Miki Esplin

AMFT #164573

Registered Associate Marriage & Family Therapist 

Supervised by Lisa Macias, PhD, Psy # 32178

650-297-3400 x39  

Locations: Los Altos | San Jose  

Fee: $170  

Areas of Focus:

Languages: English and Hebrew

Adults: Anxiety and stress; grief and loss; trauma and attachment wounds; low mood, lack of motivation, and feeling lost or stuck; self-esteem; perfectionism and self-criticism; people-pleasing and boundaries; relationship and communication patterns; parenthood; infertility and adoption; immigration and acculturation; identity, belonging, and otherness; caregiving; midlife and menopause; career changes; empty nest; retirement; health-related transitions; personal growth.

Children / Teens: Anxiety and stress; grief and loss; childhood and relational trauma; emotional regulation; self-esteem; school stress; peer and social difficulties; family relationships; identity and belonging; immigration and acculturation; adoption; self-expression and creativity.

Modalities:

Psychodynamic Therapy; Attachment-Based Therapy; Internal Family Systems (IFS); Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT); Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT); Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT); Grief Therapy; Brainspotting; Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT); Expressive Art and Play Therapy; Sand Tray; Polyvagal-Informed Approaches; Somatic and Mind-Body Approaches; Yoga and Mindfulness-Based Regulation.

Overall Description:

Problem: Many people come to therapy feeling that something is wrong with them. They may be carrying grief, anxiety, trauma, or the strain of a major life transition while repeating patterns of self-criticism, people-pleasing, perfectionism, withdrawal, or conflict. Even when they understand these patterns intellectually, they may still feel stuck, disconnected, or unsure how to change.

Solution: I offer a warm, collaborative space where we can slow down and understand what is happening beneath the symptoms. I see many difficult patterns as intelligent ways the mind and body learned to cope with pain, loss, rejection, or uncertainty. Drawing from relational, attachment-based, psychodynamic, parts-oriented, somatic, mindfulness, and expressive approaches, I help clients meet these protective responses with curiosity rather than shame and develop new ways of responding at a pace that feels safe.

Result: As clients understand themselves more deeply, they can build greater emotional regulation, self-trust, and flexibility. My hope is that the work leaves the therapy room with them: into their relationships, families, work, and daily lives. Therapy can create more room for connection, meaningful choice, resilience, and the ability to experience joy even while life remains complex.

More than Just My Work:

Movement, weight training, yoga, dance, meaningful conversation, reading, dogs, travel and humor help me feel grounded. I am especially drawn to the small, ordinary moments that bring us back into our bodies: time with people I love, or a shared laugh. These experiences remind me that depth and lightness can exist together.

Experience:

Miki is a Registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist and a Santa Clara University graduate with a Master's degree in Counseling Psychology. She has provided supervised trauma informed psychotherapy in school-based and community outpatient settings with children, teens, adults, parents, and families. Her clinical experience includes anxiety, grief and bereavement, trauma, attachment disruption, acculturation stress, identity and belonging, family conflict, relationship concerns, and significant life transitions. She has worked individually with high school students, provided outpatient child and adult therapy, and co-facilitated grief groups for adults and for children ages four through eleven. Her background also includes youth social-emotional learning and individual yoga and mindfulness mentorship.

Education:

• M.A. in Counseling Psychology, Santa Clara University 
• B.A. in English Literature, University of Texas at Dallas

Training:

Internal Family Systems Level 1 Training, in progress

• Trauma-Informed Care Certificate, Trauma Therapy Institute
• Trauma Therapy Specialist Evergreen  
• Polyvagal- In Depth Training with Dr. Arielle Schwartz 
• Child-Centered Play Therapy training with Georgie Wisen-Vincent, PhD , RPT-S
• Brainspotting In-Depth Course 
• Emotionally Focused Therapy workshops with Dale Larson, PhD
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Level 1, Feeling Good Institute 
• ACT certification training with Dr. Sears 
• Five years of yoga study, yoga teacher training, and individual yoga and mindfulness mentorship.

Professional Affiliations:

• CAMFT 
• IFSCA 
• Yoga Renew