About Benji

I’m Benji Brees, a licensed marriage and family therapist in San Francisco. I offer relational, somatic psychotherapy for adults who want to better understand the patterns that shape how they feel, relate, and move through the world.

Many of the people I work with have lived through difficult childhoods or relationships and have carried those experiences into adulthood. What once helped them survive may now show up as anxiety, a racing heart, addictive or compulsive behaviors, difficulty setting boundaries, or fear of closeness and abandonment.

Therapy is a place to approach those patterns with curiosity rather than judgment. Together, we pay attention to what is happening in the present—emotionally, relationally, and in the body—and make room for greater choice, connection, and self-understanding.

Background and Training

I earned a B.A. in Biology from the University of Redlands in 2015 and a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology, Somatic Psychology, from the California Institute of Integral Studies in 2022. During graduate school, I completed my practicum at the Center for Somatic Psychotherapy in San Francisco.

In the years since, I have worked in residential and outpatient dual-diagnosis treatment settings, supporting people navigating substance use, mental-health concerns, trauma, and major life transitions.

How I Work

My training in somatic psychotherapy informs a pace that is attentive to your experience and your choice. Sometimes that means putting words to what is difficult; other times, it means noticing the breath, posture, activation, shutdown, or relational dynamic that is already present. Nothing needs to be forced.

My work is influenced by relational and psychodynamic psychotherapy, interpersonal neurobiology, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Hakomi, and AEDP. I am especially moved by Diana Fosha’s idea of “undoing aloneness”: the possibility that difficult experiences can become more bearable when they are met with care, attention, and genuine connection.

I aim to offer a space that is warm, collaborative, and human—one where you do not have to have everything figured out in order to begin.