About Jonathan Mitchelmore, LCSW
Hi! My name is Jonathan Mitchelmore, and I am a licensed clinical social worker and mental health therapist with a private psychotherapy practice in San Mateo, California.
While the focus of my work is on helping people like you, I often get asked about me and what led me to do this work. So, in case you’re curious …
I actually didn’t start out studying psychology.
After growing up in France, my first degree was in East Asian Studies from Oberlin College in Ohio. As part of that program, I spent a semester in Beijing.
Upon returning from China, I completed my degree, and then lived in both Manhattan and Brooklyn for around six months in the late 90’s. But, while I loved the city, living there really wasn’t my thing. So I decided to move to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2000 – right at the height of the dot com craze.
While I didn’t have an interest in tech, I ended up landing a job at Yahoo, where I worked as an editor for nearly six years.
It was during this time that I started doing a lot of my own soul searching and inner work …
I grew up in a family where emotions weren’t really talked about very much. Additionally, having grown up in France – in an environment and school system that could be very shame-based – I learned to “clam up” and not speak my truth at an early age to avoid any shame or humiliation.
So, if you feel like you’ve shut down and that you’re alone, on your own in a very hypercritical and judgmental world … I get it.
I realized that my own social anxieties, lack of self-esteem, and difficulties launching and starting a career were due to my own fears of being judged or failing.
It wasn’t until going through my own therapy that I was able to work through, resolve, and let go of these issues, become comfortable with myself, strengthen and honor my own voice, and not feel like I had to hide who I am.
I even took some improv classes as part of my therapy. Though I was adamantly opposed to attending them, initially, I quickly grew to love them and the life-changing effects they had in helping me learn to trust the unknown, put myself out there, and know that it was perfectly okay to fail, pick myself back up, and try again.
It was these experiences – especially doing my own therapy and volunteering for San Francisco Suicide Prevention, helping people in crisis, and realizing that I really enjoy the work – that got me hooked on the idea of working in the field.
I went back to school and received my master’s in Clinical Social Work from Smith College School for Social Work.
After graduating from Smith, I worked for Richmond Area Multi-Services in San Francisco County’s welfare-to-work program for 11 years, providing counseling and therapy to adults, leading harm reduction, skill-building, and men’s groups, and serving as a clinical supervisor, helping support clinicians in their professional development.
From there, I provided individual counseling and psychotherapy at a group practice for three years, before opening the doors to my own private practice in 2025.
So, while my private practice is relatively new, my experience in this field and doing this work stretches back over 15 years.
Education:
- Smith College School for Social Work
Certifications:
- EMDRIA Certified Therapist
- Certified Clinical Anxiety Treatment Professional
Professional Organizations:
If you’re ready to transform shame into self-trust, anxiety into agency, and confusion into direction – I invite you to reach out today, schedule a free,15-minute initial phone consultation, and see if we’re a good fit for working together.
How I Work
I specialize in providing individual counseling and therapy for clients who feel stuck in self-doubt, social anxiety, trauma, or cycles of self-criticism, and are ready to break free and grow into the wonderful human being they already are … just as I’ve had to learn to do myself.
I integrate:
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR Therapy) to process painful past experiences and limiting beliefs
- Internal Family Systems (IFS Therapy) to help you build a better relationship with yourself
- Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and Other Somatic Therapy techniques because much of the anxiety, stress, depression, and trauma we experience is carried by our bodies, and by freeing up your body you can also learn to free up your thoughts and emotions
These evidence-based approaches allow us to go beyond surface-level coping and work at the roots of your struggles – healing old wounds, calming inner conflict, and helping your most empowered self to emerge.
This is what I truly love about doing this work – being there as people experience what it’s like on the other side of going through emotional pain, anguish, and mental distress. Seeing the kinds of transformations people go through. Knowing that even a one-hour session can do wonders for someone, and seeing the impact it has on that person.
I know what it’s like to live a quiet life of desperation and self-doubt. And I know what it’s like to come out the other side – to step into your own power and greatness and create an authentic life you truly love.
That’s my goal for you.
If this is your goal, too – if you’re ready to transform shame into self-trust, anxiety into agency, and confusion into direction – I invite you to reach out today, schedule a free,15-minute initial phone consultation, and see if we’re a good fit for working together.