Welcome.

Reaching out for help can make you feel embarrassed, scared, and vulnerable. You have taken a difficult first step simply by landing on this site in hopes of finding a provider who is a good fit for you. 

This suggests that you are ready to take the next steps towards creating a more balanced, expansive, and satisfying life. Some part of you knows you deserve to be cherished and supported.

In working with me, we will collaborate to cultivate compassion, connection, and commitment towards yourself and others. 

Services

Coaching

 

Life coaching is future focused.

There is no diagnosis or medical model based assessment needed.

Coaching is a space in which you can feel empowered to change your life with effective tools, techniques, and specific action plans. You can learn to better communicate your wants and needs, and discover ways to be kinder to yourself and others. 

You already possess the tools to make positive changes in the mental, emotional, physical and spiritual aspects of your life - you just need someone to teach you how to wield them. Working with a coach is an opportunity to create specific, measurable, meaningful, achievable, realistic, and timely goals so that you can find direction and work towards balance. 

Therapy

 

Sometimes the past has a way of informing your present day so much that the type of change which coaching facilitates may not be accessible to you. In that case, therapy may be invaluable.

 

Therapy offers you the chance to work with a state licensed professional skilled in diagnosing and treating negative cognitions, behaviors, maladaptive attachment patterns, and relational issues. 

 

In working with me as your therapist, we will have the opportunity to focus on how your past traumas are impacting you today, and discover ways to re-process these events so you can live a more expansive life.

 

Therapy provides a non-judgmental setting in which you can learn to overcome familiar patterns by being witnessed and heard, and acquire tools and develop skills to improve your mental health. Working together, I can guide you to recognize and regulate your emotions, discover new, better, and more effective coping mechanisms, and move from dysfunction to function. 

Meet

Rowan Levy 

(they/he)

I'm White, queer, and trans-masculine gender queer, and was born and raised in the suburbs of  Philadelphia. I lived in Oakland, CA between 2014-2020, and have happily created a landing place and home in Philly again. Even before I began pursuing a career in counseling, I practiced as a photographer, and still do today. Regardless of which hat I'm wearing, I tend to work in the spaces between shadow and light, and seek creative ways to redirect and shift focus.

According to my clients, I show up as a creative, thoughtful, grounded and compassionate sounding board and guide. It is vitally important to me to bring integrity, playfulness, spaciousness, insight, and earnest curiosity into every session.  

We are often taught to separate our intellect from our  emotions. For each individual or couple I work with, I look to facilitate a chance to build a healthy relationship with emotions – particularly those that we are usually told to squash. Our emotions can present themselves in physical manifestations, and our bodies can affect our thoughts.

As both a client and a therapist, I've seen the immense transformative power of therapy. Yet I also see some of its limitations. As a coach, I have more flexibility to curate my approach around the client, rather than pathologizing habits or lifestyles which have aided in their survival. 

The background I draw from is as follows:

I received my Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Health Counseling with a minor in Gender Studies from Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA in 2013, followed by a Master of the Arts in Counseling Psychology with a focus in Community Mental Health from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, CA in 2017. I have been practicing under the supervision of various licensed therapists since 2016. I am a certified Integrative Wellness and Life Coach with training from the Integrative Wellness Academy.  

I have passed both the National Counselor Exam and the national Marriage and Family Therapist exam developed and administered by the Association of Marriage and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards (AMFTRB).

The world is often unwelcoming of those who do not conform to the status quo. 

I welcome your weirdness. 

Credentials

Education
California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA (2017)
Master of Arts Degree in Counseling Psychology, Concentration in Community Mental Health

Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA (2013)
Bachelor of Science degree, Behavioral Health Counseling

Work Experience
Therapy Center of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA (2021-present)
Pre-licensed therapist

Grateful Heart Holistic Therapy, Bay Area, CA (2018-2022)
Associate Marriage and Family Therapist & Administrative Assistant

San Francisco Marriage and Couples Center, San Francisco, CA (2017-2018)
Office Manager/Administrative Assistant
Intake Coordinator

Queer Lifespace, San Francisco, CA (2017-2018)
Therapist intern

Women’s Therapy Center, Berkeley, CA (2016-2017)
Therapist Trainee/Intern

Mental Health Services Act at CIIS, San Francisco (2017)
Student Assistant

CATCH Inc., Philadelphia, PA (2014)
Mental Health Technician

ArtWell, Philadelphia, PA (2012-2014)
Administrative Assistant/Intern/Teaching artist.

Volunteer Experience
NAMI: Ending the Silence, San Francisco, CA (2016-2017)
Educator

The Pacific Center for Human Growth, Berkeley, CA (2016)
Intern

William Way Community Center, Philadelphia, PA (2013-2014)
Peer Counselor

Professional Affiliations
Bay Area Open Minds, Bay Area, CA (2019-2022)
Social Coordinator and Secretary Elect on the Board

Who I Serve

I have a passion for working with people around themes of identity, gut trust, communication, and navigating power dynamics.

I have helped people from various backgrounds and experiences, including, but not limited to:

• Managing overwhelming emotions.

• Side effects of having incarcerated loved ones.

• Exploring social location and privilege. 

• Complex relationships with food and eating.

• Establishing personal values and morals.

• Impacts of societal oppression.

• Body image concerns.

• Building gut trust.   

• Religious trauma. 

• Musicians, visual artists, circus performers, writers, actors, sex workers, and other entrepreneurs.

• Couples looking to shift to non-monogamy, polyamory, open relationships, exploring BDSM or kink, and other non-traditional relationship structures.

• Individuals questioning and exploring identity - racial, gender, spiritual, emotional, class status, career, ability, body size, immigration status, illness, and sexual orientation.

• People with diagnoses of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), CPTSD (complex post-traumatic stress disorder), GAD (generalized anxiety disorder).

• Neurodiversity, whether ADHD or Autism Spectrum Disorders.

• Practicing atheism, agnosticism, polytheism, or other non-conforming spiritual or magick practice.

• Individuals from interfaith families.

• Cultivating compassion for yourself and others. 

• Establishing and maintaining personal boundaries and limits. 

• Learning to ask for and accept help and care.

• Attachment wounds. 

• Lasting effects of childhood trauma.

• Impostor syndrome.

• Discovering personal impact on others. 

 • Dream work.

Certificates & Methods

I have trained in a variety of methods, and can incorporate aspects of them into our time together. 

My approach is informed by: 

• CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy)

• Play therapy

• Motivational Interviewing

• Harm reduction

• Trauma-informed practice

• Certificate in EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) from the Institute for Creative Mindfulness

• Mindfulness

• Intersectional feminist theory

• Liberation psychology

• Psychodynamic theory

• Relational work

• Certified Integrative Life Coach from Integrative Wellness Academy

• Certification in EFT from R. Cassidy Seminars, trained by Dr. Sam Jinich of the San Francisco Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy

Contact

Rowan Levy

with your inquiries

Let's get you where you want to be.

You are welcome to contact me to discuss any questions, concerns, or thoughts you may have about how we might work together.

Appointments occur remotely over the phone or via video conferencing software.

Along with my coaching practice, I am also a pre-licensed therapist working with The Therapy Center of Philadelphia in Philadelphia, PA.

I charge $170 per 50 minute session, and ask for a commitment to weekly appointments. You are also welcome to ask about my sliding scale. We will start out with a free 15-20 minute phone consultation to make sure we are a good fit for each other. You can expect a response within two business days of contacting me.

Coaching Inquiry
Include time zone

Resources

Mental Health
LGBTQ+
Other

Phone numbers rather than links

  • Alameda County Crisis Line - 1.800.309.2131
  • Alameda County Text Line
    TEXT SAFE TO 20121 (7 DAYS A WEEK: 4pm – 11pm; Alameda County residents only; No fee charge from Crisis Support Services. Text STOP to opt out)
  • https://www.glbthotline.org/
    1-888-843-4564 (M-F: 1pm – 9pm PT)
  • National Suicide Prevention Hotline (24 hours)
    1-800-273-8255
  • Trans Lifeline (24 hours)
    1-877-565-8860
  • Philadelphia 24-Hour Mental Health Delegate Line: 215-685-6440

Based in Philadelphia, PA

Available anywhere via video conference

Phone: 510-550-5318

Rowan@UncommonThreadsTherapy.com