New Podcast
The Joy of Ageless Sex–Joan PriceEmotional Retraining
Do you really need "therapy"? Or do you need to retrain yourself to express your true and real emotions; to stop thinking, acting and feeling in ways that defeat your better intentions? Emotional Retraining applies the best proven psychological insights to help you be "all that you can be."Men Get Depression
Until recently it was believed that depression was mainly a women's disease. Recent research has shown that 20-25% of men experience this problem. But depression is treatable. You don't have to live with it and should not. It has a part in many other illnesses.
Give An Hour
"Give An Hour" provides assistance to Iraq veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. If you know a veteran who needs help, please give him or her the information to contact me.Sex Coaching and Therapy
There, I've said it. Every person has the right to as full a sex life as possible. Sex is as normal and natural a human need as food. Sixty and seventy year old sex may not be as vigorous as it was at twenty, but it can be just as satisfying.
There are solutions to sex problems. Whether you are a man with erectile dysfunction--even if it is the result of various medications or surgery--or a woman who has never had a satisfactory orgasm. Even people with serious physical disabilities can often find sexual solutions.
Information for Counselors and Therapists--Look under "Counselors Information" in the menu.
Counseling/Psychotherapy comes in many flavors. Unlike ice cream, where chocolate, strawberry and vanilla are different but all are delicious, modes of psychotherapy are different in purpose and in usefulness.
Most of the ways we create emotional problems in our lives do not require long-term psychotherapy. Sometimes our problems press on our minds and hearts. We feel so burdened that we become depressed or anxious and it seems we can never again feel "normal." Occasionally this gets translated into a habit of being depressed. Can we ever claw our way out of it? The answer is "Yes". We can learn new ways of feeling and thinking that makes us strong, glad and positive.
Few emotional issues take long-term therapy. My goal is to help you recover your normal self-confidence. I specialize in short-term counseling. My intent is to find the fastest road to your happiness and success. Getting you over the problem emotions will let you live your life fully and joyfully. If you then want to explore other areas of distress or problem-solving we can do that, but after the immediate pain has stopped.
I employ a variety of tools. Cognitive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is a starting point for many personal emotional problems. It is the "gold standard" for depression and anxiety issues. For interpersonal difficulties, I often find Transactional Analysis to be the most productive. Other techniques we will use include hypnotherapy--never alone, but always in the context of counseling--Gestalt, Schema-Focused Therapy and more.
No one can promise the length of the process, but I look to assist you in as short a time as possible and effective.
Not every counselor can work effectively with every person. For this reason, our first session will be at no charge so that we can explore together.
A word about "spirituality" and "pastoral". Some read those words and think, "Religion, Christianity, Judaism, Islam." Spirituality however, is not limited to doctrinal religions--some, but not all, religions substitute dogma for spirituality. Spirituality is something we all experience. It is sense of reverence, awe and gratitude that some people feel as they look out over the coastal cliffs to the sea, when they stand among the redwoods, when they have had the closeness of sex with a lover, when they look up in a night sky filled with billions of stars, when they have discovered a close connection with a friend, when they have discovered/chosen the purpose for their life.
I have successfully aided clients from traditional communities of faith, but many of my clients identify themselves as atheist, agnostic, skeptic, "recovering" and yet have found their spiritual center within themselves and chosen their life purpose, their ground of being.
Spirituality is a part of emotional health. It is not a dogma or doctrine. It is freeing, not confining. It is part of an open, adventurous life, not a closed one.
Counseling, Pastoral Psychotherapy and Spiritual Coaching available in person in the San Francisco area, via video chat, or by email from anywhere in the world.
In the San Francisco Bay Area call1-415-479-3945
| The multifaith dove logo was created by the Plum Village community, founded by Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh and is used by permission. It is intended to represent the best teaching of all spiritual paths. |