Therapists in Santa Cruz, CA

Ready to go beyond talk therapy? Hypnotherapy combined with life coaching gives you access to a powerful yet completely safe portal of positive change and neuroplasticity. It is my joy and privilege to be your guide, mentor and confidant - be it for a few sessions, a few months or a lifetime. Whether you are tired of the same issues blocking your progress, want to tap more of your potential, feel calm and confident, and live a life you LOVE - I am here for you. In working with clients and couples for 30 years, I have developed a highly effective approach combining life coaching, hypnotherapy, NLP and a good dose of intuition.

Everything you desire to accomplish, become and embody in your one precious life is available to you right now, but not as the version of who you currently are today. The version of you today is an accumulation of your life experiences, your beliefs about yourself, the stories you abide by and familiar programming from your family, culture, and the greater society. I support my clients in becoming more attuned to their inner landscape, more aware of where and why they are getting stuck in repeating the same behaviors and patterns so they can make everlasting change to becoming the version they desire.

Humans are creatures of habit, but not all habits support us in being the best versions of ourselves. Want to feel better? Want to do better? Want to feel like you are thriving and not just surviving? Learn more tools for speaking, listening, feeling, experiencing and healing. Feel more calm and increase your sense of connection to yourself, family and friends. Learn how fear can be overcome through strategic action and utilizing growth mindset strategies.

I support adults, baby boomers, & elders in their move toward HAPPINESS. FREE 15 minute consultation. I invite you to my peaceful, hilltop office to explore & work through feelings of loss/grief, non-acceptance, feeling less-than, life transitions, dissatisfaction, helplessness, & pain. I can help you with empowerment, insight, & moving beyond impeding obstacles. With empathy & sometimes humor, I will guide you through life's crises & challenges. You can learn to stay mindfully in the present, an antidote to fear & helplessness. Life can always be better & we can remember to be thankful for the beauty & the good. I work with individuals & couples.

INDIVIDUAL THERAPY: You are one of a kind. There has never been anyone like you and never will be again. Therapy is a place where you have the opportunity to know yourself in a deep and intimate way. The journey towards wholeness begins with embracing (and discovering) our many and often rejected parts that comprise our authentic self. Wounds, triggers and defenses exist for a reason and represent the internal maps that lead to healing. COUPLES THERAPY: Relationships are the path to knowing who we are and I believe that what needs to be healed presents itself through the struggles and dynamics that get activated in partnership.

If you prefer efficient approaches that help you to face, heal, and integrate distressing, peak or psychedelic experiences through evidence-based, experiential, somatic, and ancient exercises, contact me. I am a recreational therapist specializing in trauma and transformation, professor, and author of The Map to Wholeness. I will guide you through neurolinguistic programming for emotional breakthroughs, biofeedback to restore harmony in the body, and bilateral stimulation for integration. See me to transform feelings of anxiety, depression, hopelessness, and loneliness into self-love, play, peace, and joy so you can become whole.

Life can be challenging and it may be difficult trying to manage it alone. Not everyone has someone safe to talk to without judgement or experiencing shame and/or guilt. Do you have a specific issue you want to tackle? Are you experiencing patterns you just want to break free from? Having someone to explore the origins of your struggles/challenges can be liberating. Do you need life skills, communication skills, strategies to manage your mind, mood management techniques to make life more manageable? Being human isn't easy and having someone to process with you w/unconditional regard and acceptance can be freeing and life changing.

It's not easy being human and you aren't meant to navigate life alone. Living in the modern world it's easy to lose connection to yourself, others, and nature. You might suffer from anxiety, depression, physical pain or a general lack of purpose and joy. With a busy life, you often can’t pause long enough to reflect and make the changes you most need to make. You want to heal so you can live into your soul's unique purpose and want to make the time for soulful exploration and personal growth. The good news is, psychotherapy (literally meaning "soul healing"), has its root in this powerful work and you don't have to do it alone.

In our challenging era, new trauma may emerge, activating old grief. Are you feeling lost, seeking meaning or direction? If you feel trapped in patterns that no longer reflect who you are becoming , a Jungian depth psycho-spiritual lens may call you. Since 1997, I have aided individuals in soul exploration. grief, crisis and loss of meaning with dreamwork, astrology, alchemy, creative exploration and BodySoul. I trained with Marion Woodman's BodySoul Leadership Program, Hypnotherapy and TRE ( Trauma Releasing) and have over 40 years of esoteric systems study.

Each of us has a deep, loving intelligence that seeks expression in the world. We also have survival strategies formed early in life that often limit and inhibit our later lives and relationships. In my work with individuals, couples, and families, we unmask these strategies, and access the loving wisdom that is the deepest, essential nature of all human beings. This shift arises naturally and radically re-orients our world view and behavior toward others and toward ourselves. It unleashes our capacity for joy and creativity, and offers the only place from which to have a true relationship with the world and with others.

You may be feeling overwhelmed, anxious, depressed, or going through a major life transition. I work with high achievers who are juggling multiple responsibilities and want to succeed in all areas of their life. Sometimes with outer success comes a desire for more inner joy and insight into what matters most. You may be struggling in your marriage or partnership and desire more ease. I have been a therapist for 20 years, I help couples build the skills to communicate more clearly, repair easier, and feel closer to one another. I have had success in supporting couples to navigate connection after infidelity.

I believe in the capacity for people to make incredible change and growth in their lives. But it isn't easy! Regardless of the particular challenge you may be facing, with the right support, you can experience happiness and fulfillment in your life on a daily basis. I have worked in the helping profession for fourteen years, and have helped hundreds of people make changes they didn't even know were possible. I love to help my clients, and hope to have the opportunity to help you!

I care deeply about supporting people when they feel lonely, stuck and hopeless, and the usual things just aren't working. My clients tend to be high functioning adults who have reached a critical point where something has to give. Often this becomes evident while undergoing a major life transition such as a break up, divorce, the death of a loved one, or a career change. These low points can be scary and painful, but they can also be incredible opportunities for growth and healing. But growing is hard work and sometimes we can't do it on our own.

Counseling may take different forms depending on whether you’re dealing with a significant life transition, loss, or have been struggling with symptoms of depression or anxiety. As a strengths-based counselor, I believe we have an inner compass that can guide us, with support, toward positive change. Bringing years of coaching experience to counseling, I hold a safe place for you to explore your internal life as well as your natural ability to shine in activities and relationships. Positive connection with others is how we discover---or rediscover---a place of safety and wholeness in our lives.

We all want to be happy, to be our authentic self, to experience deep and fulfilling relationships, but sometimes we may find ourselves stuck and overwhelmed by our situation in life, our thoughts, feelings, or relationships. As hard as these experiences can be, they are also doorways to greater meaning, purpose and growth. I work with people of all backgrounds struggling with addiction, trauma, depression, anxiety, ADHD, identity, grief and loss, spiritual and psychedelic integration and more. Utilizing a variety of therapeutic modalities I will help you to access your innate ability for growth, healing and transformation.

Life can feel overwhelming for all of us at times, and it’s important to remember you don’t have to figure it out alone. My life path in the healing arts as a yogi, massage practitioner, hypnotherapist, and clinical therapist has led me to the belief that we all have within us the intelligence and resources to navigate through life’s challenges and transitions, and the therapeutic relationship offers space and guidance to bring forth that inner wisdom. Whether addressing anxiety, relational conflict, trauma, or a general sense of disconnection, my approach is rooted in mind and body and spirit all integrating in our work together.

Greetings. I provide a safe space for the allowance of your emotions to be compassionately witnessed. My focus is in helping individuals, families & couples move from the murky place of uncertainty into a deeper state of self-knowing, wholeness and empowerment. Through holistic therapy practices I help clients move from the sympathetic nervous system of fight or flight into the calmer parasympathetic state where you are able to access your own inner wisdom to guide you into clarity and healing. I blend mindful, somatic body oriented therapy, Internal Family Systems & Gestalt therapy with a playful, humanistic approach.

Hi. I am Joe Sousa, a licensed psychotherapist in the State of CA. I've been providing counseling services in the Santa Cruz area in one form or another since 1993. Here's the issues I work with in therapy: Relationship enhancement, improve communication, sexual intimacy; handling difficulties, such as breakups and divorce; discovering life purpose and build self-esteem; issues relating to school, careers, money, a child or an elderly parent; dealing with powerful emotions, like anger, anxiety, depression, fear, grief, loss, and panic; addictive or compulsive behavior, with regard to alcohol, drugs, food, sex and/or porn.

As I see it, the primary role of a counselor is to serve as a mirror to help reveal what the client hasn't yet been able to see-especially those patterns of relating to self, others, and the environment that might be causing suffering. At the same time, the counselor is there to reflect, affirm, and strengthen the client's unique gifts and talents.One of the biggest impediments to healing, growth, and creativity is shame. To help clients move through this debilitating emotion, I use a combination of mindfulness, body awareness, and other healing modalities.