Therapists in Berkeley, CA

Creativity can be foundational to positive and longstanding change. We come into the world with an innate skill to solve the many problems that arise during development. Sometimes these solutions bring up new challenges or get in the way of our relationships and our ability to enjoy life. I work with children, adults, elders, and couples who are struggling to adapt to a stressful world. By developing a trusting relationship where exploration is welcomed and analyzed, we are able to find new ways of functioning, new solutions to our interpersonal conflicts, and improve our ability to flexibly adapt to our changing world.

I am a Licensed Clinical Psychologist working in both Hospital and Private Practice settings since 1987. I specialize in Anxiety and Mood Disorders as well as relationship and interpersonal issues. I have been working with individual adults and couples in Psychotherapy for over 25 years. I am very interested in helping individuals adapt to and solve conflicts related to major life transitions, relationships and work related problems.

I work with couples and individuals struggling with a variety of relationship and communication issues. I have successfully treated clients with depression, anxiety, phobias, and low self-esteem. Clients that are looking for more aliveness in themselves and their relationships will be served well by what I offer.

I am devoted to guiding those that are called to improve their lives, whether it is to become the first in their family to be a college graduate, to rise to the challenge of becoming a professional in their field of choice, or to overcome years of negative self esteem. My clients want to find positive connection with themselves, their partners, their families, and communities. My clients have often experienced traumatic events but I have taught them about and shared tools which give them control over how those events affect them, finding peace and strength out of difficult experiences. I offer counsel to adults, couples, & kids.

I have a particular expertise in working with clients who have diverse cultural backgrounds (e.g. ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation.) I also have a deep association working with artistic/creative type individuals and can address particular issues that arise being an artist confined to a conventional/mainstream worldview.

I believe that as human beings, we are hard-wired with the need to get our emotional experience into the mind of a trusted other. My work as a psychotherapist is to find emotional resonance with my clients' life experiences, deriving both from their family of origin and from present-day situations and relationships. Whether a client is depressed, anxious, struggling with relationship problems, trying to overcome traumatic experiences, or trying to find their own unique, personal voice in a complex world, talking in psychotherapy can help to expand your capacity for growth and happiness.

Are you wondering what needs to change for you to feel better than you do, or having trouble making it happen? I believe that the struggles we face in our lives are invitations for us to grow. Seeking support for life's challenges is a courageous and powerful choice; consider me a partner on your road toward empowerment. I have a special interest in working with clients navigating intersectional identities: creative and intellectual seekers overcoming struggle, working to find their unique path in the world. Many of my clients are artists, activists, or environmentally conscious folks committed to personal and collective healing.

My approach as a relational and somatic therapist is to create a collaborative space to explore your relationship with yourself, others, and the world. We will unearth unconscious beliefs and patterns to help you live a more connected and fulfilling life. Our work together will, hopefully, help you relieve suffering, foster growth, and develop insight in all dimensions of your life.

Seeking to deepen your intimacy in relationships with romantic and/or non-romantic partners? Desiring a fuller sexual expression & pleasure in your experience? Have you desired to enliven your sex life? Or, perhaps you are desiring restorative healing, justice, & repair from childhood sexual abuse / have had non-consensual, sexual experiences; either being the victim or the transgressor and require integral support. I can help you. I facilitate individuals and couples heal and recover from personal, collective, and intergenerational trauma to come back into authentic, embodied connection through intimacy from the inside out.

My name is Daniel Lesny, and I'm a therapist, supervisor, and Training Director at Center for Creative Growth. I see myself as a catalyst who helps you to be with, heal, and grow in the areas of life that are most important to you. For over 25 years, I have offered individual, couples, family, and group therapy, including our Center's acclaimed "Healing Your Past - Transforming Your Future" 20-session Intensive, now available to California residents via Zoom. Our Program helps you heal these painful legacies of growing up in a family where there was emotional, verbal, physical, or sexual abuse, neglect, abandonment, or addiction.

I work with gay men and queer people who would like to feel more empowered, more at ease, and more connected in their lives and relationships! It’s not easy to walk your own path and find safety, belonging, and purpose in this world. If you identify as LGBTQIA, you didn’t grow up with good models for queer relationships. Even if your life is "perfect on paper," it might be a challenge to find trust, deepen intimacy, set boundaries, stay centered, and go after the life you want.

Whether you are struggling with difficult emotions or you would like to have a more vital life, therapy can help guide your personal journey. There are moments when we all struggle, get lost, and stray off the path towards our goals. We get stuck in unhelpful patterns that are hard to break free from. Insight into these patterns can lead to making different choices that are empowering and life-affirming. I create a warm and inviting space for exploration and personal growth. While I provide therapy for adolescents and adults, I also provide psychological evaluations to clients across the lifespan.

The deep questions we struggle with include; what's not working in my relationships, work life, or myself? How does a person change so that they can get unstuck and pursue what is meaningful? These are the questions we'd explore and answer together. By appreciating both conscious ideas and the pull of unconscious and historical forces, we would focus on what can be understood, what can be altered, and what must be accepted.

I work with individuals struggling with issues of self-worth, either shame or grandiosity; couples needing help to restore their communication, dealing with codependency and navigating non monogamous life; and I specialize in working with men seeking to develop a healthier relationship to their masculinity. I am offering you supportive, non judgmental yet direct and clear feedback on what you are thinking and doing that keeps you from moving forward. Changing the way we engage with our thoughts and feelings requires self-awareness, education, and support. You don't have to do this alone!

We seek therapy because at some level we imagine that life could be better. We all suffer in different ways and suffering is universal, but it is precisely that suffering that leads us into a process of discovering how our deepest selves want to be expressed in the world and then to find the inner resources to live that out. In its truest sense, psychotherapy – which means “tending to the soul” – is not only concerned with alleviating symptoms, resolving issues, or adapting to life’s demands (though these are important), but ultimately with living lives that are more joyful, creative and free.

Therapy is a way to be kinder to yourself. It provides a chance to get to know yourself better. My aim is to offer people a sense of understanding themselves in a collaborative way. Together, we make efforts to notice the ways you relate to yourself and others, how you’re feeling and thinking, and the reasons why you manage stress in particular ways. I value an understanding of people’s backgrounds, early experiences, and environments. This can help us clarify the roots of current distressing patterns, as well as your existing strengths.

My therapy is ultimately rooted in a foundation of building trust and healing through relationship. I believe that a therapeutic relationship built on mutual respect and empathy is essential for facilitating healing and growth. I aim to provide a safe and supportive container where all parts of you are welcome. I utilize an integrated and wholistic approach drawing mainly from a psychodynamic, humanistic, and existential lens. This allows me to explore the deep-rooted emotions and patterns that shape my clients' experiences.

I provide healing support to individuals, couples and children who want a sense of control over their lives, deeply understand themselves, to connect with meaning and embodiment. Challenges I work with are trauma, anxiety, depression, relationship issues, identity issues, mens issues, ADHD/Autism/neurodivergence, eco-anxiety and psychedelic integration. I help couples recognize repeating patterns, substituting defensiveness with clear vulnerable communication, and strengthen intimacy.

Stress, burnout, and feeling overwhelmed by work or personal relationships. Are you struggling? Maybe you want to change, but don’t quite know what’s holding you back or how to do it. It may be a feeling in the pit of your stomach when you wake up, or getting worn down by the relentless self-criticism. Maybe you don't feel understood by others and feel judged or mistreated. I understand how hard and impossible it can all seem, but it’s not too late to start to feel better. Together we can take curious eye to your feelings and relationships. I can help you break out of patterns that hold them back.