Find a Therapist in San Pablo, California.

I work with an entire person--the mind, emotions, body, spirit, relationships. I offer an alternative approach to traditional psychotherapy because sometimes we are stuck beyond our thoughts. I believe we are often stuck beyond how we think about something, but by how our body holds and remembers the experiences. After all, we feel the anxiety in our chest, shoulders or stomach. When we are depressed, we struggle to move, sleep, concentrate etc. I work to remove the block from wherever it is stuck. My clients come to me after years of ineffective therapy. They are looking for more than talking about their struggles or identifying how they think about them in favor of a change in living.

You don't need to do it all alone. And turns out, as more and more brain research is showing us, you're not meant to. Many of our original wounds, with echoes in our current lives, come from past and often early relationships. And while there are many valuable paths to healing, psychotherapy provides a special safe relationship in which these past experiences can be rewired and new aspects of yourself can be discovered or rediscovered. With compassionate reflection, encouragement, and challenge, transformation can happen!

Often in our lives we can benefit from having a safe compassionate listener outside of our family or friends circle. A neutral party that can be both direct and empathetic can help you examine troubling emotions and life issues that are contributing to a less than satisfying life. You will feel heard and understood as we explore and move through obstacles that may be interfering with your stability. I will help you access your personal strengths and resources to develop strategies to change what is not working and learn new ways to be healthier / happier in your world. Life will never be perfect however our ability to manage life can make a world of difference in our well being.

My clients often find me easy to talk to and say they feel comfortable with me, trusting quickly. This can make the psychotherapeutic process easier and more effective for my clients, especially if they are nervous or don’t know what to expect. Therapy with me can range from just talking casually with each other, leading to insights, increased self awareness, and processing through emotional issues, or it could be more intensive deeper therapy like EMDR.

Most of us want to take better care of ourselves, we just do not know where to start. Coming to therapy is the first step you can take to learn how to cope with stress, recover from tough situations, and live a meaningful life. I approach therapy with an integrative cognitive behavioral style and can help you identify and change the troubling thoughts, habits and behaviors that are holding you back from feeling like your best self.

Therapy is hard! But it can also be nice. Sure, it starts out strange enough; sitting with a stranger and talking about personal issues is not what most people want to do, but give it time. Soon enough, that therapist won't be a stranger, he'll be a trusted confidant. Once you're at that point, you'll know the difference it makes to spend an hour each week reflecting on your life with someone who has experience working through all sorts of issues! That hour can be life-changing.

I help men and teens who are struggling with emotional pain, transform their lives. More than a decade's worth of focus on men's issues has taught me that men can experience and express emotion differently than women. In addition to my role as a psychotherapist, I am also Research Director at the San Francisco Psychotherapy Research Group, where I study the processes that lead to effective psychotherapy. My combined clinical and research background means that I am very aware of the most current and effective methods in psychotherapy, allowing me to utilize a warm, compassionate, and scientifically-informed approach to help my clients achieve the maximum benefits possible.

Early wounding in life is the key cause of the issues and problems we have in our present lives. I believe in exploring and experienceing our early painful and angry feelings to associate them with how we deal with our relationships, our jobs and/or the community. I believe that the strong feelings of anger and love we have or had for our parents are reflected in our current relationships. I also believe that the modeling of behavior in our early lives will be reflected in how we act today. If this has a negative bent to it, it can be readily repaired through the empathetic and reflective counseling that I provide..

My approach to psychotherapy is mostly relational. I take a family systems approach that addresses relationships in my clients' lives and improves their functioning for better health and happiness. Clients under my care learn how to unilaterally improve the functioning of a relationship through boundaries and self-confrontation. The result is individuals and relationships that thrive.

Many of my clients would like to move more deeply into self discovery after working successfully with practical issues that have brought them into therapy. My approach to inner work is influenced most by C. G. Jung and a contemporary of Jung's, Fritz Kunkel, who established the We Psychology. Two of my most important mentors worked directly with Jung and previously with Kunkel. I facilitate a stronger connection to each person's own "Creative Center" and a clear perspective on the influence of egocentricity in our lives through dream work, journal writing, artistic and vocational expression and reflection on meaningful events and relationships.