Bankers Hill
This is the neighborhood the office is actually in.
The office is at 2560 First Ave, Suite 202, between Balboa Park and the freeway. Some clients walk over, which changes what the hour before a session feels like.
Telehealth Monday through Friday, in person one Sunday a month
The Place
What it is actually like here
Bankers Hill sits on the west edge of Balboa Park, between the park and Interstate 5, with Hillcrest a few blocks north and downtown a few minutes south. It is one of the older parts of the city and it still reads that way: craftsman houses next to mid-century apartment buildings, canyon edges, and long residential blocks that go quiet by early evening.
The two landmarks people use to place it are the Spruce Street Suspension Bridge and the Quince Street Bridge, both of which cross the canyons on foot. Fifth Avenue is the neighborhood restaurant strip. The office is at 2560 First Ave, Suite 202, near West Maple Street, which is inside all of that rather than on the edge of it.
At a Glance
- Shelley Davidescu, LMFT, 17 years in practice
- Telehealth Monday through Friday across California
- In person one Sunday a month in Bankers Hill
- Free 15-minute consultation
Individual sessions are $210, or $325 for 90 minutes. Couples sessions are $225, or $345 for 90 minutes.
Full fees and policiesGetting Here
Getting to the office
2560 First Ave, Suite 202. First Avenue is the through street: from downtown you come north on First, from Hillcrest you come south. West Maple Street is the cross street to look for.
If you are already in the neighborhood, walking is often the simplest option, and the canyon bridges are a reasonable route on foot from the blocks east and north of the building.
Street parking on First and the side streets is metered or time-limited on weekdays. Sundays are noticeably easier, which matters because the monthly in-person day is a Sunday.
It is worth reading the schedule honestly before you book. Most of my work is telehealth, Monday through Friday. In-person sessions are limited to one Sunday a month at the Bankers Hill office, and those slots fill ahead of time.
Why People Write From Here
The pressures particular to this place
The people who find me from these blocks are often walking distance clients, and that changes the shape of the session. There is no forty-minute drive to compose yourself in on the way home. You leave the room and you are on a residential street two minutes later, which is either a gift or a problem depending on the week, and we plan for it.
Bankers Hill has a lot of people living alone in it: professionals in the apartment buildings along First and Fourth, older residents who have been in the same house for decades, people who moved in for the walkability after a divorce or a job change. Quiet is easy to find here. Company is not always as easy, and isolation does a lot of the work that anxiety later gets blamed for.
The park being right there cuts both ways too. It gives people a reliable place to put their nervous system, and it also gives them a very convincing way to avoid a harder conversation. Walking is regulation. It is not, by itself, processing. Part of the work is knowing which one you are doing.
Where to Start
Four places this usually begins
Anxiety Therapy
The core of the practice, and the reason most people in the neighborhood get in touch in the first place.
Trauma Therapy
Older material that has become quieter over the years without ever actually resolving.
EMDR Therapy
A structured route through a specific memory when talking has plateaued.
Next-Level Performance
For the professionals in these buildings who are performing well and privately running the tank empty.
Questions
Answered plainly
Anything not covered here is worth asking on the free 15-minute consult.
Related Reading
Can I walk to the office?
From most of Bankers Hill, yes. The building is at 2560 First Ave, Suite 202, near West Maple Street, and the canyon footbridges make the blocks to the east and north walkable. Please keep in mind that in-person sessions are limited to one Sunday a month.
How often can I be seen in person?
In-person sessions are limited. I hold one Sunday a month at the Bankers Hill office, and those slots are booked ahead. Everything else runs by secure video, Monday through Friday. Most of my clients are telehealth clients from the first session onward, and the work is not a lesser version of the room.
What is parking like?
Street parking, metered or time-limited on First and the side streets during the week. Sundays are easier, and Sunday is the in-person day, so most people who come in do not have much trouble with it.
Is telehealth as useful as sitting in the room?
For the work I do, yes, and for a lot of people it is more practical. Anxiety work, EMDR, and couples work all translate to video. What matters more than the format is whether you have a private hour and a door that closes. If you do not have that at home, we will talk about where else the hour could happen.
Do you see couples at the office?
Yes, on the monthly Sunday, and by video the rest of the time. A lot of couples end up preferring video because it removes the logistics of getting two schedules into the same car.
Free 15-Minute Consult
Fifteen minutes to find out whether this is the right work.
Tell me what is going on and where you are in California. I will tell you honestly how I would approach it, and whether I am the right person for it.
In person in San Diego, and by telehealth across California.