2025-2026 Consultants 

Marissa Baumann, LMFT (she/her/hers) comes to therapy and supervision from a gestalt and attachment focused background. She has additional training in Emotionally Focused Therapy and brings an attachment lens to both individual and couples work - specializing in working with couples and relationships. In supervision, she works to cultivate a close, connected relationship between supervisees and foster an environment of safety and care. Supervision is a space of vulnerability. You are going to get the most from it if you are willing to bring the elements of your work that feel vulnerable to you and so it's important to have a space that supports our vulnerable selves. In this vein, there is always space to explore your personal experience with clients and weave that into the work you are doing. Marissa is active and will always be willing to offer clear direction and structure. She works to tie together themes and highlight key skills that emerge from all casework that is explored together. 

Marielle Berg, LMFT (she/her), sees adults and couples virtually in her private practice, weaving relational and psychodynamic work with somatic and behavioral approaches. She is intensively trained in DBT and leads 2 virtual DBT Skills Group that have run continuously since 2018. Marielle also co-leads an annual DBT Skills Group exclusively for therapists so they can learn the skills in a supportive environment with colleagues while earning CEs. She has provided supervision and consultation through her private practice and through local training clinics. She has taught classes on DBT for non-DBT therapists through Grateful Heart, Marin CAMFT and New Perspectives Center for Counseling. Marielle finds continual learning one of the most rewarding things about being a therapist is excited to have joined TPI's Supervision Training Program. She knows how vulnerable it can be to show our work as therapists to a supervisor or consultant and aims to hold space with warmth, humor and humility. 

Ashley Ikeda, MA, LMFT (she/her/hers), is a licensed marriage and family therapist whose therapy and supervisory practices are grounded in a holistic and integrative approach. She draws from a relational and psychodynamic foundation while weaving in trauma-informed practices and somatic-based, mindfulness techniques. Her approach is rooted in person-centered values and she prioritizes safety, curiosity, and authentic connection as the foundation for meaningful growth. As a therapist, she works with individuals, couples, and families, supporting clients through a variety of issues with a specialized focus on resolving complex trauma, anxiety and depression, relationship challenges, cultural identity issues, and many of the complexities that arise across one’s lifespan. She received her Bachelor’s in Psychology from UC Irvine and completed her Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy at Golden Gate University in San Francisco. She currently maintains a private practice in Oakland, California. As a supervisor, she aims to create a space that feels warm, safe, and collaborative—a place where supervisees can bring their questions, uncertainties, and explore their emerging clinical identity without judgment. She regards supervision as a relationship of mutual respect and curiosity, where one’s lived experiences and therapeutic intuition are valued as essential parts of one’s growth.

James Seishas, MS, MFT, is a licensed marriage and family therapist from Oakland, CA, where he works with individuals and couples in his private practice, specializing in treating unresolved childhood trauma, anxiety and depression, relationship issues, and issues of midlife, amongst others. James is a graduate of TPI’s Psychotherapy Training Program and works primarily from a psychodynamic/relational perspective, though he integrates a variety of other modalities including CBT, Jungian Psychology, Attachment Theory and IFS. James was inspired by his many years of receiving excellent supervision and consultation from more experienced clinicians, and in 2022, began providing supervision to unlicensed therapists both in his private practice and through local training clinics like the Marina Counseling Center in San Francisco, and the Community Institute for Psychotherapy in San Rafael. James feels that being a supervisor is a most rewarding and enjoyable part of his practice, and is excited to have joined TPI’s Supervision Training Program, where he is currently deepening his knowledge and experience around providing supervision/consultation using a relational framework.

Matt Van Pelt, MA, LMFT, maintains a private practice in Alameda, CA, where he offers psychotherapy both virtually and in-person: outdoors, along the shoreline of the bay. He is a graduate of the Wright Institute Counseling Program and has worked with, among other organizations, Grateful Heart’s Holistic Counseling Center, Circle of Care’s Grief Groups, and the Wright’s Older Adults Clinic. His therapy and supervisory approaches draw from a foundation in gestalt, existential, and psychodynamic theory while integrating parts work and somatic techniques—this reflects his interest in finding the harmony between humanistic interventions and the psychodynamic model. He is delighted to support associates in cultivating their clinical voice within an intentional, reflective frame. Sessions are offered virtually, with the possibility of walk-and-talk meetings as well.