About Renate
Renate Kohlmann is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with 25 years of clinical work in California. She greets people with a calm presence and straightforward care.
Background and approach
Her style is client-centered, which means she listens first and shapes the work around each person's needs. Renate helps people facing stress, anxiety, depression, grief, and addiction concerns.
She also supports those coping with career strain, low self-esteem, and life changes. Chronic pain, long-term illness, and challenges related to HIV / AIDS are included in her focus areas.
Her sessions balance warm listening with practical reflection. She often uses psychodynamic ideas to look at patterns that repeat over time.
Conversations aim to increase self-understanding and to find clearer ways of responding to difficult moments. Renate also addresses relationship and family problems by helping clients name communication patterns and try new approaches.
Work on compassion fatigue and isolation focuses on small steps that can ease daily strain. Sessions are offered in English and German.
People who want to begin can expect a straightforward intake and collaborative planning of goals. Renate invites questions and a short conversation to check whether her approach fits a person’s needs.
How her approaches translate to online therapy
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on being heard and understood. In this approach the therapist follows the client's lead, reflects feelings and priorities, and helps people clarify what matters most. It can be useful for stress, anxiety, self-esteem, and life transitions.Psychodynamic Therapy looks at recurring patterns and how past experiences shape present reactions. The therapist helps a person notice repeated behavior and underlying feelings so they can try different responses. This can help with relationship problems, grief, and chronic struggles that return over time.
Finding the right approach is a shared process. The therapist will talk with the client about their goals and preferences and then recommend a way of working. That plan can change as sessions progress and as new issues come up, keeping the work collaborative and flexible.
Online sessions are offered as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. Video lets people use facial cues and fuller conversation. Phone sessions can fit a quick check-in or be easier when bandwidth is limited. Live chat and text messaging work well for short updates, brief coaching, or when typing feels more comfortable. These options make therapy easier to fit around work, caregiving, and travel, while allowing continuity of care across locations.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
Also works with
- Career difficulties
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- Grief
- HIV / AIDS
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Self esteem
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 25 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English, German