Meet Volunteer - Pauline Jarakian, LMFT

Pauline Jarakian has been a licensed marriage family and child therapist for over 30 years, based in San Francisco and Marin. Pauline has vast training and experience in treating clients with trauma which is why she was excited to be part of the FWCP when the project first began in March of 2020. During this time she has served approximately 14 workers with [150] sessions. These clients ranged from medical residents and nurses to preschool and secondary teachers as well as workers in residential settings. Clients initially came, Pauline said, because of “anxiety and trauma associated with working in a capacity where there was exposure to the virus; worry that when they came home they would infect their family; as well as concerns around moral injury, especially among nurses deciding whom to put on a ventilator.” 

Pauline continues to see FWCP clients, though she observes that clients’ concerns have evolved. “We know that trauma is cumulative and can be complex,” Pauline says, “people need to feel safe and to have much needed connections with family and friends as they navigate the anxiety and effects of the pandemic.” Among teachers, “there’s heightened anxiety for a number of reasons,” she says, “not only the fear of COVID but the anxiety that comes with teaching in this day and age of "active shooter drills", as well as with the fallout of over two lost or compromised years of online education. We are seeing more rates of depression and lost years of development among children and teens. According to Pauline, we are going into a different realm, and we need to help people manage these new anxieties.

We are grateful for Pauline’s wisdom and contributions. To learn more about Pauline, visit her website at www.paulinejarakianmft.com .