Olivia Thrift

Dr. Olivia Thrift is a licensed Psychologist in both California and the UK and an advanced certified schema therapist and supervisor with the International Society of Schema Therapy.  Olivia offers both in person and online psychological therapy and her practice is based in San Anselmo, Marin. Olivia also founded The Psychology Company which is a private practice in the UK which she continues to oversee. Olivia specializes in Schema Therapy and Compassion Focused Therapy, is a certified Mindfulness and Yoga teacher and is also trained in DBT and CBT.

Olivia works with adults and specializes in working with clients who experience chronic emotional or interpersonal issues and have experienced attachment difficulties growing up. This can include;

• Physical/verbal/sexual/emotional abuse
• Growing up in invalidating/critical/emotionally dismissive family environments
• Growing up in an over-controlling environment where you were not free to be expressive, play or make mistakes
• Growing up witnessing significant and/or frequent parental conflict/domestic violence.
• Growing up with a family member who was addicted to alcohol and/or drugs.
• Growing up with a family member who had volatile moods and/or angry outbursts.
• Growing up with a family member who was depressed or experienced mental health problems.
• Growing up with a family member who themselves experienced attachment/relational trauma as a child which went untreated.
•  Losing a parent/sibling/someone very close to you whilst growing up.
•  Experiencing parental divorce.
•  Having difficult experiences at school including going to boarding school, bullying and feeling different and/or ostracized from peers.

Olivia also has a special interest in working with adults who experienced childhood emotional neglect. Childhood emotional neglect refers to a situation in which a child’s emotional needs were consistently unmet, ignored, or disregarded by their caregivers. It’s not necessarily about abusive or overtly harmful actions; rather, it’s often about what’s missing—emotional responsiveness, validation, and support that children require for healthy emotional development. 

Olivia also specializes in Enmeshment. Enmeshment refers to a dysfunctional relational pattern where boundaries between individuals are blurred or non-existent.  There is also an over reliance on a child for emotional support and children in enmeshed relationships with their parents may find themselves suppressing their own feelings and aspirations in favor of maintaining the other person’s wellbeing. Enmeshment can lead to a lack of autonomy and individuality, for example people might struggle to make independent choices or feel guilty when asserting their own needs, fearing it will upset or disappoint the other person.  Olivia believes a strong therapeutic relationship combined with evidenced based structured therapy is imperative in helping people make the changes they desire. Olivia is an active participant in therapy sessions which is different from some more passive approaches.