Meet Our Therapists

I believe that everyone has the potential to improve their lives and I enjoy helping people develop the authentic, fulfilling lives they deserve to have. I work with my clients collaboratively to build a safe container in which we can explore and heal the wounds that life has created. I work with people who are badly wounded from traumatic experiences, loss, physical and mental disorders, and other stresses of life as well as with people who are happy and satisfied but desire to live more fully and authentically. I help people understand how early life experiences shape their coping skills and how new experiences in therapy can help develop new skills and new ways of relating to the world.

One of the most rewarding aspects of being a psychotherapist for me is the opportunity to meet a wide variety of people from different walks of life and cultures. I enjoy the creativity of developing a common language so that my clients can feel truly understood by me and come to understand their own thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in deeper ways. I find that such understanding helps solidify the therapeutic attachment and secure base that is needed for personal development and change to occur. I am comfortable working with people with a wide variety of concerns including relationship issues (including intercultural relationships), depression, anxiety, loss, chronic illness, trauma, and post-traumatic stress. I have a specific expertise in group psychotherapy and find group a powerful way to work on the relationship issues that underlie much psychological distress. I also have extensive training and experience in working with issues of trauma and dissociation.

In addition to my work with individuals, couples, families, and groups, I have expertise in providing therapy to other mental health professionals and clergy. I also provide training and consultation with a particular focus on individual and group psychotherapy.

Professional Bio

Dr. Martha Gilmore, PhD is a licensed psychologist (PSY10451) and a Certified Group Psychotherapist. She obtained her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Arizona in 1986 and has maintained a private practice in Davis and Sacramento since her licensure in 1988. She formed the Davis Center for Psychotherapy in 1991 with her close friends – a wonderful collaboration that continues today. In 2011 she formed the Sacramento Center for Psychotherapy with her husband, Dr. Haim Weinberg, PhD where they provide individual, couple, and group psychotherapy as well as training and consultation to other mental health professionals. She is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UC Davis Medical Center and a Fellow of the American Group Psychotherapy Association as well as co-chair of the Annual Meeting Committee which keeps her current on the state of group psychotherapy in the USA.

About Me

I grew up in Southern California, playing volleyball on the beach and backpacking in the Sierra Nevada.  I had an early interest in understanding people and in understanding the power of the group to help or hinder one’s agenda.

I started volunteer work with troubled children while still in high school and went off for a Bachelor’s degree in social psychology at UC San Diego. While there I worked administering and teaching a class titled “Wilderness and Human Values” which combined philosophy with backpacking and wilderness skills which helped further develop my interest in group dynamics and in the effects of the environment on well-being.

I went off to the University of Arizona in Tucson for MA and PhD degrees in clinical psychology with a minor in environmental psychology.  Along with training in individual and family therapy I was lucky enough to have intensive training in group psychotherapy and solidify my belief in the power of the group to facilitate growth.  I came to Sacramento on internship at the UC Davis Medical Center and, thrilled to be back in California and near the Sierra, I put down roots. 

I obtained licensure in 1988 and started a private practice, joining in the formation of the Davis Center for Psychotherapy with my close friends in 1991. Since then I’ve continued my interest in groups and gone from attending continuing educational events about group psychotherapy to leading them and running training groups in various settings as well as providing supervision and consultation to other professionals. 

Eventually, I developed international contacts within the group therapy community and started to travel internationally to lead and attend workshops. In the process, I met my husband, Haim Weinberg, PhD and we formed the Sacramento Center for Psychotherapy in 2010.

On a different front, I noticed that I was quite skilled and comfortable working with people who had very negative experiences in childhood ranging from frank abuse to more subtle wounds and losses. This has led to my seeking extensive training in the treatment of trauma and dissociation and years of clinical experience in this area. Recently I have developed an interest in the effects of early attachment experiences on the psyche and am developing my expertise in relational psychoanalytic therapy.

While I seem to be one of the few therapists I know who went straight through her schooling without pursuing other life interests first, the vicissitudes of life have also impacted me and my work. My life experiences leave me comfortable and experienced in working with issues of loss, marriage and divorce, step-families, parenting, chronic illness, and inter-cultural relationships.

I believe that relationships heal and that one of the important factors in therapy is the connection between the client and the therapist. Inside each of us there is a creative potential and life force. When you are immersed in your pain and cannot get rid of symptomatic behavior, this creativity and zest for life is gone. Together we will renew them again.

I see life difficulties as a challenge & an opportunity for growth. When you are in trouble and distressed it’s probably not easy for you to see it this way. I will patiently listen to your troubles, try to illuminate aspects you were unaware of, help you understand what is going on, & together we will find a way to deal with your problems better. This is a joint journey & my support & guidance can make it a worthy journey, leading you to self actualization.

Whether the symptoms are depression, anxiety, or marital problems, my focus is always on the relational aspect and how these symptoms disrupt your life. My specialty is relationship issues, applied to individual, couple and group therapy.

My expertise in group therapy enables me to provide the optimal therapy modality, because some people are suitable for individual therapy, and some benefit more from a group. Other times, a combined therapy is the best way to encompass the problems from all aspects.

Professional Bio

Dr. Weinberg is a licensed psychologist in California (PSY 23243) & Israel, in private practice in Sacramento, California, with more than 30 years of experience. He is also a group analyst and Certified Group Psychotherapist. He is past President of the Israeli Association of Group Psychotherapy and of the Northern California Group Psychotherapy Society, and list-owner of the group psychotherapy professional online discussion forum. Dr. Weinberg is the Academic Vice-President of the Professional School of Psychology in which he created and coordinates an online doctoral program in group psychotherapy and marital therapy. He published a book on Internet groups and co-edited a book about the large group and a series of books about the social unconscious. He is on the clinical faculty of Psychiatry at UC Davis Medical Center and Fellow of the American Group Psychotherapy Association and of the International Group Psychotherapy Association, as well as a Distinguished Fellow of the Israeli Group Psychotherapy Association. He has received several awards including the Harold Bernard Group Psychotherapy Training Award.

About Me

I grew up in Israel and moved to California in 2006. As an Israeli, I am interested in social justice and involved in dialogue groups, both with Palestinians and with different subgroups in the Israeli society, which led me to establish and direct the training program for group leaders in a multicultural society at the Bet Berl college. Living most of my life in Israel left its imprint on my personality and I am probably more direct than many Californians, however I have learned to integrate the best parts of the American and Israeli culture.

I finished my MA in clinical psychology at the university of Haifa, Israel in 1982, and became

licensed in Israel in 1986. I completed my PhD studies at the Manchester Metropolitan University in 2006 about Groups, their Cultures, and the Internet Unconscious.

I am very involved in the international community of group therapists, and I love traveling around the world to meet people, deepen my connections with colleagues and friends, and participate and lecture in conferences. My professional interests lie in the areas of group processes and group therapy, multicultural issues, conflict resolution, trauma groups, Large Groups and the Social Unconscious.