Downtown San Diego
The courthouse is fifteen minutes from my office, which is why I see a lot of attorneys.
The courthouses and firms along Broadway, East Village, Little Italy, and the Gaslamp. The office is a five-minute drive up First Avenue, which is how a lot of downtown professionals end up here.
Telehealth Monday through Friday, in person one Sunday a month
The Place
What it is actually like here
Downtown is the civic core: the courthouses and the law firms clustered along Broadway, the offices above them, East Village to the east, Little Italy to the northwest, and the Gaslamp running through the middle of the whole thing. It is the part of the city that is busiest between eight and six and quietest at the hours when most people finally think about their own lives.
The office is a five-minute drive north up First Avenue from most of it. That is short enough that a downtown professional can be in a session and back without rearranging the day, and it is the practical reason a good portion of my in-person clients come from these blocks.
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 runs straight north out of downtown, so from Broadway or Little Italy you stay on First and you are at West Maple in a few minutes.
Interstate 5 is the alternative if you are coming from the east side of downtown or East Village, exiting into Bankers Hill from the north or south.
Street parking is metered or time-limited on weekdays. On Sundays, when the in-person day runs, downtown empties out and parking on First is considerably easier than a weekday afternoon.
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 legal work is the loudest thing on this page. Billable hours turn a career into a nervous-system schedule, and the adversarial posture that makes someone effective in a hearing does not switch off in the car. It follows people home and gets used on the people they love, which is usually the thing that finally prompts the email.
The second pressure is a culture where showing strain reads as a liability. In firms, in the courthouses, in the finance and real estate offices around them, competence is the currency, and asking for help feels like spending it. That is precisely why so many people in this pocket wait until something breaks in their sleep or their marriage before they call.
The third is the shape of the day itself. Early starts, late filings, weekends that are technically free and functionally not. When there is no unclaimed hour anywhere in the week, therapy becomes another appointment to defend, and the first thing we do is figure out whether you can actually protect it before we start.
Where to Start
Four places this usually begins
Anxiety Therapy
High-functioning anxiety in people whose work depends on staying sharp.
Stress and Burnout
For a workload that stopped being temporary several years ago.
Couples Therapy
For when the adversarial hours have started shaping the conversations at home.
Next-Level Performance
For people performing at a high level who want the engine to stop costing so much.
Questions
Answered plainly
Anything not covered here is worth asking on the free 15-minute consult.
Related Reading
How long does it take to get to your office from downtown?
Roughly five minutes by car up First Avenue from the Broadway corridor, traffic depending. The office is at 2560 First Ave, Suite 202, in Bankers Hill.
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.
Do you see attorneys, and is anything I say confidential?
Yes, I see a number of attorneys. Sessions are confidential under California law, I do not write reports for employers or firms, and I go over the ordinary legal limits on confidentiality with you in the first session so nothing about that is a surprise.
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.
Can I do a session between court appearances?
Sessions run Monday through Friday by video, so a session in the middle of a workday is possible if you have a private space for the hour. A car in a parking structure is a real option that people use, and we can talk about whether it works for what you are bringing.
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.