Psychoanalytic Therapists in Santa Monica, CA

Welcome! The challenges of everyday living can seem overwhelming. Life at times presents us with struggles and setbacks, but sometimes the same problems will keep on recurring unless you make a change. Therapy can help you find the underlying causes of why you feel the way you do and finally move towards relief. I would be honored to work together with you on your journey of self-discovery, healing, and growth. My therapy style offers a safe, warm and compassionate environment while encouraging my clients to recognize their strengths and weaknesses within themselves.

I am a psychotherapist licensed therapist in California and Arizona with over 15 years of experience. My approach is psychoanalytic and collaborative in nature and I have an enduring interest in psychological crises and struggles within relationships. I'm interested in how our attachment histories can contribute to our current states and how they've shaped who we are.

Welcome to my practice. I have about 15 years of clinical experience and have been featured on NBC/KCAL/HLN as an expert psychologist. I work primarily with men who have hit “rock bottom” and would like help getting up. These men are often in crisis when we first meet. The issues I address are typically related to unhealthy sexual behaviors, infidelity, financial recklessness, gambling, drugs/alcohol, dishonesty/lying, and relational conflicts. My therapy approach is a combination of psychoanalytic , cognitive-behavioral, and the 12-Step recovery model. I also share insight from my own painful but redemptive recovery journey.

We try to make sense of our lives through telling our stories, but when we are unable to find the words, we express ourselves in other ways, such as in symptoms, dreams, and behaviors that we don't understand. My previous training in fine arts and filmmaking (MFA, USC School of Cinema) make an excellent fit with the type of in-depth therapy I provide. I have a wide range of professional experiences from my private practice, in residential and outpatient clinics, as an adjunct professor of psychology at Antioch University, and as a supervisor training other therapists.

I am a licensed psychologist and health service provider in private practice and work with individuals, couples, groups, and families. I specialize in grief, traumatic experience, anxiety, depression, interpersonal problems, and also enjoy working with issues of creativity and optimal self development over the lifespan. I practice from an integrative perspective that includes psychoanalytic , humanistic, and experiential approaches. My book, The Paradox of Loss: Toward a Relational Theory of Grief, describes my nonlinear, non-pathologizing, and relational understanding of grief. I am offering four groups this coming year: Recent Bereavement; Longer-Term Grief; Creative Writing and Loss; and Enhancing Communication and Connection for Improved Functioning.

Feeling depressed, anxious, uncertain of what path to take next? Feeling lost, alone, or unsure of yourself? These are all common concerns that my clients face daily, and have come to understand their source by working in a safe collaborative space in therapy. Many of my clients are at a cross roads whether it be leaving their parents home, trying to launch from college, deciding whether or not to get married, have a baby, or change careers or retire. Therapy can help with any transition. In a supportive, collaborative environment we will discover what blocks you from growing and thriving.

It's not easy to digest raw and painful feelings alone. In therapy, we'll work together to make sense of your fears, dreams, experiences, and relational patterns. I'll help you nurture the compassionate parts of yourself and be curious about how your past lives on in the present. Bit by bit, therapy can help you access and accept more of yourself, courageously face the realities of your life, and experience greater fulfillment in your work and relationships.

I am accepting new patients during the Covid-19 crisis via Telemedicine as the need for mental health support is stronger today than ever. My style is grounded in empathy, listening, and compassion, with a dash of humor central to build a trusting alliance. I work with adults and couples; my doctoral project focused on treating violent couples in highly conflictual relationships in a conjoint setting examining the role of aggression, and masochism in relationships. Another area of my expertise is working with individuals and families who are strugglings with addiction and addiction-related predicaments.

I can help you to figure out why you feel unsettled or are challenged with a relationship, or help you face a life transition or pending job change and position yourself for such change. My goal is to help you develop a deeper understanding of yourself and increase your capacity to have a strong self-worth, better relationships, greater work satisfaction and a positive state of mind. With time and work, we can bring about your desired change and growth. I have an eclectic therapeutic approach clinically, as different psychoanalytic and relational theories inform my work. I often use coaching techniques as well.

I utilize understandings and interventions from Buddhist, Narrative, Solution Focused, Psychoanalytic , Existentialist, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as well as Attachment Theory. Some clients have specific problems to solve and goals to achieve; other clients come for emotional support and guidance. In general, you can expect to discuss what is currently going on in your life and how you would like to move forward positively and with more ease.

Always accepting new patients. I have over 40 years of experience treating individuals, couples & groups. As a painter and psychoanalyst, I am especially interested in helping people deal with difficulties in their creative work and in their relationships. I have written, presented, and published psychoanalytic papers on relationships and the creative process. My latest paper, "Victims of Envy," was published in the Psychoanalytic Review in June 2019 and my book on creativity, Chaos & Control, was published by Routledge in 2018.

We often feel lost when solutions cannot be found for the challenges we face. It's at this point that our challenges become obstacles that block us from fully living our lives. Unfortunately, time doesn't heal all pain and our anxiety, anger, depression, and fear don't always go away on their own. As a therapist, my goal is to help you better understand yourself, find purpose in your pain, alleviate your stress, and make more space for creativity, love, and happiness in your life.

Looking for a Psychologist can be an overwhelming task. I work in a collaborative way respecting each person's unique history, personality, cultural context, strengths, weaknesses and goals. I offer a warm, respectful and compassionate environment that promotes growth. I have extensive experience and expertise working with adults in psychotherapy struggling with depression, grief, anxiety, fears, trauma, relationship issues, life transitions and creative blocks that interfere with daily living in terms of creating and maintaining meaningful relationships or realizing fulfilling career goals.

Are you feeling stuck, or not quite sure how to move things forward? This feeling can apply to relationship, career, or just a general life experience. Are you struggling with a loss or a meaningful life transition? The decision to begin treatment is a gesture of courage and hope. Together, we will explore your concerns, and look for ways to navigate any obstacles or self-defeating patterns getting in the way of reaching life fulfillment and fuller potential. We work toward a more open, creative and authentic self experience-- self with self, self in relationship, self in the community/world.

YOUR LIFE'S NOT WORKING THE WAY YOU'D LIKE? Find out why, and we can change it together. Want to be heard and understood? Struggling with anxiety, depression, trauma, gay/lesbian/bisexual issues, addictions (substances or behaviors including sex addiction), or infidelities? Want to stay together, but your marriage is rocky? Communication problems or behavior problems disrupting your relationship? DON'T LET OLD PATTERNS GET IN YOUR WAY. Visit my website for more information: http://www.DrCarlShubs.com. NEW BOOK: Traumatic Experiences of Normal Development, available on Amazon.

Working with those interested in learning how to create safe nurturing relationships, in a non-traditional psychoanalytic and Jungian oriented therapeutic space, my areas of specialty include: PTSD, human sexuality and sexual trauma, new approaches to addiction treatment, exploring the unconscious mind, dream work & psychedelic integration work, shadow work, relational trauma and family dysfunction, religious trauma, depression and anxiety, reframing pathology and mental illness diagnosis, as well as focusing on relationship dysfunction and attachment dysfunction. I am sex positive, kink, sex worker & non-traditional couple allied.

I am particularly effective working with people who come to therapy with histories of childhood trauma, including emotional, sexual and/or physical abuse, and family neglect and/or abandonment. I have a strong commitment to helping men come to grips with the pains, conflicts and deficits in their work and relational lives. At the same time, I believe I can be particularly helpful to women, as a male therapist, in their work with these kinds of issues. I work primarily with individual adults. I have expertise working with a wide range of issues, including substance abuse/dependence, depression and anxiety.

I am a depth-trained and results-oriented psychotherapist. My goal is to help you gain self-awareness and teach psychological tools for personal growth and healing in and beyond therapy. If you are dealing with anxiety, depression, trauma, a difficult life transition, creative blocks, unhealthy behaviors that you can’t seem to change, or challenges regarding your neurodiversity or sexuality, I will help you use them as opportunities for positive and sustainable transformation. I provide online therapy to individuals, couples, and families using psychoanalytic , somatic, coaching, evidence-based, and psycho-spiritual approaches.