WELCOME!

Are you struggling in a relationship, or with your family?

Do you need tools to relieve your depression or anxiety?

Do you feel controlled by sexual desire?

Is your life great, but could be even better?

Together, we can come up with strategies to lead your life with more enthusiasm and joy. 

I'm a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist based in downtown Los Angeles. I welcome clients seeking an environment that understands

• LGBTQ issues — internalized homophobia, gay and aging, trans* teens, living with HIV, coming out

• Sex “addiction” or compulsion, risk-taking, shame

• Substance and alcohol abuse, chemsex, sober sex, harm reduction

• Open relationships, nontraditional relationships

• Love addiction, or believing that one person can resolve your issues of loneliness, or feeling “not whole”

• Kink, BDSM

• Traumatized partners, spouses of sex addicts

• Offenders

Give me a call! My office is insurance-friendly, too. Let's figure out how to make your life great.

ABOUT DEAN

Thanks for visiting my page!

I'm a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Certified Sex Addiction Therapist Candidate focusing on sex addiction, intimacy disorders, substance abuse and healthy sex. More than two decades ago, through former nonprofit L.A. Shanti, I began facilitating conversations about sex and health via weekly groups, workshops and weekend retreats for those living with or affected by HIV/AIDS.

While earning a master's degree in Psychology, I centered my academic thesis on defining and treating sex addiction. Since then I've worked with teens and trans* youth; provided services to LGBT-focused intensive outpatient programs helping clients separate sexual behaviors from methamphetamine and other substance use; facilitated groups, offered psychoeducation and individual/couples counseling at the Center for Healthy Sex in West Los Angeles; and founded my own clinical practice, now in its sixth year, in downtown Los Angeles.

I also hold a bachelor's degree in Communications (Journalism/Radio-TV-Film/Speech). I've written for national publications including Advocate, Out and The Washington Post; and I served as section editor for L.A.-based magazines Planet Homo and Genre.

I'm a cancer survivor. 

I'm a gay dad.

I'd love to hear more about your life. Please give me a call, send a text or drop me an email.

–Dean

DEPRESSION and ANXIETY

Did you know that the biggest reason people enter psychotherapy is depression, but the more common American affliction is anxiety? 

Whatever your reasons for reaching out, I can offer a variety of methods that may bring you peace and joy. We can explore the grounding techniques of mindfulness, being in the present moment and opening our minds to new possibilities. Cognitive-behavioral practices work through changing thoughts which lead to new behaviors and, ultimately, improved moods. And post-modern therapy asks us to envision a future where your problems don't exist, and take a new look at your past to identify the person that you want to be, that's been there all along. 

Let's figure out which path works best for you. 

SEX ADDICTION

People ask me all the time if they're addicts because they like sex, have a lot of sex or think about it constantly. Sex is a healthy part of many people's lives and a high sex drive does not equate to addiction. But ask yourself these questions:

• Does sex, or pursuit of sex, interfere with your work? Your relationships? Other things that matter to you?

• Do you hide sexual behavior?

• Do you spend too much time on the internet looking at porn?

• Does your sexual activity put you at risk?

These are signs that you should be talking with someone. I can help you identify and take steps to eliminate unhealthy behaviors, reinforce or develop healthy habits and examine the grey areas in-between in a non-judgmental, sex-positive, pan-gender and omni-orientation-inclusive setting.