Terese Gjernes, Associate Professor and Chair of the MA in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Somatic Psychology at CIIS Terese Gjernes

Associate Professor
Somatic Psychology
School of Professional Psychology and Health (SPPH)

PsyD, California Institute of Integral Studies

MA, California Institute of Integral Studies

Terese Gjernes, PsyD, is a Licensed Psychologist and a Certified Massage Therapist and Somatic Educator (CMTSE). In her work with individuals and groups, Terese draws from a lifetime of dancing and 3 decades of practicing yoga, Authentic Movement and contact improvisation.

She has extensive training and experience working with children and families. She trained and worked at the Infant-Parent Program at the University of California/San Francisco and later co-developed the 0-5 Program at A Better Way in Berkeley, California. She continues to teach for A Better Way, Inc. in partnership with Chabot Los Positas Community College District and Alameda County on topics related to children and families involved in the foster and adoptive care systems. She is endorsed as a Reflective Practice Facilitator II and an Infant-Family and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist for ages 0-5 by the California Center for Infant-Family and Early Childhood Mental Health. Nationally, Terese co-presented at the Zero to Three National Training Institute (2013) on the topic "I want to eat bees: Tools for regulation, somatic resourcing and reflection."

In 2016, Terese joined the Somatic Psychology Program as core faculty. However, she has a long history with CIIS, completing her MA and PsyD there and previously working as the Clinic Manager for the Center for Somatic Psychotherapy. She also taught as adjunct faculty for the Somatic Specialization in Holistic Studies at John F. Kennedy University for 9 years.

Terese maintains a somatic-based private practice in Berkeley, California, working with children, families, and couples, as well as individual adults. She integrates regulation, trauma, touch, sandtray, dreamwork and movement as clinically beneficial in her work.

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