Dr. Rafferty is a clinical psychologist licensed in the states of California and New York, with private practices in San Francisco and Oakland, CA and video conferencing capacity for clients in both states. Dr. Rafferty graduated from the California School of Professional Psychology in 2002 and holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. Dr. Rafferty is a registered yoga teacher (RYT) with the yoga alliance and received her certification and training from Synergy: Center for Yoga and the Healing Arts in Miami Beach, Florida in 2002. She is a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT). Dr. Rafferty is also a level II Reiki practitioner, initiated into the Usui Lineage by Reiki Master John Latz, founder of the Institute for Structural Integration (ISI) in Miami, Florida. She has also completed the certificate program in psychedelic-assisted therapies and research at the California Institute of Integral Studies.
Dr. Rafferty has 20 years of clinical experience with a wide range of mental health issues, including anxiety and panic disorders, depression and other mood disorders, trauma, PTSD, attention deficit disorders, anger management, infidelity, eating disorders, women’s issues, and issues related to work, relationships, and spiritual development. She has worked in school-based settings, with adults in community mental health centers, and has led several groups focusing on women’s issues and on yoga as a therapeutic intervention. She offers traditional psychotherapy for individuals, couples, and families, and yoga therapy for individuals and groups. She is also the founder of The Collective, Inc., where she facilitates wellness workshops and mindfulness retreats.
Dr. Rafferty served as Clinical Coordinator and Training Director for Learning Services of Northern California, a non-profit agency serving at-risk youth and their families, from 2003-2012. Here, she was responsible for the training and supervision of graduate students in the provision of mental health services in a school-based setting. Dr. Rafferty has provided psychological assessment (cognitive and personality testing) for children and adults and has an educational background in multicultural issues.
Dr. Rafferty’s philosophy is one of integration. Similar to the Sanskrit definition of the word “yoga”, “integration” implies union, or the process of combining multiple parts into a harmonious whole. Dr. Rafferty helps her clients to integrate and to solidify deeper understandings of themselves. As a psychologist working with clients in the West, Dr. Rafferty strongly believes that there is a real need for culturally relevant ways of integrating psychedelic experiences into our modern lives. This includes the connection between the body and the mind, the psyche and the spirit, and after an experience with psychedelics, the everyday sense of one’s “self” that exists in this realm (something commonly referred to in psychology as the ego), with the experiences of the self in these more mystical realms, where the ego has seemingly been dissolved.
While Dr. Rafferty believes in the potential healing benefits of psychedelic medicines, she does not work with any of the medicines directly. In adherence to the laws and regulations of the United States, she does not recommend their use in her practice, nor does she provide them herself, or make referrals to those who do.
