Resources for Growth, Connection, and Renewal
At Vera Nova Therapy, I believe that healing and growth are supported not only within the therapy room, but also through reflection, learning, and connection beyond our sessions. The resources shared here reflect approaches that are emotionally attuned, research-informed, and aligned with our shared human need for safety, meaning, and connection.
These offerings are not a substitute for therapy, but gentle companions to the work of self-understanding, relational repair, and renewal.
“Connection is why we’re here; it is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives.”
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EFT is an attachment-based, evidence-supported approach that helps individuals and couples understand emotional patterns, strengthen secure connection, and foster lasting change.
Recommended Resources
Helpful Organizations
Why this matters: EFT supports emotional safety, responsiveness, and secure attachment—core foundations for healing in individuals, couples, and families.
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The Gottman Method offers practical, research-based tools for strengthening relationships, improving communication, and navigating conflict with respect and care.
Recommended Resources
Helpful Organizations
Why this matters: Gottman research complements emotionally focused work by offering structure and skills that support relational stability and trust.
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The work of Brené Brown speaks powerfully to courage, self-compassion, and the healing potential of vulnerability—values deeply aligned with Vera Nova Therapy.
Recommended Resources
Why this matters: Learning to meet ourselves with honesty and compassion creates space for meaningful connection and personal renewal.
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For those seeking deeper self-understanding, emotional resilience, and integration through life transitions, these resources support reflection and growth.
Recommended Resources
Why this matters: Healing is not about fixing what is broken, but gently understanding what has been carried and learning to relate to oneself with care.
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Parenting invites profound love alongside exhaustion, uncertainty, and identity shifts. These resources support emotionally attuned caregiving and secure attachment across the lifespan.
Recommended Resources
Why this matters: Emotionally responsive parenting supports both children’s development and parents’ own emotional well-being.
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The work of Becky Kennedy centers on helping parents build emotionally safe, connected relationships with their children—especially during moments of dysregulation, conflict, and rupture. Her approach emphasizes repair over perfection, boundaries with empathy, and the belief that children (and parents) are inherently good, even when behavior is challenging.
Recommended Resources
Why this matters: Dr. Kennedy’s work aligns closely with attachment-based and Emotion-Focused principles, reinforcing that emotional regulation develops through connection, safety, and repair—not control or shame. These resources are especially supportive for parents navigating overwhelm, self-doubt, and the emotional complexity of raising children while caring for themselves.
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The work of Gabor Maté explores how trauma, stress, and unmet emotional needs shape both mental and physical health. His perspective invites deep compassion for the ways we adapt to pain and offers a path toward healing rooted in curiosity, connection, and authenticity.
Recommended Resources
Why this matters: Dr. Maté’s work aligns with Vera Nova Therapy’s belief that symptoms are not signs of brokenness, but expressions of what has been carried for too long. Healing begins by understanding these adaptations with gentleness and care.
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The work of Esther Perel explores intimacy, desire, and connection within long-term relationships, particularly where love, commitment, and individuality intersect. Her work brings nuance to conversations about closeness, distance, repair, and vitality in modern relationships.
Recommended Resources
Why this matters: Esther Perel’s perspective complements attachment-based therapy by helping couples understand relational tension without blame, normalize complexity, and cultivate connection that allows both security and aliveness to coexist.
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A diagnosis of cancer or chronic illness can reshape one’s sense of self, safety, and connection. These resources are intended to support patients, caregivers, and partners as they navigate the emotional and relational impact of illness—honoring grief while fostering presence, meaning, and connection.
For Patients
These books support individuals living with illness as they make sense of fear, identity shifts, mortality, and uncertainty, while cultivating meaning and emotional steadiness.
Recommended Books
Focus: Meaning-making, grief, identity, emotional integration, and living alongside uncertainty.
For Caregivers
Caring for a loved one can be both deeply loving and profoundly exhausting. These resources support caregivers in tending to their own emotional experience while sustaining compassion, boundaries, and connection.
Recommended Books & Organizations
Focus: Emotional resilience, anticipatory grief, self-compassion, and sustaining oneself while caring for another.
For Partners & Loved Ones
Illness can bring profound shifts in roles, intimacy, and emotional connection. These resources support partners and loved ones in staying emotionally present while navigating fear, uncertainty, and change together.
Recommended Books & Support
Focus: Emotional attunement, communication, shared meaning, and maintaining the relationship as a secure base.
A Gentle Reminder
There is no single way to move through illness. Whether you are living with a diagnosis, caring for someone you love, or standing beside a partner in uncertainty, therapy offers a space to slow down, name what is happening beneath the surface, and restore connection—to yourself and to one another.
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If you or someone you care about is experiencing a mental health crisis or may be in immediate danger, please seek support right away. The resources below are available 24/7 unless otherwise noted.
Emergency Services
Call 911
If you need an on-site mental health evaluation in California, ask the dispatcher for a Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (PERT) clinician (availability varies by county).
California Statewide Crisis Support
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Call or text 988 for immediate emotional support anywhere in California.Crisis Text Line
Text START to 741-741 to connect with a trained crisis counselor.California Youth Crisis Line
Call or text 1-800-843-5200 (youth and young adults).
San Francisco Bay Area–Specific Crisis Lines
San Francisco Suicide Prevention
Call (415) 781-0500 for 24/7 crisis support in San Francisco.San Mateo County Crisis Line
Call (650) 579-0350 for adult crisis support.Santa Clara County Behavioral Health Call Center
Call (800) 704-0900 for mental health crisis services.Alameda County ACCESS
Call (800) 491-9099 for behavioral health crisis support.Marin County Crisis Line
Call (415) 499-6666 for immediate mental health support.
National & Specialized Support Lines
Postpartum Support International (PSI)
Call (800) 944-4773 (English & Spanish)
Text (800) 944-4773 (English) or (971) 420-0294 (Spanish)National Domestic Violence Hotline
Call (800) 799-7233 (English & Spanish)SAMHSA Helpline
Call (800) 662-4357 (English & Spanish)The Trevor Project(LGBTQ youth & young adults up to age 25)
Call (866) 488-7386
Text START to 678-678RAINN
Call (800) 656-4673
Gentle Clinical Note
Vera Nova Therapy does not provide crisis or emergency services via email, contact forms, or website messaging. If you need immediate help, please use the resources above or call 911.