I’m a Bay Area native raised in a family of blue- and white-collar workers with multiple cultural and religious identities. My upbringing consisted of diverse experiences across these lines which left me with a lot of empathy and openness towards others. Like most therapists, personal encounters with therapy were transformative in my understanding of both myself and those I was close to.
Therapy also helped me attain a healthy sense of discipline and structure. Close connections to people with trauma and mental illness have further informed my work as a professional and my firm belief in the healing power of psychotherapy.
I help men with anxiety, making amends, relationships, and excessive internet, porn, and online gaming. If you have made mistakes that hurt others, are struggling with the past, or can’t break problematic patterns, I have the experience to help you.
I see clients from a variety of backgrounds and work hard to make my practice accessible to those who have found it hard to click with traditional therapy.
Shame and guilt are often huge barriers to therapy, especially around addressing past mistakes or pornography use. People are often paralyzed before they start, leaving a lot of them suffering alone.
My practice is specially designed to help you. We’ll look for the underlying pain driving your behaviors so you can address it directly and get your needs and wants met. Shame is often a poor motivator, and I use an open, accepting approach to changing behavior, improving your relationships, and getting you to the life you want.
As a young adult, my scientific fascination with the brain gradually evolved into a love for the many disciplines that study and discuss the human experience, from physiology to poetry to religion.
After working as a neuroscientist at the NIH, I became involved in various volunteer groups that focused on supporting people through negative life circumstances. Over time, I found that my primary skill and enjoyment in the work centered around being a source of encouragement and guidance for others at their lowest moments.
I entered graduate school to refine the skill of being professionally social. The decision to become a therapist has proven to be among the most important and meaningful commitments of my life.
Clinically, this means that I can quickly understand what’s affecting you and relate to it via a variety of lenses–from the science of the corticosteroid system to the relatability of religious or poetic texts in speaking to human suffering.
I am extensively familiar with the real social and economic fallout experienced by those with distressing patterns of behavior and limiting negative beliefs. People find it easiest to cope with their suffering when they are able to explain it and formulate a clear plan for tackling it. My job is to help you do just that.
My clients often tell me that I am unlike therapists they have seen in the past due to my directness, humor, and approachability. Therapy works best when one looks forward to it, even in difficult circumstances. The relationship should feel easy, reliable, and even fun.
It breaks my heart when I meet people who report that therapy is a slog that “doesn’t work.” Many have only known clinicians who offer the vaguely therapeutic platitudes one finds smeared all over the internet alongside a similar kind of placid, directionless validation.
As your therapist I will laugh with you, encourage you, and point out what you might be missing. Compassion is a critical piece of this process, yet it is meaningless without a clear sense of the standards you want to be held up to. The time you put into this work means something, and I am in the business of making sure you get the absolute most out of this experience to attain the life you want.
I look forward to seeing who you are and who you will become.
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