John R. Edwards, L.C.S.W.

Vegan Psychotherapist

How would you like to transform your life?

A great quality of life? A great relationship or marriage? Success at your job?

Meaningful friendships?

​Would you like to transform your harsh inner critic into your biggest cheerleader?

​Needing to get rid of guilt, shame, not feeling good enough, anger, people pleasing and perfectionism?

​As a non 1900s style counselor, I can help you not just feel better but heal and recover from all the crap that’s been holding you back. You can create the life you want. In this healing process and journey you may laugh, cry, get angry as you come to understand yourself and your emotional world and transform your life to one that you want.

You can make changes and start to enjoy your family, friends, work and life. Yep, it is totally doable.

Start your journey to transforming your life, experience the joys and connections as a parent, spouse/partner, daughter, son, child, relative, boss, employee, or friend.

Call now to schedule complimentary 15 minute phone consultation 510-213-9284

Here’s the thing about counseling…..

Effective counseling is designed to move you from emotional dysregulation to emotional regulation. Counseling is NOT simply sitting and talking with someone although this is quite a popular belief. The pain, suffering and emotional damage that we have experienced in life almost always causes us to focus on what’s wrong, how bad it is and what can’t be done. Perhaps you are emotionally burnt out and long for a different quality of life.

Of course your brain and body naturally want what’s best for you but the process of achieving what’s best for you is totally caught up in the drama of the emotional damage you have sustained.

As a result, you may spend a lot of time and effort engaging in the same unhelpful patterns and behaviors hoping for a different result. What you may not realize is that these unhelpful patterns and behaviors are your brain and body’s attempts at making things right and achieving what’s best. The challenge is to how to get your brain and body to do what’s helpful plus achieve and maintain the change that you desire. One of the most effective ways to bring about life change is through somatic counseling which engages your limbic system or emotional brain and your body.

Does somatic counseling really work?

Answer: A resounding YES!!!

Counseling is about transforming from a life of chaos, hopelessness, despair, disorganization, dysregulation and emotional imbalance to a life of order, hope, joy, organization, regulation and emotional wellness.

​Somatic counseling sessions with me creates the space for your brain and body to heal and recover from past trauma and negative events which are blocking your efforts to grow and expand into the person you are meant to be. In other words, your emotional regulation system, that is, your brain and body work cooperatively and as intended so you can have an amazing efficient and effective system to successfully manage the challenges and joys of life. This is about taking care of the past so that you can have an amazing future.

Somatic counseling allows you the opportunity to change and transform the narrative or story that you tell yourself and believe about yourself that holds you back. You know, the stories that you secretly keep inside but are quite noticeable at 2am when you can’t sleep. Healing your brain and body allows you to have the future you desire.

The stories that say:

You are NOT

• worthy
• smart
• valuable
• deserving of good things in life
• confident
• able to make great decisions

Visualize your future life once the pain and fear of the past have been healed.

The stories that say:

You ARE

• worthy
• smart
• valuable
• deserving of good things in life
• Feel confident
• Able to make excellent decisions

But there’s somewhat of a catch….

Clearly there are tons of people who need counseling. However, needing counseling and wanting counseling are two very distinct things. A lot of people who need counseling do not want it. Frankly, that’s ok.

However, if you desire to change your life, somatic counseling with me requires that you commit and work to transform your inner self through connect with and use of your limbic system or emotional brain and your body. You will learn to recognize and listen to your body voice and not just your neocortex.

Sounds great where do I sign up?

Are you ready to stop what ever unhelpful patterns or cycle you’re in?

We only spend money and time on things we believe will make us feel a certain way either immediately or eventually. In the case of counseling, it’s an investment of time and money to transform your life.

Many folks want immediate results from counseling and to be honest this may or may not happen to varying degrees. The truth is, you’re a complex person with a complex history therefore the counseling process will be complex. The most essential element for a successful counseling process is a willingness to engage in a self exploratory process and engage in the brain and body activities designed to help you transform your life.

Perhaps you’re thinking “Yeah, yeah but can you fix me?” Trust me, if I could fix you I would but I can’t. I CAN help you create the emotional space and environment in which you can heal, recover, grow and expand.

Contact me if you’re ready to stop repeating the same unhelpful patterns and behaviors and stop the cycles of drama, shame, self criticism and doubt.

Somatic counseling is one of the most effective processes out there to bring about change and transformation to your life. Unfortunately, counseling is still viewed as a 1900 Vienna style process and I am NOT a 1900s Vienna style psychotherapist.

Learn about my  counseling fees and what you get for the fee.