Catarina Ahlvik-Garrison
APCC #18936
Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley & Watsonville
Medi-Cal & Insurance provider
As a therapist I aim to help you feel better prepared to address life transitions. To find calm and clarity with the unknown. I hope to help you slow down to navigate your inner landscape, in a safe, non-judgmental space. My approach to therapy is warm, compassionate and holistic. I am a trauma-informed, trained Somatic Psychotherapist and I offer a blend of Hakomi, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Focusing and Authentic Movement. The majority of therapy is done in a meditative space supporting somatic awareness.
Somatic Psychotherapy is an approach to depth psychology where we enter the subconscious and superconscious/elevated consciousness states through the body. In therapy sessions I will often guide you to become aware of the sensations, feelings, emotions and shifts happening in your body. Through a deepening into the felt sense of the body, old memories, images and important associations can be uncovered. This approach to psychotherapy believes that your body and being holds innate wisdom and a movement towards healing.
I am currently finalizing my MA in Somatic Psychology at California Institute of Integral Studies. I hold a PhD in Management and Organization, with a focus on mindfulness in the organizational setting. I am also a certified yoga and meditation teacher and have taught 1000+ private yoga and meditation classes in corporate settings, to K-12 teachers, retreat settings and to middle school, high school and college students. I lived two years at an Ashram, to fully immerse myself in a yogic lifestyle.
I am originally from Finland and I’m happy to offer therapy in Swedish or Finnish. I continuously dedicate time to my own inner exploration and unfolding. I take 6 weeks off from my therapy practice each summer (July to mid-August) to allow for a complete reset.
Degrees and Certifications
2024 Hakomi Mindful Somatic Psychotherapy Profession Level 2
2024 MA Somatic Psychology, California Institute of Integral Studies
2023 Hakomi Mindful Somatic Psychotherapy Professional Level 1
2022 Mindful Self-Compassion Teens (MSC-Teens) teacher
2019 PhD (Econ) in Management and Organization, with a focus on Mindfulness in the Organizational setting
2019 Life Design facilitator, Stanford University
2016 Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) teacher
2016 Ananda Spiritual Counselor
2015 Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher
2014 Ananda Meditation teacher
Request an Appointment
To Request an Appointment at Shine a Light or NPCC, please fill out this form. We respond to inquiries Monday through Friday. All inquiries we receive on the weekends or holidays will be processed the next business day. Thank you for your patience. If you need immediate services, please call 911.
New Office in San Francisco!
Shine a Light Counseling Center is please to merge with New Perspectives Center for Counseling. NPCC has been serving the San Francisco community for thirty years. Now NPCC is transitioning to become the San Francisco site for Shine a Light. NPCC will retain its name, character and history. For information about NPCC or counseling in San Francisco:
New Perspectives Center for Counseling (link)
Emergency Contact
Shine a Light does not provide crisis services. If you have a mental health emergency, call 988 or 911. Or click here for more Crisis Resources
Telephone Contact
You can call Shine a Light at 831-996-1222, but we encourage you to use the email forms to the left. If you call, please leave the following:
- Phone number
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- Issue you want help with
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FAX us at: 831-417-0443
Good Faith Estimate
You have the right to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” explaining how much your therapy sessions will cost. Your fee will be set according to a sliding scale, in collaboration with your therapist, prior to your first counseling session. Total costs depend upon the number of sessions you choose to utilize.
If you have private health insurance and we are not in-network with your plan, please be aware that your costs for therapy may be less by using an in-network provider. This will depend upon your plan's deductible amounts and co-payments. In some cases, counseling at Shine a Light is less costly than using private insurance.
If you hope to use "out of network" benefits through your private insurance, please be aware that many plans will not reimburse for services provided by trainees. Please request an Associate level therapists for out-of-network billing.
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