CREDENTIALS/DISCIPLINE: I am a licensed marriage and family therapist. I hold a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Expressive Arts Therapy. I am a certified Yoga instructor.
Number of years treating patients with eating disorders: 15+ years
Number of patients with eating disorders I treat annually: 20+
EDUCATION, TRAINING, and EXPERTISE: Suzannah (Tipermas) Neufeld has been a therapist supporting people coping with eating disorders, body image concerns, anxiety, and maternal mental health since 2003. She has worked in residential, intensive outpatient, and school settings, and has been in private practice since 2006. In 2015, Suzannah co-founded the Rockridge Wellness Center, a counseling and health collective in Oakland. She has performed speaking engagements widely on eating disorders, body image, media literacy, perinatal mood disorders, and yoga therapy for organizations such as California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT), Postpartum Support International (PSI), About-Face and City College of San Francisco.
Suzannah is also a certified yoga therapist, C-IAYT, having completed training at the Niroga Institute, and loves incorporating mindfulness and body/breath awareness into a creative and strength-based therapy approach.
Suzannah published her first book, Awake at 3 a.m.: Yoga Therapy for Anxiety and Depression in Pregnancy and Early Motherhood with Parallax Press in May 2018. She has also contributed a chapter about yoga and body image post-baby to the anthology Yoga Rising: 30 Empowering Stories from Renegades for Every Body by Melanie Klein.
TREATMENT PHILOSOPHY: I use a non-judgmental, creative approach that helps address both short-term goals and long-term underlying issues. Rather then encouraging clients to focus on “what is wrong with them,” I believe in helping clients figure out “what is right with them,” enabling clients to call upon their innate strength and wisdom. I meets client with a compassionate yet direct manner, using kindness, gentle and honest confrontation, and humor/playfulness to help clients gain perspective and live more fully and freely. My work with people with eating disorders is most influenced by the following approaches: dialectical behavior therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, somatic therapies/mindfulness/yoga. I practice both individual and family-based therapy for eating disorders, and enjoy working with a treatment team.
Yes, I feel you can recover from an eating disorder and I define recovery as: Recovery is the ability to live and respond to life creatively and skillfully. Recovery from eating disorders also involves maintaining health by nourishing and caring for oneself and one’s body.
FEES: Cash, Personal Checks, Sliding Scale. Provider out of the network” in a PPO: Patient needs to apply for reimbursement.