ABOUT DANA
Dana Peters, MA
Dana Peters has been a trusted mental health mentor for over 12 years. After graduating with honors from Hofstra University (M.A., Marriage and Family Therapy), Dana worked as a therapist in residential treatment centers, partial hospitalization, and intensive outpatient programs, as well as private group practice offices specializing in the treatment of Eating Disorders throughout California. Working side by side with leaders in the mental health field including psychiatrists and doctors, Dana was trained to understand the diagnosis and treatment of individuals, couples, and families struggling with the impacts of different mental health concerns as well as the challenges brought on by different life stages, changes, and transitions.
Throughout this time working in rehabilitation centers, Dana became involved and held roles assisting with utilization review management. She developed a unique understanding of how the business of mental health treatment and insurance companies functioned and how this impacts people's lives in a very permanent way.
After stepping away from working in facility-based treatment and group practices, Dana opened her private practice in 2016, shifting to a coaching practice soon after that was more reflective of the impact she wanted to have on people's lives. With the mental health field becoming more and more medically oriented rather than people-oriented, Dana strives to be people-oriented. Dana's practice focuses on coaching people to set up their lives in a way that suits them rather than operating as a medical professional that pigeonholes clients with a mental health diagnosis that may not be a true reflection of their challenges or specific needs. Dana believes it is the environment, relationships, routines and systems we have in place that impact our mental health instead of the idea that someone is struggling with a permanent diagnosis that is inherently apart of who they are.
While Dana sees clients with a multitude of presenting concerns, she continues to be passionate about and specializes in working with individuals who struggle to understand and address cycles and patterns surrounding their relationship with food, exercise, body image, and size. Dana guides her clients to uncover the underlying issues that are fueling their unwanted patterns, cycles and behaviors. Passionate about helping people find freedom from negative thoughts and obsessions that keep them stuck in self-defeating patterns, Dana aims to help all people create a healthy relationship with food and their bodies. Through compassion and curiosity, we can explore how to create a plan to help you move forward. I am here to help without judgment or blame.
Dana is guided by principles of humanistic and positive psychology, existential therapy, systems theory, CBT, DBT, and ACT. She is informed in Family-Based Treatment for eating disorders and Health at Every Size (HAES).
Dana resides in Northern California with her family and dog, Maple.