LCSW, 20 years of experience
Clients generally come to me because they are experiencing disruption to their lives due to their use of, or a loved ones use of, drugs and/or alcohol, significant anxiety and stress challenges or have suffered a trauma which is preventing them from living the life that they want to be able to live. I have over 20 years experience in treating behavioral health issues such as substance misuse/addiction, trauma, anxiety, depression. I use a trauma based approach which leans on Somatic psychotherapy skills. Ultimately, this means we will be trying to take care of body and mind together in order to regulate the nervous system. I was born and raised in Ireland. As a teenager I watched my brother struggle with substance abuse. I witnessed the effects trauma and addiction had on his life and on those of us who loved him dearly. My life's work is to try to help others avoid or manage this pain.
In our first session together, we'll start with brief introductions and what brings you to therapy. We can discuss you history of being in therapy, if any, what worked and what didn't. This will help me create a tailored plan for us to work through in follow-up sessions.
Along with my Masters in Social Work I have completed postgraduate training in Sensimotor Psychotherapy (Somatic therapy), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy & Buddhist Psychology. I have over 20 years experience as a therapist both in Ireland, where I am originally from, and in California. Along with this my passion for my work and desire to be of benefit to my clients really drive my work.
about 80 percent of my practice currently is working with people struggling with the intersection of trauma and substance use. the other 20 percent is a mixture of Stress, anxiety and depression issues. Most of my clients see significant change within a matter of months.
2 ratings with written reviews
April 30, 2025
I have worked well with Peter over the last 3 months and feel that he understands me. Challenges I created to my previous therapeutic relationships do not exist with Peter because of how comfortable I feel talking to him. I feel valued in my opinions and I look forward to our sessions.
March 21, 2025
Peter has made me feel very comfortable in our sessions. He lets me go at my own pace and encourages me to do so. He is very reassuring and makes me feel very normal in everything that I struggle with. I have more hope about getting better after starting therapy with Peter.
The thing i hear most often from clients is that past experiences in therapy have not worked for them. Somatic approaches allow for a completely different experience. I use somatic interventions in order to ground us in the present and regulate the nervous system. Once grounded, and when the nervous system is in an appropriate state clients are in a much better state from which to problem solve. During treatment you can expect to learn, quite quickly, techniques which allow you to bring forth the best version of yourself regularly.