Psychotherapy can be helpful for a variety of issues that may come up for all of us from time to time. I have experience working with men and women in addressing many issues, including: Transitions – new job, relocation, new relationships, new career Health issues – either your own or a partners HIV and AIDS issues – fears or concerns around safer sex, testing for HIV, or living with HIV/AIDS Anxiety or Depression issues Grief or Grieving losses (parent, relationship, transition) Self Esteem, Self worth, or Shyness Issues Eating Disorders and Body issues Dating and Socialization Spirituality and Meaning in one’s life Substance use issues (either your own or a partner’s) Family of origin issues Psychotherapy can be a life transforming experience. The process of examining how we have become who we are and who we would like to be can be very rewarding. Our work together will focus on your personal strengths as well as uncovering any life strategies that may not be working so well any longer. This process will provide you with insight and tools to help you begin living the life you choose vs. surviving in a life that often feels chosen for you. Style and therapeutic orientation that informs my work with clients My style of working in therapy is client-centered, collaborative, relationally based, and active. I draw upon many theoretical orientations in my approach to addressing a client’s needs. These may include, but are not limited to, psychodynamic, experiential, transpersonal, and cognitive-behavioral therapeutic techniques. Our work together will be a flexible and creative process that addresses your individual goals, utilizing therapeutic tools to best address the issues that bring you to therapy. I offer a safe, compassionate space in which my training and experience is utilized to assist clients in realizing their fullest potential. In this effort, I act as coach, tour guide, and confidant as the need arises. I call on encouragement, education and even humor when appropriate to foster growth and healing. How Long will it take? This question is very difficult to answer without meeting face to face and discussing what brings you to therapy. However, here is a general answer to this question: If you are entering therapy to engage in briefer solution-focused therapy centered on achieving specific goals around a specific issue you may be able to do this in 3 to 20 sessions If you looking to address longer-term in-depth work focused on more complex issues, it is not uncommon for work on these issues to last a year or longer. I am open to many ways of working with clients and devise treatment plans based on a collaboration with each individual that I embark on a therapeutic journey with. Once the goals that brought you into therapy are met and we decide to end our work together, I make myself available for mental health check-ins or “tune ups”. This is an opportunity for former clients to continue to integrate the tools learned in therapy, or navigate future road bumps that might throw one off course. Harm Reduction: Substance Use & HIV Working with clients dealing with substance abuse issues is a particular specialty of mine. Engaging clients in a non-judgmental exploration of their drug use and how it is working (or not) in their lives is extremely important in addressing substance use issues. Often, one’s use of a substance is affecting their interpersonal and work relationships. One goal of therapy is to honestly explore how relationships are being impacted and how one might create healthier patterns out of those which may not be working so well for them at this time. In addressing the continuum of substance use-abuse-dependence, I incorporate many different tools that I have learned through my years of training and experience as a harm reduction psychotherapist. I often lean on cognitive-behavioral techniques in assisting clients in addressing relapse prevention and identifying triggers in an effort towards reaching goals related to problematic substance abuse and behavioral issues. The intersection of drugs, sex, and internalized homophobia (among other things) has led many to engage in risky behavior that can lead (or has led them) to becoming HIV or Hepatitis-C positive. I work with clients around risk reduction strategies to address this reality. I lead discussions around how to take care of one-self and the community related to these issues. Feel free to contact me for more information or to schedule an initial appointment. For more information on couples counseling click here.   Contact.htmlCouples%20.htmlshapeimage_1_link_0shapeimage_1_link_1
Joey Downey, LMFT Psychotherapy & Counseling e: joeydowney@mac.com p: 415-860-0433 mailto:joeydowney@mac.comshapeimage_2_link_0
Individual Psychotherapy
 
 
“The thing
that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.”
 
-Anna Quindlin