Find a Therapist in Marina, California.

I believe that we all are intrincly healthy and that we are able to overcome the most severe painful experiences if we allow ourselves to engage in the process of working through the obstacles that have kept us from being fully our selves. I am honored to facilitate and guide the steps to embark on the journey to a healthier and fuller life. I utilize sensorimotor psychotherapy, IFS and EMDR to help with deeper trauma that can not be healed through traditional talk therapy.

I work with an entire person--the mind, emotions, body, spirit, relationships. I offer an alternative approach to traditional psychotherapy because sometimes we are stuck beyond our thoughts. I believe we are often stuck beyond how we think about something, but by how our body holds and remembers the experiences. After all, we feel the anxiety in our chest, shoulders or stomach. When we are depressed, we struggle to move, sleep, concentrate etc. I work to remove the block from wherever it is stuck. My clients come to me after years of ineffective therapy. They are looking for more than talking about their struggles or identifying how they think about them in favor of a change in living.

My general approach to psychotherapy is by the use of EMDR therapy, of which I am a Certified EMDR Therapist through EMDRIA, Inc. This therapy is excellent with trauma and anxiety disorders, nightmares, flashbacks, panic, and other disturbances that continue on for years. Spiritual issues are a frequent topic that my clients want to discuss - the guide for these issues is the Bible. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is about how people think, how people feel, and how people behave. Generally speaking, faulty thinking patterns will lead to bad moods and bad behavior. CBT addresses these issues and can be used in conjunction with EMDR therapy as well. I favor these three types of therapy

Donald Dufford,Ph.D., Licensed Clinical Psychologist is an experienced Psychotherapist with over 25 years as a mental health provider. He honors each individual's unique strengths and capabilities and offers a safe encouraging environment for change and personal growth. Dr Dufford can help you identify and heal underlying emotional patterns as well as make positive changes in the present. He integrates various psychotherpeutic modalities where appropriate including Talk Therapy, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Hypnotherapy, EMDR, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Life Coaching. Call now for a free 10 minute phone consultation.

By participating in therapy with me you agree to commit to at least five sessions. Immediately I ask for goalsetting. At the very basic level I'll request that you compare a behavior or condition that currently exists and where do you want it. For example if you have insomnia five days a week, then let's get it down to 3 times per week. Methodology for this is through homework. Homework includes activity tracking and writing down your beliefs. During our visits we will talk about what you wrote. If you don't bring in the homework we'll talk about that too. I am very action oriented and directive. When you agree to do a suggested experimental intervention, you'll always learn something!

My approach to psychotherapy is collaborative in that I work with my clients to unearth dysfunctional patterns of behaving or relating that are keeping them from the fulfilling lives and/or relationships they seek. As a solutions-focused psychotherapist I use complementary therapy approaches and techniques to teach clients new skills, increase understanding and insight, and build healthier lifestyle habits that are customized to address their unique therapy goals. My clients are encouraged to practice these new behaviors and ways of thinking between sessions so that the changes they make through our work together produce more satisfying and fulfilling lives.

Psychotherapy is not anything to be scared of, or intimidated about. Seeking out a therapist or being in therapy isn't an admission of weakness or some kind of character flaw. Therapy is a collaborative process and a partnership with someone who is trained in and experienced with facilitating personal growth. And in this process, you are in the driver's seat. Our minds and emotions and relationships involve complicated machinery just like our bodies do and in the same way a medical doctor helps you stay physically healthy, Psychotherapy is designed to help you be and stay mentally and socially strong, and continually in a position to take on life's many challenges as your best self.

Psychotherapy or counseling is an essential tool to provide individuals, couples or family groups who may have been in conflict, discord or even crisis to a new level of resolve and ideally into a functioning working relationship with restored possibilities of effective communications and an integration of new responses and new relationship insight and responsibility. Counseling an psychotherapy are meant to help a person see themselves and the world around them in a manner which can provide them with valuable insights, awareness and useful life tools which will lead to effective and successful behaviors, personal contentment and greater possible happiness.