Summer Vilkins
Online & In-Person
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
Union City, California
License LMFT96062
www.summervilkins.comAbout Summer
Hey there! I’m Summer and I’m a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist based out of the San Francisco Bay Area. I work with children, adolescents, adults, and families, serving all of California virtually through Telehealth.
In my practice, I take a collaborative, client-centered, and strength-based approach toward healing. Honoring each client’s personal needs and intersecting identities is one of my top priorities and creates a foundation for my work. Through incorporating expressive arts, mindfulness, and embodiment, I empower you to explore and identify the patterns and behaviors that are no longer serving you.
Being a therapist brings me so much joy, and I feel that it’s an honor and a privilege to walk with people during their most vulnerable moments.
What's your experience with children or adolescents?
The majority of my experience is working with children and adolescents. As a former classroom teacher, a school based therapist and now in my private practice, I take a creative approach with consideration to the young client's social emotional development. I see my young clients as neither "good" nor "bad" - I leave the "problems" at the door and see my young clients as developing human beings who are trying to figure out this world (like the rest of us). I prefer for the child's caring adult to be involved in the process and offer parenting resources as needed.
Why did you become a therapist, and what motivates you to continue?
For most of my life, I wanted to be in a helping profession - I wanted to help people. Much like life, my path was not linear. I became a teacher and through this role, I noticed that most of my students and their families experienced many stressors and lacked the skills to cope with the stressors. Fast forward - the 2008 recession hit and I was laid off from my teaching position and decided to pursue a career as a marriage and family therapist. What motivates me to continue are the amazing and resilient clients I have had the honor of serving and supporting.
What should people thinking about working with you, know about you?
I’m a queer affirming therapist and am passionate about social justice, education, and working with the LGBTQIA+ community. I’ve intentionally created a space within my practice where my clients can feel safe and comfortable discussing their mental health without judgment. This allows us to work together to create their individual path toward wholeness and healing.
Interested in talking?
(510) 408-9979Specialties
Anger Management
Anxiety
Depression
Trauma and PTSD
Approaches
Experiential
Expressive Arts
Humanistic
Integrative
Mindfulness-Based (MBCT)