About David
Qualifications
I have a Master's degree in Counseling Psychology from Santa Clara University and have been working with clients since 2006, receiving my license as a Marriage and Family Therapist in 2013.
Working as a therapist is my second career. Prior to becoming a therapist, I spent over 30 years in the high-tech sector, working in various finance roles. I also have a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from UCLA and an MBA from USC.
Orientation and Approach
I believe people’s views and opinions are heavily influenced by their earliest life experiences, and that they tend to see themselves and the world in ways defined by their childhood recollections and understandings. In other words, our childhood experiences – both good and bad – form our basis for what’s real in the world, and when these views become distorted in some way, we become vulnerable to problems in how we see ourselves, relate to others, and try to cope.
My approach to psychotherapy is an integration of psychodynamic, emotions focused, cognitive-behavioral, and family systems theory.
This means I am concerned with:
-
an individual’s development, the quality of their relationships and attachments, and their emotional life
-
the importance of their belief systems and thinking in determining behavior and feelings; and
-
interactions within a family system and among other systems – including work, school, and healthcare
How I Came to this Work
My interest in psychology started in high school. I took several classes during my undergraduate program; where I started as a pre-med student with plans of helping people, until chemistry proved my down-fall. Practical needs then steered my direction toward business and high-tech where, in various supervisor and manager roles, I again found myself drawn to helping people by matching personal employee goals with work opportunities and by acting as an informal life-coach. Eventually, time spent in my own therapy clarified the path I was ultimately meant to travel. It led to my volunteering at Kara, a grief support agency working with groups of children who had lost a parent or loved one to homicide or suicide. While I didn’t fully know it at the outset, I now believe that I was called to do this work. For me, it is an honor and a privilege to be an intimate part of another person’s life journey.