Understanding Your Patterns: Assessment & Therapy for Personality Functioning

Comprehensive psychological services for adults struggling with unstable relationships, unclear sense of self, emotional intensity, and difficulty maintaining life goals.

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Here's what I see often: people have been dealing with symptoms for years—sometimes since adolescence or early adulthood. They've tried therapy multiple times, maybe several medications. Things get somewhat better, but never quite resolve. Common patterns emerge: feeling like you never perform to the level you should or could, struggling to maintain consistency when things change around you, relationship difficulties, emotional intensity, confusion about who you are or what direction to take.

When mental health symptoms span years with only partial response to standard treatments, it often signals that something's being missed in the formulation. Frequently, that's personality functioning—how you experience yourself, pursue goals, understand others, and maintain relationships across different contexts.

That's where comprehensive assessment comes in. I use evidence-based diagnostic testing to clarify what's actually driving chronic patterns—so treatment can finally target the right things.

I'm a clinical psychologist specializing in assessment and therapy for adults with complex, longstanding presentations, particularly those involving personality functioning challenges (chronic pervasive distressing and impairing difficulties with self-esteem, self-direction, intimacy and empathy). I work with people across California who want diagnostic clarity before (or during) treatment.

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What Assessment Clarifies

Structured evaluation using clinical interviews, validated testing, and careful observation to clarify your diagnosis and understand what's keeping symptoms in place.

You'll receive:

  • A written diagnostic report with a clear clinical formulation

  • Specific treatment recommendations you can use with any provider

  • A feedback session where we can discuss everything thoroughly

Assessment can clarify:

  • Mood disorders (depression, bipolar spectrum)

  • Anxiety and trauma responses (PTSD, complex trauma)

  • ADHD and neurodevelopmental patterns

  • Personality functioning: how you experience yourself, pursue goals, understand others, and maintain relationships

  • Emotional dysregulation and intensity

  • Why previous treatment might not have worked

Timeline: Multiple testing sessions over several weeks

Note on fees: I'm out-of-network with insurance, but I use Mentaya to help clients submit claims automatically and get reimbursed. Most clients get 62% back on therapy. You can check your exact benefits using the Mentaya widget on my Fees & Policies page.

Your Assessment Results

Start treatment with clarity - Give your provider a comprehensive formulation from day one

Improve current treatment - Help your existing provider understand what's been missing

Get appropriate referrals - Know exactly what kind of specialist or treatment you need

Make informed decisions - Understand whether medication, DBT, trauma work, or other approaches make sense

Advocate for yourself - Have documentation for accommodations, disability, or treatment planning

Many clients complete assessment with me and then use the results to guide their treatment decisions. Some find new providers. Others use results with their current providers or to find specialized care elsewhere.

This Approach Might Be a Good Fit If

  • You feel like you never quite perform to the level you should or could—across work, relationships, hobbies, and daily life

  • You struggle to maintain consistent performance and are really impacted when things change in your context or environment

  • You've been dealing with mental health symptoms for years—maybe since adolescence or early adulthood—with only partial relief

  • Treatment helps for a while, but the same patterns keep returning

  • You've tried multiple therapists or medications with limited lasting success

  • You experience recurring relationship difficulties or emotional intensity that disrupts your life

  • You've been in treatment before and it helped some, but not enough

  • You've gotten different diagnoses from different providers over the years

  • Your symptoms don't seem to fit neatly into one category

  • You struggle with an unstable sense of who you are

  • You have difficulty maintaining close relationships or keep repeating the same relationship patterns

  • You self-sabotage when pursuing important goals

  • You'd rather have a roadmap before committing to long-term treatment

  • You want to help your providers understand you better

  • You're choosing between treatment options and need clarity first

This probably isn't the right fit if:

  • You're in crisis and need immediate support (I don't provide emergency services)

  • You need forensic or legal evaluation

What Happens Next

Some people use their assessment to:

  • Find a provider who specializes in their specific diagnosis (like DBT for emotion regulation, trauma-focused treatment, or mentalization-based therapy for personality patterns)

  • Return to their current provider with new information

  • Pursue medication evaluation with clearer diagnostic information

  • Access specialized programs (DBT, trauma treatment, personality-focused therapy)

  • Get workplace or academic accommodations

  • Simply understand themselves better

For select clients, I also offer specialized therapy when assessment reveals they would benefit from treatments I provide, including mentalization-based approaches for personality functioning (problems with self-esteem, self-direction, intimacy and empathy), DBT-informed treatment for emotion dysregulation, exposure-based CBT for anxiety, and evidence-based trauma treatment.

I provide referrals and recommendations based on your results. You take the results and use them however makes sense for your situation.