Andrea Gardinier

About Andrea

For more than 20 years, Andrea has served in support of families as they navigate separation and divorce. She holds a compassionate and proactive space that allows parents to support their children, while facilitating a space for personal growth. She has advised parents and individuals undergoing separation or divorce on how to implement best parenting practices to optimize a parent and child’s wellbeing before, during, and after the transition.

Andrea implements cross discipline practices into her work that include interpersonal neurobiology, meditation, psychodynamics, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and family-systems therapy. She is a collaborative practitioner.

As a Divorce Coach, Andrea guides and supports the parent with healthy coping mechanisms, developing healthy co-parenting strategies, educational resources, and fosters individualized support of the parent as they navigate a new path forward with their co-parent, and parenting, that supports their child in the best possible way.

As a Child Specialist, Andrea works with children and supports the parents to understand their children’s unique needs. Support is fostered that is developmentally appropriate, and parenting plans are developed together that threads together the children and family’s distinctive structure. These plans outline healthy communication practices, management of schedules and care, and supporting optimal mental health.

Andrea is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (California license #40861) with the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS), a member of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, (CAMFT), the Association for Family Conciliation Courts (AFCC) where she has been a presenter, the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP) and Collaborative Practice San Mateo County (CPSMC). She is a skilled and trained multi-disciplinary therapist, Parenting Coordinator, Mediator, and Coparent Counselor. She routinely attends annual trainings and workshops through a variety of practices that enhance and contribute a special lens to which she works with her clients.

Prior to founding Bay Area Family and Parent Counseling, Inc., Andrea was co-director of the Restorative Justice Program North County where she also served as a youth intervention worker, and as a therapist for adults, couples, adolescents, and children at the Community Health Awareness Council (CHAC) in Mountain View, CA. and in private practice where she specialized in play-based therapy with children.

Andrea holds an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from the University of San Francisco and a B.A. in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

In her free time, she enjoys, hiking, reading, paddle-boarding, snow sports, and traveling the world.