About

Hello, my name is Jason Shepherd and I'm a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who is passionate about providing services online to people in need. I earned my Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley, California, in 2009, and I have been a qualified clinical supervisor since 2016. My areas of focus are substance use, systemic and acute trauma, and self-esteem/identity challenges. I primarily utilize Narrative Therapy and Motivational Interviewing, to help my clients review their own life stories and identify what elements they feel are most in need of change, then develop realistic, personally relevant plans to accomplish their goals.

From February 2018 to September 2019, I served as the Clinic Manager for Dore Urgent Care Clinic in San Francisco, California, where I provided counseling services to homeless or marginally-housed adults, many with chronic substance abuse and mental health problems, who were in need of stabilization for acute symptoms such as suicidal or homicidal thoughts, psychotic episodes, depressive/manic episodes, severe trauma, and personality disorders.

Previous to this I worked for Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center in Hayward, CA, as part of the School-Based Behavioral Health program. From 2013 through 2015 I served as a school-based therapist, providing individual and family therapy to youths aged 11-14. I helped my clients and their families respond to stressors such as depression, anxiety, trauma (including systemic trauma such as discrimination and poverty), conflicts, academic struggles, substance use, and prodromal psychosis. In January 2015 I became the Quality Assurance Specialist for the program, providing documentation oversight and guidance to clinical staff, and in January 2017 I was promoted to Clinical Supervisor.

Prior to my work at Tiburcio Vasquez, I worked as a trainee at Pacific Center for Human Growth, an LGBTQ+ community center serving adults, children and families; as a Residential Counselor at Baker Places, Inc, serving dually-diagnosed adults with chronic substance use and mental health problems; and as a Forensic Clinician at HOPE Program and Sharper Future, Inc, working with adults mandated to treatment by the courts due to convictions for sex- or drug-related crimes. In each of these roles I worked with a diverse population of individuals across the spectrum of race, age, gender identity, sexuality, and income, and have developed an approach that is compassionate, culturally sensitive, and trauma-informed. I am both passionate about, and highly experienced in, working with those who have the greatest need and who experience difficulty accessing services via more “conventional” avenues (such as private pay services).