About Me
I’ve been a trusted listener my entire life.
Photo by Vero Kherian
Cary Ann Rosko, LMFT
People have shared their feelings and struggles with me since I was a kid. Back then, I didn’t always know why people shared with me, but I did my best to listen and I could see that it made them feel better. Adults told me I should be a counselor, but I drew away from what at the time sounded like a big responsibility. So I pursued other interests and goals academically and professionally, but I never stopped filling the role of listener and confidante for the people in my life.
Fast-forward to my late 20’s when I first came to therapy as a client. I started reckoning with my own codependency and complex trauma, and I uncovered a lot that my mind and body had suppressed or maneuvered around or stopped paying attention to. I learned how to face and feel what I couldn’t when I was younger, and with the skillful guidance of my therapist, I started to work through the unconscious protections and strategies that had kept me tangled up internally and in my relationships. I began to feel more clear, more ease—more myself.
When I was in my 30’s, I had a string of experiences and epiphanies that pointed me unambiguously toward becoming a therapist, and I realized that I was ready to learn how to accompany others on their journeys. So back to school and training I went, and it’s been a fascinating and transformative ride. I feel humbled and honored (no, really!) to be invited into people’s lives, and it’s incredibly rewarding to help people find healing and become more of who they want to be.
In recent years, I’ve more fully recognized my neurodivergence as an HSP (Highly Sensitive Person) and as someone who’s gifted. The words “sensitive” and “gifted” come with a lot of baggage, but having this particular body and brain have unmistakably shaped my emotional, psychological, and social development from the beginning. Embracing these ways of being has freed me to celebrate and take care of myself so that I can more fully enjoy life. So I love supporting other neurodivergent folks as they come to know the challenges and joys of their own unique brains and bodies!
I also balance my psychotherapy practice with my first career in theatre. I’m a classically-trained singer and hold two degrees in voice, and I perform opera, light opera, musical theatre, and plays on stages around the Bay Area. These two passions and disciplines complement each other surprisingly well! Each informs the work I do in the other, as both require deep empathy, embodiment, and the willingness to be vulnerable. Humans are the most beautiful puzzles ever, and both therapy and theatre make humans comprehensible through introspection, expression, and experimentation.
Beyond that, I’m also a big fan of learning, hiking, quality TV, travel, and generally being a nerd. I’ve lived in San Francisco and the Bay Area for over 25 years but my roots are in the Midwest with a stint on the east coast in between. I don’t currently have any pets but I love seeing yours, so they’re always welcome in session!
Contact me for a free 20-minute consultation call
In-depth Training and Study:
IFS Trained Therapist - Level 1
EMDRIA-Trained Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Flash Technique
Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP): Janina Fisher, Working with the Neurobiological Legacy of Trauma
Hakomi: Essential Skills and Healing of Trauma
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: A Body-Oriented Approach to Trauma
Kathleen Miller: EMDR and Structural Dissociation Theory
Deirdre Fay: Becoming Safely Embodied
Professional Affiliations:
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT)
Gaylesta
Psychology Today
GoodTherapy
