I provide individual therapy and couple’s counseling for gay men at my Berkeley (San Francisco East Bay) office. While working largely with gay men, a significant portion of my practice is devoted to women, the parents of gay men, and others.

My therapy with individuals focuses on both shorter-term, acute issues and on longer-standing, developmental ones. The acute issues brought to therapy often center on feelings about a new relationship, or changes in an older one; change of residence or work; coming out; difficult sexual experience; aging or the aging of parents; onset of illness; and other, shorter-term emotional stresses or trauma, often resulting in some feelings of depression or anxiety.

Longer-standing issues brought to therapy include the effects of difficult early life experience with family, adolescence and teenage isolation. In later life, these problems may be expressed in difficulty with connection, intimacy and relationships; longer-standing depression or anxiety; social isolation; feelings about sex and sexuality; indecision about work;  difficulty with self-acceptance and self-esteem; and aging. I now frequently work with older gay men who have survived the AIDS epidemic, and live with the emotional aftermath of trauma and loss. 

In counseling couples, the work focuses on communication, negotiation and compromise, conflict resolution, personal boundaries, intimacy, and the sexual relationship. Many couples come to counseling to enrichen their relationships, some come to “repair” them, and some come to end them with as little emotional hurt as possible. I find that couples coming for counseling have often waited too long before seeking outside help.

My theoretical approaches to both therapy and counseling vary with the client, the issues at hand, and our mutual objectives for the therapy or counseling. I am theoretically eclectic, drawing on psychodynamic, developmental, humanistic, narrative, and family-systems theory. Regardless of the theoretical underpinnings, all therapy and counseling draws heavily on the relationship between client and therapist.

If you would like to discuss the possibility of therapy or couples counseling, please contact me by phone or E-mail. Contact information is supplied on the contact link at the top of the page. I am happy to set up a telephone talk or an office appointment to discuss issues and possible approaches and to answer any questions you have.

I am a California licensed psychologist, PSY-12715.