LPCC, 15 years of experience
Ex-professor, ex-monk, and ex-ex-pat with over 15 years of clinical experience licensed in both Washington (LMHC) and California (LPCC) but living in Sacramento where I provide mental health counseling, group psychotherapy, couples counseling, psychedelic integration, consultations, mindfulness coaching, and personalized intensive residential retreats or rehab for anyone (over 16 y. o.) sincerely seeking help to achieve personal goals and to live a better life. After 4 years of international experience, over 10 years of graduate school, and another 10 years teaching at SJSU in Psychology and Comparative Religious Studies, I have returned now to my original professional mental health practice.
First sessions are ideally a friendly and casual exploration of the issues or problems that you are seeking assistance with. Acknowledging the inevitable strangeness and riskiness that anyone works through just to get to that first session -- because it takes courage to trust a stranger, right? It takes courage to do self-work, to look inside; it takes courage to change. So my job is to listen to you, to attend, to pay attention, and maybe to inquire, wonder together, reflect on what I hear, summarize, and keep listening, reflecting, summarizing until you are convinced that I get you -- at least get enough to get to the next session, because I will also need to understand some broad contours of your background, your life, and the circumstances within which we will both be working, and that usually takes longer than just one session.
Having lived and travelled around the world, I am comfortable with a wide variety of people and faith traditions, and want anyone in need to feel completely at ease and comfortable in my care and practice. Having been around a few blocks, you can count on my empathetic and honest dialogue within a broadly humanistic and person-centered framework.
My general area of specialization is anyone struggling with 1) existential crisis or nihilism; anyone struggling to find meaning in life, to make a difference, and find motivation and 2) anyone recovering from religious or spiritual abuse, moral injury, or spiritual emergency; or anyone struggling with religious/political discord within their family, religious conflict, de-conversion, or estrangement. I have personal and professional experience with and am comfortable working with 1) active-duty military, ex-military, police, or government / public service employees and 2) artists, activists (social justice-, political-, eco-, & peace-activists), 3) ex-pats, overseas & international development, and 4) LGBTQ-identified persons.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy closely aligns with my personal experience as a Buddhist practitioner of almost 40 years, with clients’ need for practical solutions and skills, and with the existential challenges we all face as humans: why do we suffer? What is the purpose of my life? Or what does death mean to me?
4 ratings with written reviews
August 15, 2025
easy going and easy to talk to. looking forward to more sessions.
June 24, 2025
Jeff is a very nice understanding therapist I would definitely recommend him
June 17, 2025
Jeff has been exactly what I was looking for in a therapist. Someone with a rich and deep history and understanding of Buddhist, Hindu and Eastern philosophy, mixed with a psychotherapeutic background. Couldn't be happier to be working with him!