Vesna Westbrook, MA, CPC

I strongly believe that philosophy and spirituality offer important tools to help us navigate life. My counseling approach integrates philosophy, spirituality, and creativity with transpersonal psychology.

I hold a Dual M.A. degree in Philosophy and Comparative Religion, with an additional degree in Creative Writing, from the University of Tübingen in my native Germany. I graduated with a thesis on change within the belief system, and how counselors and therapists can work with belief systems to facillitate change.

During that time, I completed a PhD exchange at SUNY at Stony Brook, NY. I was then admitted to a PhD program in Theoretical Philosophy back in Germany to support my further research into belief system dynamics. As excited as I was to be diving deeper into research, it was requested that my dissertation be strictly theoretical, and to leave out any practical considerations for the counseling process. I responded by transitioning out of academia (for now,) and opening my practice for philosophical and spiritual counseling.

I became a certified philosophical practitioner through the American Philosophical Practitioners Association (APPA.) I am an adjunct member of APPA, the National Philosophical Counseling Association (NPCA,) and the International Society for Philosophical Practice (IGPP.)

I have recently begun studying to become an MFT/LPCC at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS.)
My practice is based in the San Francisco Bay Area in California, but sessions are also available over the phone, Skype, and Hangouts.