Ginna Oates, LMFT
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Director of School-Based Services
Ginna (she/her/hers) is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT 113974) who has been part of the Practice team since February of 2020. Ginna specializes in working with tweens, teens and their families.
Ginna uses a strength-based and holistic approach to create a safe space for individuals to find their unique gifts, challenge themselves and grow. She incorporates various evidence-based interventions such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), family systems, attachment theory and mindfulness to support a wide range of needs. She has received training in cognitive-behavioral therapy from the Beck Institute, and also has specialty training in the Yale University Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) approach.
In addition to offering individual therapy for teens and tweens, Ginna creates and leads adolescent groups focused on self-empowerment, effective communication and coping skills to manage stress, anxiety and depression. She integrates creative games and art to make learning these skills tangible and fun.
Ginna also offers parent coaching for parents of tweens and teens looking to support their teens in navigating the challenges of adolescence and in improving or sustaining parent-teen relationships.
Ginna received her Master’s in Counseling Psychology from The Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA. Before returning to school to become a therapist, Ginna was an Associate Teacher at Stuart Hall for Boys. She used the Whole Child approach to honor the uniqueness of each child and to create a positive and nurturing community. She integrated social emotional learning curriculum into the primary classroom in order to support students in developing a toolbox to increase self-regulation and to gain awareness of the mind-body connection.
Prior to joining the Practice team, Ginna worked as an individual and group therapist at McAuley, an outpatient educational and therapeutic program for adolescents at St. Mary’s Medical Center in San Francisco.
Ginna lives in San Francisco and enjoys spending time outdoors in the surrounding beautiful Bay Area.
