Dr. Lela Newsome
Licensed psychologist
Therapy for parents in the first year and beyond, in San Francisco and by video for clients in California.
Dr. Newsome began her career in hospital settings, working with people in acute crisis. It taught her that people change in relationship, in the space between two people who are willing to be honest with each other. Today she sees parents in the months after a baby arrives, one at a time and, when they ask, with a partner.
Who she sees
- Anxiety and overwhelm after a birth
- Grief and loss
- Partners in the first year
Training
Doctoral degree in clinical psychology
Licensed psychologist · CA Lic. 000000
The story behind Cocoon Therapy.
Before Cocoon, I spent years in clinical settings, including hospitals, where I met people on the worst days of their lives. It taught me that nothing changes in a vacuum. It changes in relationship, in the space between two people who are willing to be honest with each other.
I opened Cocoon Therapy for the parents I kept meeting along the way: people in the first months with a baby, loved and exhausted and quietly worried that something was wrong with them. I wanted a room that is warm, unhurried and never clinical in the cold sense, where you can arrive exactly as you are.
My work draws on cognitive behavioral therapy, psychodynamic therapy and mindfulness-based practices. More than any one method, I rely on the relationship between us.
Outside the therapy room you'll find me hiking the Marin Headlands, reading poetry, or attempting to keep my houseplants alive, with mixed results.
Licensed psychologist in California
Sessions with parents in the first year and beyond
Cognitive behavioral and mindfulness-based methods
50 min
Individual sessions80 min
Extended sessionsVideo
Or in person, in California
My approach
Therapy with me is collaborative, warm and paced to you.
- 01
Step 1: A relationship first
Everything begins with trust. I want you to feel able to be honest, even about the hard things.
- 02
Step 2: Understanding patterns
Together we look at the patterns that keep showing up in your thoughts, your relationships and your body. Understanding is a first step toward choice.
- 03
Step 3: Practical tools
Insight isn't always enough, so we also try concrete strategies you can use between sessions, in the middle of a feed or the middle of the night.
- 04
Step 4: Ending well
Sessions end when you and I decide they should. There is no set number, and you can come back.
Curious if we'd be a good fit?
Send a message with your questions, and Dr. Newsome will write back during office hours.
What I hold to
Three things about how we work together.
Privacy
What you say stays between us, within the limits the law sets. I explain those limits at the start.
Honesty
I tell you what therapy can and can't do, and when your doctor or midwife is the right person to see first.
Pace
You decide how fast we go, what we leave for later and whether a partner joins.