Alex, Philip M. Ph.D. - Clinical Psychologist

415-457-6234

I see people who present with a wide range of problems such as depression, malaise, anxiety, loss, relationship impasses and difficult life transitions, or a desire to seek a seasoned and empathic ally when meaning or purpose have become elusive or lost from view. I am experienced in working with people who have felt constricted or defeated by chronic difficulties in relating to others. I also have extensive experience working with people who have a history of more severe psychological problems such as deeply-rooted patterns of difficulty meeting the challenges of life or tapping into and exercising their internal resources.

I have provided direct psychotherapeutic services in various clinical and hospital settings since 1981 and have been serving clients in independent practice since 1992.

My approach is guided centrally by, but not limited to, Jungian and contemporary psychoanalytic perspectives.  I hold that emotional suffering points us toward the landscape of our private struggles, emotional injuries and vulnerabilities, but vitally also to intrinsic pathways toward self-restoration and healing. I invite my clients to listen with me to these communications from within, to take courage from them, and discover ways to translate them into guideposts for change toward greater resilience, balance, authenticity and confidence in encountering the ever-challenging ebbs and flows of life. It strikes me as always useful to hold in mind that to heal means to become whole (again, or in some cases for the first time).

I emphasize self-reflective exploration, intrapsychic and interpersonal process, thoughtfulness, emotional depth, and the search for meaning. I listen keenly to what my clients' symptoms of emotional and related physical suffering are trying to communicate -- often through analogy, metaphor or symbol. I attend closely to the therapeutic relationship that forms between my clients and myself as an important source of understanding and guidance along the way, and I encourage the integration of dreamwork where appropriate. I tend to be comparatively active in therapeutic style and highly flexible in adapting to clients' psychological needs and interpersonal rhythms.

I hold strongly that trust, respect, safety, and integrity must be essential elements in psychotherapy, and, crucially, that in the heart of psychic pain lie the seeds of restoration.