Winter Brown, AMFT
Registered Associate Marriage & Family Therapist #157105
I offer holistic, trauma-informed, somatic therapy for chronic pain and illness, relationship challenges, and life's major transitions.
I see children, individuals, and couples in the San Francisco Bay Area and via telehealth throughout California. I practice in person at Mosaic Counseling Group and Wonderment Family Therapy, both in Livermore.
I’ve been working alongside people who are navigating transitions for over fifteen years. As a yoga therapist, I've supported hundreds of people with persistent pain and dizziness — including co-facilitating Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley's ARISE Program for Persistent Pain and Dizziness from 2019 until the program ended in 2025. I’ve heard cancer patients share their highs and lows, I’ve witnessed victories, and I’ve held grief. My work - whether actively listening or being more directive - aided each individual’s journey toward their envisioned future.
I also have persistent pain. I offer this information because, sometimes, it’s nice knowing that the person in the room has a shared lived experience. I won’t bring my experiences into our work together, but I have a sense of how it is to live in this world with a chronic condition that needs managing and that isn’t seen by others.
I’m a first-generation college graduate who pursued a doctorate because of a love of books, thinking, dialogue, and teaching. I picked up yoga as a way of relieving stress and I discovered a community. Teaching yoga therapeutically offered me an opportunity to work more interactively and individually with people. It also has a more holistic framework for support, which aligns better with my values and methods. I’ve worked as a therapeutic yoga teacher in healthcare and studio settings, tailoring practices to a variety of conditions and groups for nearly ten years.
Education:
MA, California Institute of Integral Studies - Integral Counseling Psychology
PhD, Duke University - Political Theory & Race and Ethnic Politics
BA, Seattle University - Political Science & Philosophy
My work with you
I am a person-centered, liberation oriented, trauma-wise therapist who shows up fully grounded and present - body and mind - in my work with you. I create a space with you that holds and honors all of your identities, your past, and your present.
We’ll work towards the vibrant future that you envision working at the pace that’s right for you.
What I can help with
Health & Chronic Conditions like…
Chronic pain
Persistent dizziness
Chronic illnesses
Medical trauma
Unexpected medical diagnoses
Life Transitions & Mental Health such as…
Anxiety
Depression
Unexpected medical diagnoses
Care-giving challenges
Perinatal and postpartum challenges
Chronic stress & burnout
Major life transitions
Grief
Trauma
Relationship & Family Challenges including…
Relationship difficulties
Infidelity & betrayals
Child therapy
I take a collaborative approach in my work. Together, we’ll see what approaches generate progress towards your goals. We may draw from parts work, neuroscience, attachment theory, Gestalt, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or a more expressive form of therapy.
Guiding beliefs about therapy
I am a philosopher at heart. My own deep roots in Western, Yogic, and Buddhist teachings have only strengthened my fundamental belief in human goodness. I believe that therapy is a path that helps move us more and more to seeing, believing in, and claiming our own goodness.
Therapy is a process of moving towards and concretizing your own authentic way of showing up in the world, of claiming your invaluable goodness and wholeness, one that is irrevocably your own, preciously valuable, undeniably necessary, and, often, put at risk by the world and others around you.
As Gabor Maté often remarks, people will sacrifice their authentic selves in order to be safe. Therapy is reclamation.
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Sandtray & Play Therapy Training - Emily Keller (Ongoing)
Certified Clinical Trauma Professional Training with EMDR - Arielle Schwartz & Stacey Ruse (Ongoing)
Complex Trauma Certification Training - Janina Fisher (Ongoing)
The Body Keeps Score - Bessel van der Kolk (2025)
EMDR & Parts Work for Treating Complex Trauma: Somatic Techniques to Decrease Defensiveness and Facilitate Trauma Processing - Arielle Schwartz (2025)
Austistic-Affirming ERP Training - Aiden Reis & Sharon Aguilar (2025)
Foundations of Neuro-Affirming Practice: Experiential Training for Working with High-Masking Autism, Burnout, PDA and More - Kory Andreas (2025)
Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy - Robin Williams Blake, James Hawkins, Kathryn De Bruin, & Susan Johnson (2025)
Dialectical Behavior Therapy Certification - Lane Pederson (2025)
How Attachment, Trauma, & Temperament Shape Personality: Applications from Interpersonal Neurobiology to Inspire Your Clinical Work - Dan Siegel (2025)
Transforming the Living Legacy of Trauma - Janina Fisher (2024)
Using Fierce & Tender Self-Compassion to Foster Resilience & Ease - Kristin Neff (2024)
Exploring the Internal Family Systems Model for Healing Trauma - Richard Schwartz (2023)