Paul Young, LCSW — Therapist in California

Hi there, I'm Paul!

I work with adolescents, adults, older adults, and those struggling with substance use. My specialties include mood disorders, anxiety, trauma, substance abuse, and psychotic spectrum disorders. I use CBT, DBT, Psychodynamic intervention, and Motivational Interviewing to help my clients make progress and feel better.

My focus

I work with adolescents, adults, older adults, and those facing substance use challenges. Life experiences may present as mood and anxiety disorders, trauma, communication difficulties, relationship issues, and psychotic spectrum disorders.

My approach

My approach is tailored to your specific needs. I primarily use CBT, DBT-informed, Psychodynamic, and Motivational Interviewing modalities to help you gain insight and self-knowledge. These methods support emotional growth and improvement in thought patterns, mood, behavior, relationships, and communication skills.

My communication style

My communication style is calm, discerning, and empathic. I strive to help you feel safe, comfortable, understood, and trusting without experiencing criticism or judgment.

My journey to mental healthcare

My decision to become a therapist grew from personal experience and relationships with others. I realized the most important part of therapy is our relationship as a therapeutic alliance, based on truth and honesty in self-knowledge. Helping clients live good, productive, positive lives is the most meaningful work I can do.

My goals for you

My approach to goal setting focuses on defining what you want to accomplish in our work together. This includes building trust and clarifying your needs. Collaboratively, we develop how best to manifest positive change and devise ways to track your progress.

Our first session

In our first session, we'll talk about how you've been feeling and explore why you might be feeling this way. This helps us begin our work together and define your initial goals. We'll discuss ways of communication and, most importantly, start developing our therapeutic relationship and rapport.

I identify as...

Male
Caucasian or White
Jewish

Expertise

Treatment approaches

Motivational Interviewing

Attachment-based

Humanistic

Mindfulness-Based

+ 4 more

Focus populations

Educators

Recovery/12 Step Friendly

Single Mother

Vegan

+ 4 more

Therapy types

Individual Therapy

Ages served

Adults

Practice

Accepted insurance providers

Aetna
Aetna - Medicare Advantage
Alignment Health Plan - Medicare Advantage
All Savers
Allegiance

+ 69 more

Languages spoken

English

Education

Doctor of Psychology (PSYD) from Ryokan College, a Master of Social Work (MSW) from University of Southern California and a Master of Arts (MA) in Jewish Communal Service from Hebrew Union College.

Sessions

60 minutes

Virtual sessions

Paul Young