Geoff Gershenson, MA, PhD-Pol, MFT 101371

Hi, welcome, and thanks for visiting my website. I'm glad you're here, glad you're considering therapy, glad you're taking the time to check out this page. I'm a big advocate of therapy not just because I'm a therapist, but because I have seen first-hand -- over the course of many hours, months, and years of working as a therapist -- just how helpful therapy can be to so many people. Therapy helps you find your way out of a jam when you are struggling or stuck, and even when you are doing well, it can serve as a kind of healthy sanctuary, a weekly place to talk, sort things out, and grow as a person. Here are a few details about my practice, meant to give you a first sense of how I work and who I am... -- I have my own private practice, where I see adults of all ages. I specialize in individual therapy. -- I see people from diverse backgrounds and walks of life. I'm based in Los Angeles and many of my clients are professionals, creatives, and executives working in entertainment, media, or related fields. -- I commonly work with anxiety, depression, relationship issues, family dynamics, and self-esteem issues. A common feeling is of something being missing, broken, or unrealized in the areas of love, family, work, play, or self. -- every therapist has a style, and it's something hard to describe, but since you want a therapist with whose style you align, I owe it to you to try to describe mine. I would use words like warm, friendly, professional, informal, easy to talk to, and dedicated to the spirit of mutual give-and-take, honesty, curiosity, and introspection. --- how I work depends on your personality and your situation, but I'm often most interested in how you tend to think and feel about the things that matter the most to you. We explore how some of these ways of thinking and feeling may be holding you back, and we examine where these tendencies came from, what problems they've created, and how to move beyond them. This psychodynamic work can be transformational. -- a note on my professional background: prior to becoming a therapist I was a college professor in the social sciences and humanities; I spent a lot of time thinking academically about the human condition in modern societies. While I don't speak in jargon and certainly don't lecture in therapy (!), some people like to know about this background. I have a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley in political theory (an interdisciplinary mix of philosophy, social theory, literature, political science, and psychoanalytic theory) and taught at various universities in California as well as at McGill University in Canada. --- fourteen years ago I transitioned to a career as a psychoanalytic therapist, training at the Wright Institute in Berkeley and the Family Service Agency of Marin before opening my own therapy practice in the west and South Bay areas of Los Angeles, where I continue today. Thanks again for visiting, I hope you've gained a quick first sense of my practice. Please feel free to reach out, I'd be happy to talk with you. :)