About me About me

My name is Rainiero Miranda (people know me as Rene) and I have been a California licensed marriage and family therapist since 2000. I have made my home in northern California since 1994 where I completed a Ph.D. in East/West Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco.

As a native of Colombia, I incorporate indigenous wisdom gathered from my own ethnic roots with both Western and Eastern approaches to psychotherapy. These include Attachment Theory, Transpersonal Psychology, Jungian Psychology, Buddhist Practice, and Ecopsychology. Therapeutic tools utilized in the healing process may involve the 12-step program, dream work, sand tray, art expression, movement, meditation, nature awareness, and Earth-based rituals.

My approach to therapy is both Western/traditional and non-Western/feminist in that I place as much emphasis on "doing" as in "being." Sometimes what people need is not so much "coaching" into what they already know they need to do, but being fully validated for who and where they are. Providing this accepting "holding environment" can sometimes be enough to help people launch their dreams and take matters into their own hands.

I have about 25 years of clinical experience in the field of counseling and psychotherapy, and besides private practice, in the past I have worked in residential and day treatment centers, community mental health clinics, psychiatric hospitals, and alternative schools. My experience includes working with children, adolescents, adults, couples, families, and groups.

My personal training and experience as a clinician has also been complemented by my many travels into the Amazonian rain forest from where I have learned ancient knowledge from indigenous cultures living there regarding our lost human ability to live more sustainably with the Earth.

An important project in my life has been helping minority, poor, and disenfranchised adolescent boys initiate themselves into adulthood through group exercises intended to recreate a type of rite of passage based on the Medicine Wheel. I have authored a group process guide titled "Journey of the Great Warrior: Empowering Minority and Disenfranchised Youth" (info@boyscouncil.com) to help other professionals facilitate this process.

In the following pages of my website, I offer some in-depth information regarding the structure I use to direct the therapeutic process (the healing process), and some explanation of the different approaches in psychology that inform my work. I encourage you to read these pages in order to get a good sense whether I am the right person for you.

I also offer an initial free ½ hour session to help you decide if we are a good fit and to answer any questions you might have before you make your commitment. I recognize that starting therapy is an important investment in your life and could be a costly one, particularly before you find the right therapist to work with. My regular fee is $130 per session but I offer a sliding scale to those who can demonstrate financial need.