this course is not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any disease, mental disorder, or illness. Always seek consultation from a physician should you have any questions about stress, anxiety, or curiosity if this course may be right for you. Do not operate a motor vehicle while viewing this course, as it applies strategies for stress and anxiety-reduction that may promote drowsiness.  Grace "Graciela" Pacheco, MFT y Oswaldo Martin (interprete de Mam) Quetzal Lingua Interpreting and Publishing hablan en español y Mam sobre la cultura mam Maya, el racismo contra ellos, la salud mental, Dios, el alcoholismo y la inmigración. Todos estos temas son importantes para poner en una plataforma como Youtube y empezar la platica sobre esta cultura muy única y bonita. Surround yourself with relationships you want to prioritize. Because you're the boss of your own mental health and quality of life.  Did you know that Grace Pacheco, M.A., MFT of |
| Single and happy....or feeling lonely... Attached and in love... unhappily married...arguing with your partner... None of that matters. TODAY is the DAY! DO something loving for yourself! After all, you have seen yourself through the struggle, heartaches, the triumphs, the joy, the pain...you know the depths of your own darkness and the brightness of your radiant light. YOU have been the most loyal to yourself. YOU are the one you have been waiting for. YOU are your very own ride or die.... IT'S TIME to show yourself some LOVE. YOU deserve only the best loving treatment. YOU know exactly what you want and need on a day like today. |  |
Take a hot bath, get a massage, take a weekend trip, watch your favorite movie, indulge with a delectable treat, or unplug....whatever it may be...make sure to honor yourself.
Happy Valentines Days from East Bay Area Therapy.
At East Bay Area Therapy, we rejoice in the incredible diversity in the pan- African community of the San Francisco Bay Area. We recognize that there is massive variation in preference in identity, culture, level of self-acceptance, and internalized oppression through personal anecdotes, education, research, and psychological practice with our amazing clients. As a practice who welcomes and regularly works with individuals who identify as Black, African-American, Caribbean, and as African-Immigrants, we exclaim Thank You! to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for his invaluable role in furthering the positive mental wellness for the pan-African community. We know that discrimination and oppression have a severely harmful effect on mental health and stand for racial justice and restitution.
According to a video by Goalcast (https://www.goalcast.com/2017/09/12/martin-luther-king-story/), Martin Luther King was a child who suffered from episodes of severe depression. He was deeply emotionally affected by racial discrimination, oppression of African-Americans and the pan-African community, and witnessed atrocities towards him, his family, and towards those who shared his African heritage. He made his first suicide attempt around the age of 12, when he jumped out of a second-story window. He made a second suicide attempt before the age of 13, as well.
As with many people who suffer from mental health struggles, he was extremely intelligent, innovative, and was passionate about making a change in the world. He tirelessly fought for justice for the oppressed and stayed focused on his DREAM. He achieved academic excellence by earning his doctorate degree at a very young age (while dealing with depression, too!) and visited India to study a non-violent approach to civil disobedience. He knew that the guidance he was seeking could be found in a collaboration between cultures!
East Bay Area therapy prides itself on being a practice that utilizes culturally conscious counseling, and maintains a safe environment for members of oppressed communities, not limited to race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, legal status, ability & disability, and any other ways in which a beautiful human being can be wrongly and unjustly mistreated in this world.
Dr. King, thank you for making it possible to serve many pan-African clients at our practice, East Bay Area Therapy. We are proud to serve African-American, black, Caribbean, and African-immigrant clients with humility, research–based evaluation and treatment strategies, and continuously reflect on our areas of privilege, powerlessness, and how we can use our given privileges to further the wellness of the pan-African community as a whole.
According to a video by Goalcast (https://www.goalcast.com/2017/09/12/martin-luther-king-story/), Martin Luther King was a child who suffered from episodes of severe depression. He was deeply emotionally affected by racial discrimination, oppression of African-Americans and the pan-African community, and witnessed atrocities towards him, his family, and towards those who shared his African heritage. He made his first suicide attempt around the age of 12, when he jumped out of a second-story window. He made a second suicide attempt before the age of 13, as well.
As with many people who suffer from mental health struggles, he was extremely intelligent, innovative, and was passionate about making a change in the world. He tirelessly fought for justice for the oppressed and stayed focused on his DREAM. He achieved academic excellence by earning his doctorate degree at a very young age (while dealing with depression, too!) and visited India to study a non-violent approach to civil disobedience. He knew that the guidance he was seeking could be found in a collaboration between cultures!
East Bay Area therapy prides itself on being a practice that utilizes culturally conscious counseling, and maintains a safe environment for members of oppressed communities, not limited to race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, legal status, ability & disability, and any other ways in which a beautiful human being can be wrongly and unjustly mistreated in this world.
Dr. King, thank you for making it possible to serve many pan-African clients at our practice, East Bay Area Therapy. We are proud to serve African-American, black, Caribbean, and African-immigrant clients with humility, research–based evaluation and treatment strategies, and continuously reflect on our areas of privilege, powerlessness, and how we can use our given privileges to further the wellness of the pan-African community as a whole.
Trigger Warning: Strong content about sexual assault, human sexual slavery, and severe forms of human exploitation
Grace Pacheco, M.A., MFT presents educational material and case examples focused on severe forms of sexual abuse for the psychology graduate students at JFK University in Pleasant Hill, California. She discusses sexual assault, human slavery, exploitation, and captivity, and how they manifest in three complex case examples. She shares about working with persons who are transgender, sex workers, sexual offenders, Christian, lesbian, and focuses on the unique experience for a black lesbian Christian client.
She shares briefly about her relational style with her clients, the use of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and offers valuable concepts from Christian-based book, The Wounded Heart: Hope for Adult Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse by David Allender and Karen Lee-Thorp.
Grace Pacheco, M.A., MFT is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) in Pinoles, CA who specializes in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of severe anxiety and trauma-and-stressor disorders. She has unique training and experience with Christian queer people of color with a variety of intersecting oppressed identities.
Disorders Discussed: Bulimia, Exhibitionism & Paraphilias, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Grace Pacheco, M.A., MFT presents educational material and case examples focused on severe forms of sexual abuse for the psychology graduate students at JFK University in Pleasant Hill, California. She discusses sexual assault, human slavery, exploitation, and captivity, and how they manifest in three complex case examples. She shares about working with persons who are transgender, sex workers, sexual offenders, Christian, lesbian, and focuses on the unique experience for a black lesbian Christian client.
She shares briefly about her relational style with her clients, the use of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and offers valuable concepts from Christian-based book, The Wounded Heart: Hope for Adult Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse by David Allender and Karen Lee-Thorp.
Grace Pacheco, M.A., MFT is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) in Pinoles, CA who specializes in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of severe anxiety and trauma-and-stressor disorders. She has unique training and experience with Christian queer people of color with a variety of intersecting oppressed identities.
Disorders Discussed: Bulimia, Exhibitionism & Paraphilias, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
How to Take a Shower with Disabling Depression
When one is going through disabling depression, there isn't a whole lot of motivation to do much of anything. The most obvious and measurable basic self-care activities are things like feeding ourselves, bathing ourselves, brushing our teeth, changing our dirty clothing, hygienic toileting… you get the point.
All of these things become compromised when we feel depressed at a disabling level. High functioning and moderate functioning depression are certainly valid in their own struggles and levels of functional loss. We are not, however, going to discuss moderate or high functioning depression in today's blog. There are plenty of articles throughout the internet on those levels of depression.
When depression becomes disabling is when days go by in bed and we have no clue if it's Monday or Thursday.
These are times when we've been wearing the same shirt for a few days — but we aren't exactly sure how many.
We start to tell the time by how light it is or how dark it is through the window. Time becomes simplified to daytime or nighttime.
The amount of days it has been since one showered is often measured by the amount of visible grease and sweat in our hair (glamorous, I know), comments from other people, or through whiffs of ourselves in passing moments.
All of these things become compromised when we feel depressed at a disabling level. High functioning and moderate functioning depression are certainly valid in their own struggles and levels of functional loss. We are not, however, going to discuss moderate or high functioning depression in today's blog. There are plenty of articles throughout the internet on those levels of depression.
When depression becomes disabling is when days go by in bed and we have no clue if it's Monday or Thursday.
These are times when we've been wearing the same shirt for a few days — but we aren't exactly sure how many.
We start to tell the time by how light it is or how dark it is through the window. Time becomes simplified to daytime or nighttime.
The amount of days it has been since one showered is often measured by the amount of visible grease and sweat in our hair (glamorous, I know), comments from other people, or through whiffs of ourselves in passing moments.
Motivation
It can be very hard to even get motivated before discussing The How of taking a shower. Many people might exclaim, shower? For what? I'm not going anywhere! What's the point? I will feel the same afterwards!
Those of us psychological nerds who study human behavior and psychology, and think about it all the time (AKA Me!), are aware of a couple handy principles that can be applied from an "old school" area of early psychology.... Operant Conditioning.
Even though many depressed people prefer to spend most of their day in their bed and do not necessarily want to get out of bed, they will get out of bed to either directly reduce a negative stimulus (or feeling) that they feel inside of their bodies or add a positive stimulus (or feeling). See below:
A. A depressed person gets out of bed to use the restroom, aiming to decrease discomfort (negative stimulus) that one experiences from holding urine or feces inside of one's body.
B. A depressed person who lays in bed all day may get up out of bed to binge eat on the ice cream in the freezer, to increase positive feelings (positive stimulus) in the body.
Yes, it can be very tricky when somebody claims they don't care about anything. Given that, how can one decrease or increase anything?
I call BS!
I know that there are always things that humans want to increase or decrease, based on our universal traits.
Those of us psychological nerds who study human behavior and psychology, and think about it all the time (AKA Me!), are aware of a couple handy principles that can be applied from an "old school" area of early psychology.... Operant Conditioning.
Even though many depressed people prefer to spend most of their day in their bed and do not necessarily want to get out of bed, they will get out of bed to either directly reduce a negative stimulus (or feeling) that they feel inside of their bodies or add a positive stimulus (or feeling). See below:
A. A depressed person gets out of bed to use the restroom, aiming to decrease discomfort (negative stimulus) that one experiences from holding urine or feces inside of one's body.
B. A depressed person who lays in bed all day may get up out of bed to binge eat on the ice cream in the freezer, to increase positive feelings (positive stimulus) in the body.
Yes, it can be very tricky when somebody claims they don't care about anything. Given that, how can one decrease or increase anything?
I call BS!
I know that there are always things that humans want to increase or decrease, based on our universal traits.
Method
So, the seemingly simple method for motivating ourselves or loved ones to take a shower are to provide an incentive which may be negative or positive.
Lets take two ways:
1. Increase a negative stimulus to make NOT showering intolerable
2. Increase a positive stimulus to make showering tolerable
Lets take two ways:
1. Increase a negative stimulus to make NOT showering intolerable
2. Increase a positive stimulus to make showering tolerable
How to Make NOT Showering Intolerable
Change your bed sheets to clean sheets. Getting back into them with dirty hair, body, and clothing will feel uncomfortable. Some people say that it promotes an urge to shower so that one can feel that total "fresh and new" feeling.
- Exercise 1: Smell your armpits by lifting them up and directly sniffing them three times in a row. This will orient you to how you smell (which you may not have noticed) and increase motivation to get rid of the unpleasant odor
- Exercise 2: Think about the bacteria that may be on your genitals or living on the inside of your butt. Set a timer for one minute (on your cell phone) and focus on how these regions probably may smell, how it might look under a microscope, how it might feel if you did not wash her hands after touching each region. This one is pretty rough but often does the trick.
- Exercise 3: Look at yourself in the mirror, in your camera's selfie mode on your phone, and examine the area where dirt typically collects on your body. Some people collect dirt in the folds of their neck, others use a cotton swab to examine the quantity and color depth of yellow buildup in their ears, and others look at the bottoms of their feet. Perhaps, all three might be a good start.
Make Showering Tolerable
| Turn on the music that you would like to shower to before you get in using a cell phone, speaker, or waterproof speaker inside the shower. Make sure you choose something that you like. |  |
Make it Quick and Easy
- Tell yourself that you don't even have to stand up. People who have been in bed all day prefer to be seated, lying down, and often feel lethargic. Sit on the ground inside the shower and let the water run over you.
- Eliminate overwhelm by making the process of bathing simple. Forget shaving, exfoliation, conditioner, face masks or any of the things that you did when you felt better. The goal of the shower is simply to get clean.
- Choose one cleansing product — shampoo, body wash, soap — and that's all you have to use. Start with your hair and soap it up at least one time. Forget the conditioner.
- Put your chosen cleanser on a washcloth and, starting with your face. Rub the washcloth down all of your torso and limbs and end with your butt. Do not reuse the washcloth.
Wishing everyone suds and bubbles,
Grace
I am overjoyed to announce that one of my inspirational clients has been granted asylum in the United States of America. This individual, who just so happens to be a transwoman, demonstrates what it means to be a woman by exhibiting profound internal strength, mental endurance, a passion for life, the ability to rise up through the darkest despair, and an uncanny ability to hold her head up high through some of the most excruciating moments of existence. Transwomen are so severely mistreated, abused, and tortured all over the world — the United States is not an exception. However, there are certain laws and rights that do protect transwomen, transmen, and others who do not subscribe to a binary gender.
After suffering from verbal abuse, physical violence, sexual violence, severe childhood neglect, torture, threats, and hate crimes — without even minimal protection from law enforcement (they actually were perpetrators of assault) nor safe family members, this asylum-seeking transwoman has received that what she already deserved as her birthright — asylum in the United States. Like all of the colorful hummingbirds who stop at East Bay Area Therapy for a short sip of nectar, may she fly!
After suffering from verbal abuse, physical violence, sexual violence, severe childhood neglect, torture, threats, and hate crimes — without even minimal protection from law enforcement (they actually were perpetrators of assault) nor safe family members, this asylum-seeking transwoman has received that what she already deserved as her birthright — asylum in the United States. Like all of the colorful hummingbirds who stop at East Bay Area Therapy for a short sip of nectar, may she fly!
East Bay Area Therapy provides psychological evaluations for immigrants with various types of legal immigration cases not limited to U Visa, asylum, the extreme hardship waiiver (I-601A, I-601, I-929), VAWA, T Visa. All services are provided by Grace Pacheco, M.A., MFT, a liicensed psychotherapist in the state of California who is fluent in both English and Spanish languages. She commonly works with interpreters who speak languages from around the world and has access to interpreters who speak Mayan indigenous languages (Mam, K'iche'), Brazilian Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Tagalog, Hindi, Arabic, and more.
To learn more about psychological evaluations, click the button below:
To learn more about psychological evaluations, click the button below:
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists Supports Keeping Families Together
12/7/2018
As a lifetime member of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) and one of the few bilingual Spanish speaking MFT's in the San Francisco Bay Area, it is validating and exciting to see CAMFT taking a public stance on keeping families together.
I frequently work with immigrants who request a psychological evaluation as part of an immigration case. Some immigrants are facing deportation and will be separated from their spouses and/or children, others are terrified to return to their countries of origin where a threat to safety is imminent, and others have been victims of violent crime in the United States and have helped U.S. law enforcement identify a violent criminal.
East Bay Area Therapy is owned by Grace Pacheco, M.A., MFT, a bilingual psychotherapist who often provides expert court testimony at San Francisco Immigration Court. She is thoroughly aware of the positive effects of a social support group on mental disorders, the value of physically intact families among those from collectivist cultures, and the risks that a loss of of a support system poses to one's mental health and general well-being.
Grace Pacheco, M.A., MFT is a adamant supporter of human rights, the right to a fair and just trial for all, and the availability of health services available in one's language of choice. She speaks fluent Spanish and English and has access to language interpreters who speak Haitian Creole, Mayan languages (Mam & K'iche'), Brazilian Portuguese, Tigrinya, Arabic, and others to offer the best standard of care for immigrants from all over the world.
I frequently work with immigrants who request a psychological evaluation as part of an immigration case. Some immigrants are facing deportation and will be separated from their spouses and/or children, others are terrified to return to their countries of origin where a threat to safety is imminent, and others have been victims of violent crime in the United States and have helped U.S. law enforcement identify a violent criminal.
East Bay Area Therapy is owned by Grace Pacheco, M.A., MFT, a bilingual psychotherapist who often provides expert court testimony at San Francisco Immigration Court. She is thoroughly aware of the positive effects of a social support group on mental disorders, the value of physically intact families among those from collectivist cultures, and the risks that a loss of of a support system poses to one's mental health and general well-being.
Grace Pacheco, M.A., MFT is a adamant supporter of human rights, the right to a fair and just trial for all, and the availability of health services available in one's language of choice. She speaks fluent Spanish and English and has access to language interpreters who speak Haitian Creole, Mayan languages (Mam & K'iche'), Brazilian Portuguese, Tigrinya, Arabic, and others to offer the best standard of care for immigrants from all over the world.
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Check out the article on CAMFT's support of keeping families together, at the link below:
www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/california-association-of-marriage-and-family-therapists-supports-keeping-families-together-300667700.html
Adios Anxiety Group will begin on March 11, 2019
at East Bay Area Therapy
Every Monday evening at 6:30PM.
Adios Anxiety Group will be starting on March 11, 2019 at East Bay Area Therapy in the city of Pinole, CA. The group will be held on Monday evenings from 6:00PM to 7:30PM. This group incorporates education & research about anxiety, mindfulness meditation training, building coping skills, and relaxation exercises. It is designed for those struggling with stress, anxiety, and panic attacks.
The therapeutic group will be facilitated by Grace Pacheco, M.A., MFT #90751, a licensed psychotherapist who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and those living with moderate to severe levels of anxiety and trauma-induced mental health issues.
Please note that the office is located on the second floor of a building up a flight of stairs. Those with mobility impairments who would like to access to this Adios Anxiety Group are absolutely welcomed to coordinate with Grace Pacheco, M.A., MFT.
This is an LGBTQIA+ affirming practice.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
After payment, you will receive an e-mail containing administrative forms, office policy agreements, directions & parking information, and the door code.
Thank You,
Grace Pacheco, M.A., MFT
The therapeutic group will be facilitated by Grace Pacheco, M.A., MFT #90751, a licensed psychotherapist who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and those living with moderate to severe levels of anxiety and trauma-induced mental health issues.
Please note that the office is located on the second floor of a building up a flight of stairs. Those with mobility impairments who would like to access to this Adios Anxiety Group are absolutely welcomed to coordinate with Grace Pacheco, M.A., MFT.
This is an LGBTQIA+ affirming practice.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
After payment, you will receive an e-mail containing administrative forms, office policy agreements, directions & parking information, and the door code.
Thank You,
Grace Pacheco, M.A., MFT
Oasis Legal Services is hosting a free Asylum Law Training on Saturday, February 24, 2018 from 9am to 12pm. The training will cover the basics of Asylum Law, how to represent clients in affirmative asylum interviews, and include a discussion with licensed psychotherapist Grace Pacheco, M.A., MFT, regarding the use of psychological evaluations in asylum cases. We would love for you to join us.
Oasis Legal Services proudly provides quality legal immigration services to under-represented low-income groups with a focus on LGBTQIA+ communities. We provide comprehensive legal services to assist LGBTQIA+ immigrants, including screening for immigration relief, affirmative asylum, residency, citizenship, and family petitions.
We are building our Pro Bono Attorney Program and will have information at the training about how you can participate."
Oasis Legal Services proudly provides quality legal immigration services to under-represented low-income groups with a focus on LGBTQIA+ communities. We provide comprehensive legal services to assist LGBTQIA+ immigrants, including screening for immigration relief, affirmative asylum, residency, citizenship, and family petitions.
We are building our Pro Bono Attorney Program and will have information at the training about how you can participate."
