About Me

Sharmila Chitnis-Fallon, LCSW, BCD, RYT, is an EMDRIA Approved Consultant, EMDRIA Certified Therapist, and Facilitator-in-Training with The Center for Excellence in EMDR Therapy. With over 25 years of experience in social work and mental health, she specializes in complex trauma, developmental trauma, and post-traumatic growth through an integrative, attachment-focused approach. She maintains a private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Sharmila earned her Master of Social Work from New York University. She has worked across psychiatric, community mental health, integrated behavioral health, university, and private practice settings. Before becoming a psychotherapist, she spent a decade counseling survivors of domestic and sexual violence in crisis, community, and forensic settings. Committed to ongoing professional development, she continues advanced study in EMDR under the mentorship of Deany Laliotis, LICSW. Her work integrates relational, psychodynamic, and neurobiological perspectives with mindfulness and somatic approaches to healing.

As a second-generation Indian American, Sharmila is passionate about culturally responsive care and supporting individuals from Indian and other South Asian communities within her broader trauma work. Grounded in her cultural heritage, she draws upon yoga, meditation, pranayama (yogic breathing practices), Advaita Vedanta (non-dual spirituality), and other contemplative traditions, which inform her understanding of consciousness, healing, and well-being. She is also a registered yoga teacher and speaks Marathi fluently. She offers consultation to help therapists cultivate therapeutic presence, clinical confidence, and trust in their own wisdom.