Trauma therapy for the life that carries more than the standard explanation covers.

You do not have to be ready. Leela Mental Health works with many clients for whom detailed verbal disclosure is not possible, not yet, or not appropriate given their family or cultural circumstances. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) — the primary modality at Leela for trauma work — is specifically designed to function without extensive narrative. The approach works through a structured process that does not require the client to tell their full story aloud.

The first stage of trauma work at Leela Mental Health focuses on building safety and internal resources before anything else is asked. What is shared, when, and in what language is always in the client’s hands. There is no timeline imposed from the outside, and no session that asks more than you can offer at that particular moment.

Yes. Leela Mental Health currently offers trauma therapy in English, Hindi, and Bengali. As the practice grows and new therapists join the team, additional languages will be added. Please reach out directly to confirm current language availability before booking.

For many clients navigating trauma, the language in which something happened carries its own weight. Working in the language closest to the experience is not always just a comfort. For many clients it changes what can actually be said, and at Leela Mental Health that is treated as clinically relevant, not incidental.Sessions are available in-person at 220 California Ave, Suite 105, Palo Alto, and via HIPAA-compliant telehealth anywhere in California.

Leela Mental Health uses Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) as the primary approach for trauma and PTSD work. EMDR was developed by Francine Shapiro and is recognized by the American Psychological Association, the World Health Organization, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as an evidence-based treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. The approach uses bilateral stimulation — typically guided eye movements — while a client holds a difficult memory in mind. This allows the brain to complete information-processing that was interrupted at the moment of the original experience.

Moitreyee Chowdhury, LMFT and LPCC at Leela Mental Health, is EMDR Trained. EMDR does not require the client to narrate what happened in detail — which makes it particularly suited to clients for whom speaking carries additional cultural or relational cost. It is the approach for trauma that talking alone has not been able to reach.

Trauma does not always announce itself clearly. A person may carry its effects for years without identifying them that way, particularly if what happened was relational rather than incident-based, gradual rather than sudden, or never named as significant by the people around them at the time. Common experiences that bring people to trauma work at Leela Mental Health include memories or images that return without invitation, a body that stays braced even in environments that are objectively safe, patterns of avoidance that have gradually narrowed daily life, and a sense of carrying something that has not yet been named.

Whether or not your experience meets a clinical threshold for post-traumatic stress disorder, if you are carrying something that costs you — and that ordinary effort has not moved — that is worth exploring. The free initial consultation at Leela Mental Health is a good place to begin that conversation without commitment.

Leela Mental Health is an out-of-network practice, meaning the practice does not bill insurance companies directly. Clients who have PPO insurance plans may be eligible to submit a superbill — a detailed receipt — to their insurer for possible partial reimbursement. The amount reimbursed, if any, depends entirely on your individual plan’s out-of-network benefits. Leela Mental Health encourages clients to verify their out-of-network benefits directly with their insurer before the first session; the practice cannot confirm coverage or reimbursement rates on a client’s behalf.

Leela Mental Health is in-network with Lyra Health EAP and accepts Cardinal Care administered by Wellfleet. Self-pay clients have the right to a written Good Faith Estimate before the first session, as required by the No Surprises Act. Full fee information is available on the Fees page.

Leela Mental Health uses the first session as a conversation, not an assessment. There is no checklist to work through, no pressure to disclose more than you are ready to share, and no moment where you are expected to perform being ready. The aim is to understand who you are, what you are carrying, and what kind of support would actually be useful — and to give you enough of a sense of this practice to know whether it is the right fit. You can come with questions. You can come with very little to say. You do not need to have it figured out before you arrive.

Yes. Leela Mental Health offers trauma and PTSD therapy by telehealth throughout California, in addition to in-person sessions at the Palo Alto office at 220 California Ave, Suite 105. Telehealth clients include people in San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, Berkeley, the South Bay, Los Angeles, San Diego, and across the state. Sessions are conducted in available languages. Telehealth at Leela Mental Health is available to California residents only, consistent with California licensing requirements for LMFT and LPCC practitioners.

Yes. Leela Mental Health offers HIPAA-compliant telehealth couples therapy throughout California, in addition to in-person sessions at 220 California Ave, Suite 105, Palo Alto, CA 94306. Both partners must be physically located in California during telehealth sessions. Telehealth clients include couples in San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, the South Bay, and Southern California. Sessions are available in English, Hindi, and Bengali.