About Us
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Nes Pinar, LMFT
Founder & Therapist in private practice
Nes Pinar, LMFT, has a counseling degree from Cal State East Bay and has years of experience working with children, adolescents, and adults through various treatment modalities around many issues.
Nes is the founder of EBTC and supervises post-master's degree associates at her private practice. Nes is an experienced presenter/trainer on trauma-informed practices and Motivational Interviewing.
Nes is a brain geek and utilizes Neurofeedback as part of her therapy practice, helping people optimize their brain potential by guiding them to learn how to regulate their nervous system more effectively.
Nes is originally from Turkey and has two children and two dogs. In addition to being an incurable volunteer, Nes loves creating villages of like-minded people gathered around common causes. Nes was an environmental engineer in her previous life and is fluent in English, Turkish, and “nerd.” She loves reading fiction and non-fiction psychology books, swimming, camping, traveling, hanging out with friends, going out for date nights with her husband, cuddling with her fur babies, fostering dogs, and cooking from scratch. Being an immigrant woman and a mom of a neurodivergent child with special challenges, she is passionate about social justice and celebrates diversity.
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Anny Papatheodorou, LMFT
Therapist in private practice and EBTC web designer
As a licensed psychotherapist certified in Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy and trained in Brainspotting, Anny brings a multifaceted approach to her practice. Having experienced the challenges of a difficult background, she deeply understands the journey of healing. Her focus as a relational trauma therapist is on guiding people through the healing process, enabling them to address childhood wounds and forge lives filled with choices and potential. Moreover, her background as an immigrant enriches her practice with a deep comprehension of diverse experiences and the associated challenges, offering a tapestry of cultural empathy.
In her therapeutic approach, she engages authentically, sharing her experiences and insights rather than adopting a distant, impartial stance. Laughter, shared emotions, and a warm welcome to all parts of a person's being characterize her inclusive and heartfelt therapeutic practice.
Anny holds master's degrees in integral counseling psychology, transpersonal psychology, and organizational and social psychology, embodying a diverse and comprehensive understanding of human behavior, mental health, and organizational dynamics.
Beyond her professional expertise, Anny’s a self-professed aficionado of fantasy novels, a dedicated human and dog mother, and an enthusiast of feta cheese.
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Deb Shell, AMFT
Associate therapist in private practice, EBTC logo creator, and offers EBTC workshops
Deb Shell holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology with a focus on Marriage and Family Therapy from The Wright Institute. She works through a family systems lens, factoring in how presenting issues impact all family members. Deb offers a safe space free from judgment and holds space for intersectional identities. Being human is complicated and overwhelming, and she will meet you where you are and, together, identify where you would like to go and what parts of yourself you would like to call forward. She can help you explore your inner world and help you connect your internal experiences to your external experiences. Deb works with children, teens, adults, couples, and families.
She can work with clients dealing with neurodiversity, anxiety/fears, depression, giftedness, social skills challenges, big emotions, challenging behaviors, power dynamic struggles, resistance, gender/Identity, transitioning families/divorce, trauma, sexual assault, making sense of loss, and marriage/relationship conflict.
In her free time, Deb enjoys spending time with her three children and husband, taking hikes, biking, painting, drawing, playing piano, singing, and, on rare occasions when time permits, binge-watching Netflix.
Deb is supervised by Nes Pinar, LMFT, and is available for in-person sessions in Lafayette and online.
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Kristie Potter, LMFT
Therapist in private practice and subleases office space at EBTC to support the cause
Kristie Potter, LMFT, graduated from John F. Kennedy University in 2001 with a master's degree in Counseling Psychology, specializing in working with couples and families. Kristie has been in the social services arena for over 25 years, with 20 of those years providing counseling services to children, teens, and families in clinic and school-based settings. For the last 10 years, she has been the Clinical Supervisor in a community mental health agency providing and supervising services working primarily with at-risk youth and their families.
Kristie also has experience working with trauma, domestic violence, sexual assault, residential and in-home services, and crisis response/intervention, and is an Adjunct Faculty at California State University East Bay in the Educational Psychology Department.
Kristie enjoys spending time outdoors (anywhere near water), traveling, being creative, enjoying time with friends and family, gardening, reading, movies, and having self-care downtime. Some of her favorite adventures have included skydiving, zip-lining, and white-water rafting.
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Dena Ehrlich, AMFT
Associate therapist in private practice, and offers EBTC workshops
Dena Ehrlich, AMFT, is a graduate of CIIS. She works somatically and incorporates EMDR, Breema, Relational Somatic Healing Embodied Touch, Sand Tray, Parts Work, Imagery, and when aligned with her client's needs and goals, Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) into her Trauma-Informed care with adults and couples. She also supports families by offering child-led play-based therapy to children as young as 7-years old. Her style is relational, warm, and playful. She celebrates what it means to be human, the joy and the mess of it all.
Dena loves hiking, hot springs, and impromptu dance parties. She works under the supervision of Nes Pinar, LMFT, and is available for in-person sessions in Lafayette and Rockridge, Oakland.
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Anna Davidson, AMFT
Associate therapist in private practice, and offers EBTC workshops
Anna’s experience is expansive— through roles as a teacher, facilitator, artist & writer while living & learning in various countries such as Guatemala, Nepal, & Ghana that have shaped her passion for supporting people’s innate connection to themselves, others, and their environment. Her therapy practice is focused on guiding individuals & couples+ back to their most authentic & empowered selves by exploring our unprocessed stories & most intimate desires, all while integrating tools that support people’s ability to facilitate their own healing.
Anna holds a Masters of Counseling Psychology with a specialization in Expressive Arts Therapy and therefore is trained in how to utilize creative writing, visual art, movement/dance, music, & drama in the therapy space as a means of healing. This also means her toolbox for therapeutic interventions is vast, including unique practices of alter building, oracle cards, mask making, and more. Anna is also a certified Reiki Practioner, which means she holds knowledge of how our energetic bodies impact our experiences of healing, connecting, and processing.
She is an intuitive, empathetically skilled facilitator of depth-oriented practices that encourage folks to access the root of their blockages around intimacy of all kinds. Because of her natural ability to create a safe, welcoming environment for people’s most vulnerable feelings and experiences, Anna has developed a niche for sex & intimacy therapy. This recently landed her in the classroom where she taught Couples Therapy, Sex & Intimacy for the graduate-level Integral Counseling program at the California Institute for Integral Studies. Through a relational & highly attuned holding, Anna’s clients and students can settle into a loving, non-judgmental space that allows them to open deeper than before while exploring communication, conflict, & connection styles—of the mind, body, and spirit.
Anna works under the supervision of Nes Pinar, LMFT.