San Francisco · CaliforniaOnline Therapy in San Francisco
Serving San Francisco through secure telehealth.
Telehealth in the Bay AreaSan Francisco rewards productivity. The culture here runs on output, optimization, and the quiet assumption that you should always be performing at a high level. Many of the people I work with in the city are high-functioning — successful by every external measure — and exhausted underneath it.
The anxiety often doesn’t look like anxiety. It looks like constant planning, difficulty delegating, a mind that won’t stop running scenarios. It can look like relationships where you’re the steady one, the capable one, the one who holds everything together — while your own needs go unspoken. These patterns often have roots in early attachment dynamics, not in work culture alone.
Therapy that addresses anxiety at the nervous system level — rather than just the cognitive level — can reach the patterns that coping strategies and productivity hacks can’t, including the deeper wounds that often drive them. I offer individual and group therapy online for adults throughout California.
Meet EsmaI'm Esma Verma, LCSW
Esma Verma is a licensed psychotherapist and Brainspotting clinician offering individual and group therapy online for adults throughout California, including San Francisco and the Bay Area. She works integratively with Brainspotting, IFS, and somatic approaches to support clients navigating anxiety, complex trauma, and attachment-related patterns.
What I OfferTherapy Services in San Francisco
ServicesAdult Individual Therapy · Brainspotting Group Therapy
SpecialtiesAnxiety · Trauma · Attachment
ApproachBrainspotting, IFS, somatic work, CBT — integrative, nervous-system-informed
Details$325 / session (individual) · $97 / session (group) · Private pay · Out-of-network reimbursement via Mentaya
“Anxiety often has roots in how we learned to relate — to ourselves and to others. We slow down enough to notice what’s actually happening in the nervous system, so you can begin responding with more choice and less reactivity.”
Common questionsFAQ
How does online therapy work for clients in San Francisco?
All sessions are conducted via secure telehealth, so you can work with me from San Francisco or anywhere in the Bay Area without commuting to an office. Brainspotting, IFS, and somatic approaches all translate well to video — and many clients find that processing in their own space, where the nervous system is already in familiar surroundings, actually supports deeper work.
What is Brainspotting?
Brainspotting is a brain- and body-based therapy that works with the nervous system directly to access and process material that isn’t always reachable through talk therapy alone. Rather than relying on insight or analysis, Brainspotting uses your natural visual field to locate where emotional and somatic activation is held — and supports your nervous system in processing it at a pace that feels manageable.
How do I know if your approach is right for me?
If you’re navigating anxiety, attachment patterns, or trauma — and you sense that the root goes deeper than what coping strategies or productivity hacks can reach — this kind of integrative, nervous-system-informed work may be a good fit. Many of my clients in San Francisco have tried other approaches first. You’re welcome to reach out through the contact form and we can start with a conversation.
From the BlogThoughts on Therapy & Healing
Take the First StepReady to Stop Managing
and Start Healing?
You don’t need to have it all figured out. If what you’ve read resonates, you’re welcome to reach out through the contact form.