April Bolin

My name is April Bolin, and I am a licensed Clinical Social Worker with three decades of professional service in the San Francisco Bay Area. I received my Master of Social Work degree from the University of California Berkeley. Over the years, I have worked with a diverse range of individuals who have found themselves adjusting to life circumstances, relationship challenges, or needing to improve mental health. As a therapist, I have worked closely with the LGBTQIA community, victims of abuse and trauma (xenophobic, systemic, multi-generational, etc), and individuals experiencing depression and feelings of emptiness. Having worked in the past as a partial hospitalization program therapist, I have found Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to be a highly effective method of supporting people who are dealing with challenges that feel overwhelming. When we begin to understand how our negative thoughts and feelings weigh us down, we can begin to incorporate healthy strategies for improving the way we think and move about the world. I am also a graduate of the Chaplaincy Institute’s Interfaith Seminary, which invites more of a psycho-spiritual approach for people seeking support around issues such as grief and loss, caregiver exhaustion, or recovery from religious dogma. I consider myself spiritual but not religious and, therefore, have no particular faith tradition that I identify with and the utmost respect for all faith traditions that serve to lift humanity. I learned from my own life challenges that the most effective therapists are those who have worked through their own demons so that they can authentically support the personal growth of others. As I reflect on my work as a therapist, that which has been most satisfying are the “aha moments” that spark positive changes in the lives of those who I have helped. There is a quote by Stephen Covey that I will end my summary with. It has become a philosophical intersection between my fundamental belief as a person and my practice as a therapist: “Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender; it’s holy ground. There’s no greater investment.”