About Noah

Noah is happy to be offering in-person therapy for children, adolescents, adults, and families. His work is informed by Internal Family Systems, expressive arts modalities, and mindfulness. Noah believes healing is messy, and so his therapy sessions take place in an art studio rather than a conventional therapy office.

Imaginative therapy for both grown-ups and kids
Family Therapy promoting healthy communication and respect across the system
Unconventional group offerings in the heart of North Berkeley

“Noah Phillips was my child’s therapist at school. Noah created a judgment free environment of emotional safety. This allowed my child to open up and share vulnerable thoughts and feelings. My child looked forward to their sessions and felt deeply understood...it was so helpful to my child’s emotional wellbeing.

Noah’s Backstory

Noah Phillips was inspired to become a therapist through his work as an activist organizing with homeless individuals on the streets of Madison, Wisconsin as well as while volunteering with refugees in Lesvos, Greece. In both of these places, and elsewhere, he came to understand that the root cause of many pressing social issues is untreated trauma and addiction. In addition, as a journalist Noah wanted to learn how to interview subjects that had experienced trauma in a way they would experience as healing, rather than retraumatizing.

In 2016, while living in Brooklyn, Noah applied to Columbia University’s School of Social Work. While studying mental health at CSSW Noah became interested in understanding, and supporting, people in altered states of consciousness such as psychosis or serious depression. Not satisfied with the pathological model of these experiences alone, Noah began attending classes with the NYC-based Institute for the Development of Human Arts (IDHA), a rights-based, peer-led school for transformational models of mental health care. Noah became active in the organization and ended up facilitating several initiatives and classes within IDHA as well as helping to develop the bylaws and governance structure.

Also while at CSSW, Noah organized the Media and Social Justice Caucus, a group which aimed to help bridge the divide between social workers and journalists in New York City. His first year internship at CSSW was at Mustard Seed Forensic Social Work, an agency geared towards mandated clients who had pled guilty to sex offenses in NYC. His second was at the Office of the NYC Public Advocate, where he advocated for more peer led services in New York City’s public mental health system.

After graduating from CSSW in 2019, Noah joined Community Access, a groundbreaking mental health agency in New York City. Noah worked on the agency’s new Pathway Home team, an interdisciplinary team which supported individuals being discharged from inpatient psychiatric wards. This role, and team, was highly flexible and adaptable.

Noah spent about 18 months at Community Access before leaving in order to pursue art full-time as a resident at Flux Factory, an art collective in Long Island City, Queens. While at Flux he curated an exhibition of artists who had all experienced mental health challenges, and discovered powerful strengths within those “wounds.” This exhibition was called The Gift In The Wound, more information can be found about it here. Noah also used Internal Family Systems and several ritual technologies to develop La Danza De La Pulga, a piece of performance art which enacted a personal fable relating to dynamic within Noah’s own psyche.

After his art residency ended in 2021, Noah relocated to San Francisco where he returned to the world of journalism, working remotely for Moment Magazine as digital editor. In 2022, Noah began envisioning a return to the world of mental health and planning limited term groups for adolescents using expressive arts techniques and parts work.

In 2023, shortly after the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, Noah began working as the school therapist at Oakland Hebrew Day School. In 2024, he began seeing clients one on one under the supervision of Rebecca Fox, LCSW, as well as cofacilitating groups.

Other useful information

Noah’s license number is ASW #108810.

Noah is working towards full licensure under the supervision of Rebecca Fox, LCSW #61382. Her contact information can be found here.