Psychotherapeutic Services for Men’s Issues, Relationship Issues, and Anxiety
Offering individual and couples therapy
Serving clients throughout California
Therapy for Men in the Bay Area
I don’t know about you, but when I needed help with my mental health, I didn’t really feel like I could talk to anyone about what I was going through. I didn’t think I would be taken seriously. Not only that, but at first, I didn’t know how to talk about what I was experiencing. That ingrained belief is damaging. It's causing harm to your relationships, your friendships, your work, and your self-esteem.
I know how hard it can be to work on your mental health as a man in today’s society.
As men, we‘re still largely socialized to “stuff” our feelings down. Ignore. Numb out. Avoid. Not talk about what’s bothering us. And the internet offers an easy, accessible way to do that.
For years I struggled with an internet-based addiction due to a difficult childhood. I used games to retreat from my difficult home environment. Not working on myself had a negative impact on my work, self-esteem, mental health, and relationships.
These issues can ruin important relationships, cause people to lose their jobs, and destroy self-worth.
Does this sound familiar?
In today’s world, I see a lot of men who regulate their distressing emotions by turning to Netflix, Reddit, porn, or video games. These online outlets offer a refuge. A place where you seek safety and escape uncomfortable or painful experiences. You may not even consider it an addiction because bingeing TV shows or scrolling for hours on your phone is so normalized these days.
But you’re realizing you turn to your phone or computer more and more. And you’re wondering if there’s a better way to cope.
If you’re using technology to soothe yourself, feel good, or avoid your life, online therapy in the Bay Area can help.
Focus Areas
Men’s Issues
Men have been socialized to lock away our feelings and throw away the key. But that doesn’t change how we feel, it just further isolates us from the emotion, others, and ourselves. Read more about this here.
Internet Addiction
Self-Esteem
At the core of many issues in life is some wound to the self. Oftentimes we lie somewhere on the spectrum of feeling like we’re too much for others or not enough for ourselves. Check out my self-esteem page.
What’s Therapy Like?
In therapy, we’ll look at what’s driving you to a website or app (what emotion precipitates) so that we can safely explore that within our session. We will also cultivate mindfulness skills to improve your awareness of your experience, which is essential in exploring how you feel during and after problematic screen use.
Willpower alone won’t stop you from using these outlets. And the truth is, in our technologically driven world, you’re not going to stop using tech altogether. But as a clinician who offers therapy in the Bay Area, I can help you see how you’re using tech to avoid unpleasant emotions or difficulties in your life. We’ll discuss more adaptive coping strategies and unpack the experiences that make you turn to the internet in the first place.
Men often come to me because they’re anxious, especially in social situations. Many of my clients struggle with depression and low self-esteem. But they’re also tired of treating themselves so poorly.
If you’re here because you believe there must be a better way to live, you’re in the right place.
Together we’ll unpack the distressing states that are generating these unhealthy behaviors so you get back in touch with yourself.
About Me
I truly view it as an honor to be of service to others in the discovery of oneself. My style is person-centered and relational, drawing from psychodynamics, transpersonal psychology, depth psychology, contemplative traditions, and somatics. My areas of expertise include men’s work, internet addiction, and self-worth-related challenges. Aside from those specialties, many of my clients struggle with depression, anxiety, addiction, grief, low self-esteem, life transitions, and relational challenges. I think much of our issues come down to our fundamental self-constructs, which inform how we show up in our relationships with others, and most importantly, to ourselves.
I received my Master of Arts in Integral Counseling Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies.
How Can Therapy in the Bay Area Help Me?
In therapy, we work together to understand and explore your thoughts, feelings, and experiences, and how they are related to your past and present relationships. By utilizing the therapeutic relationship and our interactions to gain insight into your unconscious patterns and struggles. This insight is an essential part of the healing process and increasing agency within your life.
One of the key benefits of therapy is that it provides a safe and supportive space for clients to express and process their emotions, and gain a deeper understanding of their thoughts and behaviors. This can lead to increased self-awareness, improved relationships with others, and a greater sense of personal fulfillment.
While I primarily operate from a psychodynamic approach, I also have a longstanding interest in mindfulness and contemplative traditions which are infused in my work. In the times that I’ll bring it in more overtly, I draw from meditative practices to help you regulate in session. We’ll use techniques derived from mindfulness so you can learn to calm and soothe yourself without turning to an app, website, or game.
Don’t feel like you have an internet addiction?
Don’t sweat it. You’re still welcome here.
If you struggle with…
Self-expression
Knowing how you’re feeling
Identifying the physical manifestation of emotions in your body
Bottling up or avoiding unpleasant, uncomfortable emotions
Communicating your needs, feelings, or wants
Making or keeping friends
Romantic relationships and intimacy
Family dynamics
Video game, porn, phone, or social media addiction
Lack of motivation and focus at work
Declining work performance
Avoidance of important issues at work or in your personal life
Feeling isolated, lost, lonely, anxious, or depressed
Self-loathing, self-doubt
Crippling fear of failure and intense shame
Together, you can learn how to…
Express yourself
Have a healthy relationship
Make (and keep) friends
Allow yourself to experience challenging emotions to instill a sense of agency
Regulate your own nervous system
Draw boundaries in relationships that honor yourself
Introspect
Exercise self-compassion
How to cope with the hardships inherent to life
Communicate in a way that balances kindness and authenticity
How to witness yourself in your own truth
Disentangle from overidentifying with thoughts, emotions, and experiences
How to accept and integrate challenging experiences from the past to become tomorrow’s wisdom
In our work together, you’ll learn to healthily express your needs, develop healthier coping mechanisms (so you’re not avoiding your life and numbing out) and build healthy self-esteem so you feel good about yourself and seek experiences that affirm your self-worth.
Making some of these changes may feel impossible to achieve, but I know from firsthand experience that it is possible. There is a better way to live your life.
Therapy in the Bay Area can give you the tools to address these issues with empathy and compassion.
By working on themselves in therapy, my clients often find they are…
More connected to themselves and therefore able to identify what their values, needs, and wants are
Able to take action to achieve value-aligned goals
Overcoming social anxiety
Building healthy, nurturing relationships
Focusing better at work
Less depressed and less anxious
Reaching for new or forgotten hobbies that spark joy
More confident and self-assured
Kinder and more compassionate to themselves and others
Reconnected to their sense of agency and purpose
I believe these things are possible for you too.