Family therapy and counseling in Thousand Oaks, CA

I strive to provide a warm, safe, and non-judgmental environment for my clients. I am passionate about helping clients find support and tools to navigate life's challenges, release emotional burdens, and reconnect with their own strengths and values. My goal is to provide a space where you feel heard, understood, respected, and empowered to move forward through life's challenges.

I did my training with adoptees, foster care, and attachment trauma. I specialize in trauma and how early childhood trauma continues to effect us into adulthood. Since becoming a therapist, I have continued my training with trauma and have extensive experience with positive parenting, managing work/life balance, managing life's challenging transitions, managing trauma reminders, and anxiety.

Hello, my name is James. I’m a California-based Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 12 years of experience providing psychotherapy to youth, adults, and families, to help them feel empowered, engaged, and most of all, accepted in this world.

You don't have to arrive here put together. Whatever you're carrying right now belongs in this space: anxiety, grief, relationship stress, a shifting sense of who you are, or something you haven't quite found words for yet. I work with adults and older adults navigating the full range of what life brings, with a particular passion for supporting BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities and people who are questioning or deconstructing their faith. My work spans trauma, identity, women's issues, OCD, depression, and the anger or sadness that accumulates when you've been holding too much for too long.

I’m a psychiatrist who practices from a psychodynamic perspective, with attention to emotional depth, meaning, and the ways our histories shape how we experience ourselves and others. My work focuses on understanding symptoms in context — as expressions of what is happening within your mind, your relationships, and our society.

If you're a woman feeling stretched thin by the relationships in your life — a partner, your family, the demands of parenting — you don't have to sort through it alone. I help women navigate relationship stress, anxiety, grief, and the harder seasons of life: losing someone you love, adjusting to a health condition, or facing a change you didn't choose. I hold a Master of Science in Clinical Social Work from Azusa Pacific University, and my goal in every session is simple: you leave feeling heard, understood, and a little more capable than when you arrived.

I am open, approachable, and committed to listening carefully to your experiences without judgment. I believe that each person carries a unique story, and my goal is to provide a supportive space where you feel heard, understood, and encouraged as you navigate life’s challenges and opportunities for growth. Together, we can explore what is most important to you and work toward creating a life that feels meaningful, authentic, and aligned with your values.

My background includes earning a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, along with a lifelong appreciation for personal growth, nature, and the healing power of connection. Growing up learning to surf fostered a deep respect for the ocean and the lessons it offers about resilience, balance, and adapting to life's changing conditions. These experiences have shaped my belief in the importance of honoring each individual’s journey and recognizing that growth often comes through both challenge and reflection.

I have a Masters in Clinical Psychology from Azusa Pacific University with Specialisation in Marriage and Family Therapy, a Bachelors in Psychology, Honours Bachelors Degree in Education (post grad) in School Guidance and counseling, Mediator and Divorce Mediator Certificate,SAT Teacher Certification and EMDR Certificate (Emdria)