About
Christan Mercurio
I created this practice because I kept watching capable people stay stuck in patterns that logic alone can't solve, and watching those patterns spread through their families.
The burned-out engineer with imposter syndrome comes to therapy for anxiety. A few months later, their exhausted partner calls about couples therapy. Six months after that, their 8-year-old shows signs of the same perfectionism and sleep issues.
I know this pattern because I lived it. I also know what it takes to change it..
Christan Mercurio, AMFT
Registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist
Registration No. AMFT 156566
20 Years in Continuous Recovery
Supervised by: Harry Motro, Psy.D., MFT, P.C., CA License: MFC 53452
My Background
20 Years in Tech (Still There)
I'm still working in tech while building my therapy practice. I understand the unique pressures of tech culture, the imposter syndrome despite achievements, why setting boundaries takes more than willpower when your team is shipping next week, and how easy it is to hide drinking when you work from home.
20 Years in Continuous Recovery
I live recovery every day through a 12-step program. This isn't theoretical for me. I work with clients across the spectrum of substance use and recovery, whether you're exploring harm reduction, working a 12-step program, in medication-assisted treatment, or finding your own path to change. My own recovery has been through 12-step programs, and that lived experience informs my work, but I meet you where you are.
My Approach
Everything Is Geared Toward Behavior Change
Here's the truth: you can't control your thoughts. You can't control your feelings. You can only control your actions.
So that's what we focus on. Concrete behavioral change that makes your life work better. Understanding matters when it leads somewhere. Insight matters when you act on it.
I pull from multiple approaches, but everything we do is focused on one thing: changing what actually happens in your life.
To change behavior, we work with what keeps you stuck:
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They're information, not problems to fix. Your anxiety tells you something important. Learning to read these signals (instead of numbing them) changes everything.
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Where anxiety, stress, and cravings live. The physical patterns that keep you in fight-or-flight even when there's no immediate threat.
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The part of you that drives toward perfection and the part that's exhausted. The part that wants to stay sober and the part that still wants to use. The part that wants to be present with your kids and the part that can't stop working. These are protective mechanisms that need updating.
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Where you can stop performing and be yourself. Where you can say the things you've never said out loud. A space built on understanding, free from judgment.
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Understanding only matters if you do something different. We process your past to change your present.
Why This Combination Is Rare
Tech professional + person in long-term recovery + family therapist + someone who's done the work himself.
This combination means I understand both the world you're navigating and the internal patterns keeping you stuck.
I work in tech culture right now, not just academically
I live recovery daily, working my program alongside my clients
I've had to decide which patterns to change and which situations to leave
You have patterns that made sense once but no longer serve you. This work helps you get unstuck from those patterns and break cycles before they pass to your kids.
Ready to Work Together?
If you're ready to change what you do, not just how you think about it, let's talk.
We'll talk about what's been hardest for you, what you want to change, and whether we're a good fit to work together.
Contact:
Email: cm@christanmercurio.com
Voicemails: (669) 240-0319
Serving the San Jose, California area
San Jose, Campbell, Los Gatos, Willow Glen, Almaden Valley, Saratoga, Silicon Valley, and Santa Clara County
