Today we’d like to introduce you to Pam Singer
Hi Pam, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I always knew I wanted to be a psychologist: I found the human mind fascinating and loved helping people, even as a child. But I think I was also trying to understand the human condition for my own sake when I chose this path. For years, I had believed success and happiness came from fixing myself—pushing through pain, controlling my body, and ignoring emotions. The high-achieving, people-pleasing part of me earned external success and made me appear “fine” on the outside. But inside, other parts were in deep pain—my mind and body were in battle to feel worthy. I wanted something more for myself.
By the time I got into graduate school at Stanford, I had worked through a lot of my visible struggles. The way I treated myself on the outside improved, as I went on to practice cutting-edge therapy modalities, including CBT and DBT (still a favorite) at the Stanford Department of Psychiatry. I continued to internalize what I was learning and teaching to others. But a lot of my growth stayed on an intellectual level. I knew my healthier understanding of myself and the world was true, but it still didn’t feel true.
So, I started exploring methods beyond traditional talk therapy. I trained in psychedelic assisted psychotherapy and saw how much was possible when we bypass the default mode network of the brain to work with the core self. I studied polyvagal theory, and trauma releasing exercises (TRE). I pursued my yoga teacher training when I read the emerging research in yoga’s impact on mental health. I trained in Internal Family Systems (IFS), a powerful form of therapy that allows us to work with parts of ourselves housed in different corners of the mind, body, and nervous system (and pairs beautifully with psychedelic and somatic work).
The practices that yolk body and breath, mind and spirit, masculine and feminine, science and spirituality, had already become a tremendously healing part of my own life, and my deepest healing happened when I embraced these dualities. I didn’t just think differently, I was different. So, once I had the training and research to back it up, mind, body, and spirit practices took on an important role in my work with others.
I integrated mind, body, and spirit healing modalities when I helped develop and lead the Trauma Recovery Program and the Eating Disorders Outpatient Program at Kaiser Permanente in Northern CA. I went on to be Clinical Director at The Lotus Collaborative, an eating disorder and trauma treatment center where I trained other therapists and worked with people at higher levels of care. It was really rewarding doing that kind of work, but I craved more freedom, where I could tailor treatment to every single client and work with them to explore whether psychedelic sessions, somatic sessions, deep processing sessions, or a blend, would best fit their healing needs.
So I left and went into full-time private practice. I now love working with people using everything I’ve learned from my own path, and having the space to work creatively with everyone to help them along their own journeys home to themselves.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Professionally, things actually moved very smoothly for me. I knew my path, and had a lot of opportunities since I started my work up in Northern CA, where I had gone to graduate school. But personally, it was a different story. I experienced a lot of profound pain in my own life as I moved through my career. Multiple significant losses, shattered images of the future, chronic injuries, and struggles through the reproductive journey tested my relationship with my body and my self in ways it had never been tested before. It’s one (hard) thing to accept your body on the outside. But when it isn’t “working” properly, and is flooded with grief and trauma, a new layer of internal work is called forward. Luckily, I was finally in a state of friendship with my body, nervous system, and self that allowed me to continue forward and integrate, not fight against, life’s experiences, finding beauty again.
Through it all, I was reminded over and over that the mind, body, and spirit want to heal—together. In a way, the obstacles and struggles have been a vital part of my process of becoming the therapist I am today. They cracked me open and taught me how to use all parts of healing available to us. I use all that I learned, not just in my academic and professional training, but also in my own journey, to help others rebuild that relationship with themselves.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in the relationship between mind, body, and true self. I help people affected by trauma, eating disorders, women’s health challenges, and the stressors of living in a disconnected world. My approach blends psychology, psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, somatic practices, yoga, and nervous system regulation to foster deep, lasting healing.
When we’re on the healing path, sometimes it feels like having to choose between people who have a lot of training and research but are limited in their view of the world…or people who are creative, spiritually-grounded, and open-minded, but don’t have the training to back it up. In my practice, I’m proud to offer a strong professional background rooted in research and science, with an open and expansive lens on healing. I offer psychedelic integration, somatic therapy and trauma-releasing yoga, talk therapy (using the most researched and supported modalities like DBT, CBT, and internal family systems), and more. I offer individual work, retreat work, and group work.
I’ve been there. I’ve felt like my body was a stranger, like I was my own worst enemy, and I’ve come back from it. I understand. But my practice isn’t based only on my own healing work. Everyone’s story, path, and needs are unique. The support I offer is rooted in research AND lived experience. I’m really proud to be able to offer that type of healing to my clients.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
While I spend a lot of my time in the office and studios, I can’t get enough of being outside, and I find some of my greatest lessons in nature. Every time I truly let myself sink into my time outdoors, I learn from nature’s strength, steadfastness, and resilience. It was on top of Mount Kilimanjaro that I decided to leave my job and start my private practice! So, retreats surrounded by nature and walk-and-talk therapy sessions have quickly become some of my favorite new offerings.
Pricing:
- Individualized therapy session $325
- Psychedelic Integration/Intensives: varies per individualized plan, inquire
- Retreats; Varies depending on length and number of participants, inquire
- TRE/Trauma Releasing Yoga Class: $30
- Group Therapy: Varies depending on length and number of participants, inquire
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.pamelasingerpsyd.com
- Instagram: @pamsingerpsychology
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamela-singer-3a9108b9/
