diff --git a/observability/sessiontimer.go b/observability/sessiontimer.go
index 8338839b5..6193bd043 100644
--- a/observability/sessiontimer.go
+++ b/observability/sessiontimer.go
@@ -1,12 +1,14 @@
 package observability
 
 import (
+	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/livekit/protocol/utils/options"
 )
 
 type SessionTimer struct {
+	mu        sync.Mutex
 	lastMilli int64
 	lastSec   int64
 	lastMin   int64
@@ -33,7 +35,23 @@ func NewSessionTimer(startTime time.Time, opts ...SessionTimerOption) *SessionTi
 	return options.Apply(&SessionTimer{lastMilli: ts, lastSec: ts, lastMin: ts}, opts)
 }
 
+// Reset re-anchors the timer to startTime so that subsequent Advance calls
+// measure elapsed time from startTime. It is intended to be called before the
+// first Advance (e.g. when a participant actually joins) so that wall-clock
+// time accrued before startTime is not counted toward the reported duration.
+// The configured min-seconds/min-minutes options are preserved.
+func (h *SessionTimer) Reset(startTime time.Time) {
+	h.mu.Lock()
+	defer h.mu.Unlock()
+	ts := startTime.UnixMilli()
+	h.lastMilli = ts
+	h.lastSec = ts
+	h.lastMin = ts
+}
+
 func (h *SessionTimer) Advance(now time.Time) (millis, secs, mins int64) {
+	h.mu.Lock()
+	defer h.mu.Unlock()
 	ts := now.UnixMilli()
 	if ts > h.lastMilli {
 		millis = ts - h.lastMilli
diff --git a/observability/sessiontimer_test.go b/observability/sessiontimer_test.go
index 05b318d04..93ac45499 100644
--- a/observability/sessiontimer_test.go
+++ b/observability/sessiontimer_test.go
@@ -88,4 +88,30 @@ func TestSessionTimer(t *testing.T) {
 		require.EqualValues(t, 45, secs)
 		require.EqualValues(t, 3, mins)
 	})
+
+	t.Run("Reset re-anchors so pre-reset time is not counted", func(t *testing.T) {
+		ts := time.Now()
+		st := NewSessionTimer(ts)
+
+		// 90s elapse before the participant actually joins; that time should not
+		// be billed once we re-anchor to the join time.
+		joinedAt := ts.Add(90 * time.Second)
+		st.Reset(joinedAt)
+
+		millis, secs, mins := st.Advance(joinedAt.Add(30 * time.Second))
+		require.EqualValues(t, 30000, millis)
+		require.EqualValues(t, 30, secs)
+		require.EqualValues(t, 1, mins)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Reset preserves min-seconds option", func(t *testing.T) {
+		ts := time.Now()
+		st := NewSessionTimer(ts, WithMinSeconds(45))
+
+		joinedAt := ts.Add(10 * time.Second)
+		st.Reset(joinedAt)
+
+		_, secs, _ := st.Advance(joinedAt.Add(time.Second))
+		require.EqualValues(t, 45, secs)
+	})
 }