Ava Benezra (she/her), AMFT

There’s no way around it: your partner is going to trigger you. If you want a relationship that is just as alive and dynamic as it is a safe and supportive home base, you will inevitably encounter moments of hurt, anger, and fear. These emotions can be destabilizing in any context, but in intimate relationships they often stir our deepest attachment wounds—pulling us into familiar cycles of tension, reactivity, or disconnection. Without good models for how to navigate these moments, even strong, loving partnerships can erode under the strain.

That’s the hard part. The hopeful part is that these very moments—when approached with care and support—can become powerful openings for change. The work of couples therapy is not to eliminate conflict, but to transform how you meet it. Together, we listen for the deeper longings and fears beneath your patterns, and build the awareness and skills needed for something new to emerge—both in your relationship and within yourselves.

I hold an M.A. in Integral Counseling Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies and am currently completing post-graduate training in analytic depth psychology at the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco. My background includes long-term Zen practice, a decade as a community organizer, facilitating group therapy in a men’s prison, and serving as a certified restorative justice circle-keeper for families in the aftermath of sexual harm. I work from a trauma-informed perspective and remain attentive to the ways culture, class, and race shape both suffering and the possibilities for transformation.