Welcome! I am Eric Burke, an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (#125608) and Associate Professional Clinical Counselor (#9610) providing telehealth psychotherapy to residents throughout California. I am supervised by Julie Seden-Hansen, LMFT (#45607).  

 

My coming-to this work can be described as no less than an epic journey including diverse studies and life experiences, as well as the inheritance of ancestral cultural values. I share these things as part of my bio because it is the knowledge, perspectives and wisdom gained that guide my embodiment of the role of therapist and how I try to expansively hold the process of clients discovering their heart, soul, and unique wisdom. This work of therapy happens within the dynamism of human beings – client and therapist - in relationship. 

 

Before this work, I was a high school teacher for many years, and working with adolescents and the excitement of their development process continues to be a passion of mine, reminding me of unending possibilities. Before teacher, I lived within and served the queer community of San Francisco, doing hospice work among some of the bravest warrior-caretakers at Marty’s Place, originally founded to provide dignified housing and loving care to homeless men dying of AIDS in SF at the height of the AIDS crisis. During this time, I was able to explore my queer identity and live with fellow caretakers who taught me the eternal and unequivocally transformative nature of loving human kindness. I would not have been so disposed to these virtues if it were not for my time as a contemplative friar prior to the hospice, living within shared community, studying the writing of Christian mystics, and investing in silence and solitude as part of a multi-year discernment. Simultaneously, I earned a Masters in theology, articulating through my thesis, a positive same-sex sex ethic from within the Christian tradition, parsing through some of the exclusionary political beliefs which have fueled divisions within the Church for decades, and been used to weaponize theology against LGBTQ+ persons. It was during this discernment that my heart was touched, my mind was expanded, and I realized my work was to be done as a lay person fully alive within secular society, ultimately giving me the courage to step away from that life. 

 

I would be remiss to not include my bi-racial identity as a Puebloan Native American, roots from a small tribe in New Mexico. Growing up part-time on the reservation and participating in some of my community’s traditional dances and rituals has attenuated me to the power of Spirit that permeates the Universe, generously out-pouring divine essence into me and all other beings, including the primary elements of life. This part of my identity has had the most formative impact on my worldview and values, namely, that I am one of many, past present and future, no better than any other, in a sacred relationship, and that the elements hold ancestral wisdom calling us back to that core value of relationship with self, others, and the Earth. Living primarily in the city, but maintaining connection to my ancestor’s land has taught me to walk the path of integration, living with an intentionality that is often challenging to maintain, but which has allowed me to see sacred moments in even the most chaotic hustle of city life, industry, and the commercial complex.   

 

In 2020, I completed my Masters in Integral Counseling Psychology at CIIS, San Francisco. I stepped into the therapist career field about mid-life, but it couldn’t have happened a moment sooner. My study at CIIS not only trained me in the science of psychology and counseling, but helped me synthesize my life experiences to deepen my understanding and appreciation of the human experience. The human experience is mysterious, complex, relational, transcendent, and can be beautiful, and I bring that hope to each of my clinical relationships with clients.

 

I have worked with survivors of intimate partner violence, people who have endured complex trauma, persons who identify as LGBTQ+, adolescents, survivors of bullying, people seeking to further explore their sense of self-understanding, values and purpose, Persons of Color, Indigenous and people who are multi-racial, and those who have endured abuse due to the weaponization of religious ideologies, and who are exploring their own sense of spirituality. I am a relational therapist, placing primary focus on the quality of our relationship and its healing properties, integrally trained to draw from a host of techniques based on client need, and also hold a special value for the inclusion of transpersonal methods, or the exploration of spiritual ideas to help you unpack your experience of consciousness. If these ideas feel resonant to you, maybe it’s more than coincidence. I would be honored to witness your story. Message me to schedule sessions. Until then, thank you, and be well.