Adriana Martinez, LCSW, PPSC
Therapist in Berkeley & Walnut Creek, CA

Adriana Martinez - therapist in Walnut Creek, Berkeley, online throughout California
Adriana Martinez - therapist in Walnut Creek, Berkeley, online throughout California

(She/Her/Ella)
Founder | (LCSW, PPSC) | Bilingual Therapist (English/Spanish)

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Specialties

  • Trauma and Complex PTSD (EMDR therapy and EMDR intensives)

  • Anxiety and Depression

  • Attachment and Intergenerational Trauma

  • Immigration Psychological Evaluations

  • Clinical Supervision and EMDR Consultation for clinicians

Client Focus

  • Adults, especially high-functioning adults who look fine and are not

  • First-Generation, Bicultural, and Immigrant Individuals

  • Eldest Daughters and the Ones Everyone Leans On

  • Neurodivergent Adults

  • Clients seeking EMDR intensives or immigration evaluations

Services / Modalities

  • EMDR Therapy (weekly and intensive formats)

  • Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Parts Work

  • Trauma-Informed, Somatic-Aware Care

  • Culturally Responsive, Anti-Oppressive Practice

  • Immigration Psychological Evaluations

  • Compassionate Inquiry (developed by Dr. Gabor Maté)

Education, Licenses, and Trainings

Degrees

  • Master of Social Work, California State University, East Bay

  • Justice Studies, San Jose State University

Licenses

  • Licensed Clinical Social Worker, LCSW #75597

  • Pupil Personnel Services Credential (PPSC)

Certifications & Specialized Trainings

  • EMDR Certified

  • EMDRIA Approved Consultant-in-Training

  • IFS - Trained

  • Board Certified Diplomate in Clinical Social Work

Working with me

You look like you have it together, and you probably mostly do.

Maybe you have been told you don't have trauma because nothing dramatic happened. Maybe you grew up in a family that loved you loudly and still couldn't quite see you, where the parties were great and the yelling started when the music stopped, where you learned early that being needed was safer than needing. Maybe you have done the reading, tried the apps, maybe even done some therapy, and you can explain your patterns cognitively and still can't get your body to stop reacting. If that is you, I want you to know two things. None of that means you are broken.

I am a trauma therapist, and I specialize in EMDR, including EMDR intensives for people who would rather do a half day or a full day of deep work than reopen the same wound every week for fifty minutes. I use parts work alongside it, because most of us walk in with a part that keeps everyone safe, a part that is exhausted, and a part that is quietly starting to ask what we actually want. We get to know all of them. We never start with the hardest thing, and you never have to retell every detail out loud. You set the pace, and I mean that.

I also work from the inside of this. I am a proud Mexicana, an eldest daughter, a breast cancer survivor, and a neurodivergent clinician who has needed EMDR herself and still does the work. I know what it is like to carry a family's expectations, and I know what it is like to be called too much. So when I say I see you, it's because I have sat with hundreds of people who are you.

With me, therapy is a real conversation. I am warm, direct, and I will laugh with you and tell you the truth when you need it, lovingly. I do swear in sessions. I invite your culture, your family, your faith or lack of it, and your language (English, Spanish, or both in the same sentence) to be welcome in the room. You don't have to explain yourself here, and you don't have to earn your space in the therapy room by falling apart first.

Experience

Adriana Martínez is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and the founder and clinical director of Tonalli Therapy & Consulting, a bilingual, BIPOC-centered group practice in Berkeley and Walnut Creek. She is EMDR trained and integrates Internal Family Systems and parts work in her trauma treatment, with a focus on complex PTSD, attachment trauma, and the intergenerational patterns that run through immigrant and first-generation families. Alongside weekly therapy, she offers EMDR intensives and conducts bilingual immigration psychological evaluations for asylum, hardship waiver, U visa, VAWA, and cancellation of removal cases.

Adriana holds a Pupil Personnel Services Credential and has spent over 15 years in school-based mental health. She consults with K-12 districts across California on building and billing school wellness programs under the state's CYBHI initiative, so that more students can get care where they already are. She also provides clinical supervision to associates working toward licensure and EMDR consultation to clinicians pursuing certification. Adriana sees clients in English and Spanish, in person in Berkeley and online throughout California, and her own clinical caseload is reserved for EMDR intensives and evaluations.

Outside the Office

I am a Virgo who is in bed by 9 pm even on weekends, and I am not sorry about it. I can be social for about five minutes before I need to disappear. I am neurodivergent, and I have learned to love myself because of it, not in spite of it. I am a breast cancer survivor, which rearranged my priorities in ways I am still grateful for. I recharge with delicious food (usually my mom’s) and love to move my body, and I hate when I feel like I don’t have enough. Soccer is life (though, I am retired). Currently into heated yoga.

If you're looking for a therapist in Berkeley, Walnut Creek or anywhere in California, Adriana offers a free 15-minute consultation to see if the fit feels right. Reach out to book a consultation here.