I am Mike Ames, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW).  I provide counseling to children, adolescents, families, couples, adults and senior citizens living in West Los Angeles and Santa Monica, CA.  I graduated from Calif. State Unversity, Fresno in 1978 and have extensive experience  in community mental health, psychiatric hospitals and managed care organizations. 

I am currently in private practice as  I bring over 25 years of experience to the practice of counseling. I have had Advanced Training in the Nurtured Heart Approach, originally  developed by Howard Glasser, to work with difficult children and adolescents who have behavioral problems which include ADD; ADHD and ODD (Oppositonal Defiant Disorder).  I also provide individual and couple therapy for adults.

I have spent the better part of my life wondering what it takes to be a successful parent .  I grew up in a "dysfunctional" family as my parents often gave me more attention when I was struggling with some problem or acting up.  Although they meant well, they related to me in a critical manner with too much focus on my faults and shortcomings.

As children, we crave attention from others--parents, siblings, teachers, etc.  What we need is positive recognition in order to grow and become independent.  If children don't receive positive attention they will tend to seek out negative attention.  Typically, negative behavior elicits a larger response than positive behavior.  When this occurs, parents unknowingly reinforce negative behavior.