my practice.

Firstly, you haven’t gone wrong in your life, you’ve simply learning and seeking, and you’re seeing the words of someone who knows how much you’ve wanted to face fears, shift behavior, embody your sexuality, to be understood and celebrated.

It’s not far away, in fact it’s closer than you could ever imagine, this is the doorway to inner work.

Secondly, the problem doesn’t exist in your behavior, in your communication, in your melancholy, anger, or your diagnosis - rather, the problem lies in an internalized identity. My main focus is on helping you actively design a subjectivity that is more desirable to you. Right now, however, you exist in the stories you tell about yourself that were once told to you, about you - all scaffolded by systems of power in an abusive culture …a culture that isn’t always aligned with your best interest. And these forces are only getting more dizzying confusing and incoherent …with AI, IInstagram or Tik Tok -packed full of dubious wellness gurus, authoritative influencers and bite sized snippets of “knowledge” that sound right but lead nowhere…except to the next reel.

So perhaps you find a refuge - porn, video games, drinking, daydreaming vacations or perhaps a new life altogether. And there’s always a medication to try, a hallucinogenic retreat, a new prospective lover around each corner promising you something elusive. And we wonder, why we can’t settle down and find peace?

You know your problems perfectly, I don’t need to go on enumerating or guessing at them. And I know you’re busy with children with your career, with healing from a divorce or break up, so let me get back to how I can help.

The good news is your identity is already liberated and functioning, you just need be able to access it, because it looms in the background behind an old ego and identity. You must learn the language to recognize this original/new identity, and the right space and person to confront it with… then everything else transforms.

This work isn’t always easy, but identity and subjectivity are my realms of expertise, and it can be a smoother process to get there than you realize, because for men it usually involves the power of intuition, receptivity, relaxation, dreaming and a simple recognition of your vast emotional world. We think of these attributes as feminine, but they aren’t, they’re human.

I see men all the time, move from the rigid, always productive, muscular, impenetrable, angry or depressed/burnout states move into a more vulnerable, honest, easygoing, open place which ironically refracts to replenish their power and drive. There needs to be a wider circle of emotional dynamism in your life. Men burnout because they don’t understand Wu-Wei the taoist notion of effortless action.

You will find deep and focused attention so your embodied wisdom can come through - not further binging laboriously, on the hall of mirrors around you that masquerades as self improvement and separates us from those we love, ourselves included.

The Taoists say, All energy needs to find its correct course. This means everything you do, think, or are, is not wrong, flawed or incorrect - Wisdom is found by looking through the language structures of your life and seeing the deeper unmet desires, thus:

Worry’s correct course transforms into competency and direction. (Wood)
Addiction’s correct course transforms into playfulness, feeling understood, connected and safe. (Earth)
Hiding’s correct course is authentic protection, creativity and your unique presence (Water)
Indecision’s correct course transforms into order and method (Metal)
Sexual issues or acting out behavior transforms into measured, and embodied wildness (Fire)

You may even have a diagnosis, and there are ways these systems of knowledge can be helpful towards understand yourself, or in finding community and in cultural pattern recognition, but the deeper course for the energy follows the same logic.

Depression’s correct course is the “deep rest” you need to remove the mask and persona that you were pressured to perform for far too long.
Anxiety’s correct course is a path to finally trusting yourself and the wisdom to know when a question is unanswerable.
ADHD is a correct response to our chaotic modern world that influences our consciousness, it leads to knowing how to mitigate these forces and recognize your dominant elemental archetype.

What if you knew how to support yourself and then were able to liberate that energy to wisely support your partner family and community?

What if you were able to walk into any room knowing unquestionably what you bring to the community that is unique, clear and irreplaceable?

The problem is not with you, it’s with your conditioning, your training which in this culture we are ill equipped to teach, or even learn - until you decide to learn how to learn, and feel your unique lessons and what the fuck to do about it all.

When you begin to listen to yourself in a harmonious and welcoming way you can

Express emotions cogently, clearly and welcome everyone else’s openly and non-defensively.
Understand the role of the unconscious and cherish the messages.
Grieve the “old self” even though you’re not giving anything up, only gaining wisdom.
Get what you want out of life, without the anger of privilege, but with the strength of vulnerability.

Listen, I trust you, you’ve tried many things, perhaps many therapists, maybe this is your first time. Either way if this speaks to you, read on - or reach out. I’ll make time for a free consultation.

P: 323.334.0464

Hello!

I’m Gabriel. My life’s work is helping men of all ages transform, so you can come into balance, be bold in action, embody your values and desires, and learn to navigate your inner world. Just to be clear, my practice is open to all gender expressions, sexualities and identities, its just men that seek me out most often.

It’s time to change, and you must change. That is the nature of human life which unfortunately we are ill prepared for, until we prioritize care for ourselves. You have a say in how you change.

You are here because you’re looking for a safe place that is hard to find for men. You’re probably shopping around for a specific therapist that can bring something new, fresh and insightful to all the ways you’ve already tried to change.

Let me give you a eal honest look at the work I do, give you something hefty to chew on, there’s a lot of options, and I’m not interested in wasting your time.

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MY APPROACH

I’m not everyone’s cup of tea, sometimes I cuss, I quote wild taoist poets, I’m tattooed and emerged out of the existential world of punk rock, I am not someone who has ever needed or waited for permission to make things, to initiate projects. I’ve never been able to tolerate hate and division, surrender my directionality or my value of embracing diversity. I am somebody who will always seek out knowledge. I’ve spent decades traveling the world, taking in all that I can, and learning the difference between medicine and poison, stretch and strain.

Being a therapist is not a call-in job where disconnected clients ramble for years without my input and get further lost in thinking or emotion.

You’re welcome to dump, there’s a certain way to do this, to be sure… and there help in being heard deeply, especially in the beginning of therapy. I do not have trouble accessing endless patience and warmth, but that alone won’t feel deeply helpful to you without honest feedback, questions, insights and energy. I’m here to inspire you to take bolder swings in life, not flippantly, but measured and from the deepest wellspring of your soul.

Of course you can talk to AI, a life coach, or a friend, and hopefully thats helpful, you have a lot of options vying for your attention. If that was completely helpful you wouldn’t be reading these words and interested in my expertise or perspective. I’m not bound to be your friend to, justify, coerce, or validate things just because its being said, which is good news, it means I am free to challenge you in real life relationship, in conversation that is unique and alive, not to threaten you, but to elicit growth. With me, you have full permission to say things you’ve perhaps never told another person, or to go much further and deeper into your feelings than ever before…

...to be honest with yourself in the presence of someone who only wants to support you transforming and becoming what you truly are while accepting you totally is transformative in its own way. But I go further, as a professional question curator and pattern recognizer. To be clear, my influence in the room is aligned with your “goals”, and is utilized to bring forth truth and make space for that truth to be recognized, accepted and integrated by you.

I want you to leave each session with a few good solid answers, and just as many good, solid questions. The difference between confused questions and generative ones is huge. And so the more you can bring earnest, complex questions or stories of depth and wonder, the more meaningful the work becomes to your growth and the more the work in therapy suffuses your life.

My greatest strength is the ability to see your greatest strengths. I will keep you grounded and tethered even as you sometimes fly off into the fog. I'm not all going to support shame in any way and will help you move through it. I am patient and know when to push or listen. I will never tell you who to be, I’m here to assist you in bringing forth rawness, a rawness that should be celebrated.

Your future is found in working with four broad domains, which I will assist you in exploring:

The Somatic
The Intellectual
The Spiritual
The Emotional

Yes I can “hold space”, but so can most people, thats not rare. Though my tone is relaxed, spontaneous, and humorous, I’m dead serious about your change. I want you to find the pillars of life that make it a well lived one you can be proud of.

Many therapists will say “you don’t have to do this alone” Which is a bullshit statement that says nothing.

Of course you don’t.

Each one of us is deeply connected to vast networks of communities, nature and the cosmos, we are never alone and none of us do life alone, what’s meant to be said by this really is… how can you be with others in a way that actually works, gets you what you want and provides others with the same honor.

Lastly, My goal is to make therapy elective in your life, not a matter of mandate or something you need.

I’m honored to work with people for years and years on end, some people embrace the therapy process as an ongoing unfoldlng part of their life, it’s meaningful and provides unique support. Other’s seek counsel for a shorter time, to navigate a divorce, to get help dating or guiding a new relationship, other’s to work out a specific trauma, grief or event in their life. I have no agenda, I only want you to engage with this work as long as it’s helpful to you and then for you to apply everything you learn about yourself in therapy to your life.

Now some credentials, I’m leaving this for last cause you should know who you’re meeting with and what I’m about. I’ve studied eastern wisdom, anthropology, sociology, gender studies, queer and feminist theory, critical studies, art, postmodernism and on and on both in my undergrad in philosophy and in my graduate work in my masters of Clinical Psychology. I’ve immersed myself in Psychedelic Therapies, Gestalt, Humanistic, Psychoanalytic and Jungian Psychology along side specific domains like Trauma Therapy and Internal Family Systems etc… The list goes on and on, as I’ve been practicing for 14 years. But my main fluency and expertise is in two disciplines: Narrative Therapy and Philosophical Taoism. I hang my hat on these modalities because they align with who I am and how I see the world. In narrative therapy power is always critiqued, I’m a therapist who is constantly critiquing psychology itself, that’s who I am. Taoism is the only system of knowledge I know if that constantly subverts itself in order to commune with the what is immense, the philosophy demonstrates some of the most useful ways of living and makes room for the irrational and wild, of which we all are.

ABOUT ME

And finally, here's a deeper glimpse of my life if your curious...

I grew up among the golden hills and oak-filled outskirts of Los Angeles, breathing in the briny sea breeze, infused with scents of sage and the unmistakable magic of Southern California. Spending my youth embedded in queer punk, roit grrrl, skate, and surf culture, I was quickly drawn to the arts, becoming immersed in woodworking and playing classical guitar. The communities of folk music and punk rock surrounded me with makers and mentors, instilling an early appreciation for the unique expressions art can have on the world.

Even before graduating high school, I began touring internationally with rock bands, playing excitedly on makeshift punk venues all the way up to arenas. By selling 7-inch records, handmade zines, and t-shirts, I extended my personal relationships into an interconnected and supportive and inclusive DIY scene, making lifelong friendships and playing a tiny, passionate role in the DNA of the underground music community.

While on the road, I was lucky enough to be exposed to self-studied intellectuals and a kind of brilliance only gained through deep engagement with a dynamic sea of ideas and experience. I consumed Le Guin, Nietzsche, Lao Tzu, Adrienne Rich, and Alan Watts in the back of dusty vans and on motel floors, exposed to ritual magic, esoterica, Buddhism, and Taoism. Somewhere between tours, I took classes in philosophy and art at Community Colleges, worked as a ceramicist and though it would be years before I put touring behind me, those rigorous inquiries planted the definitive seeds of my future.

By my late twenties, perhaps influenced by my parents—one a professor from Ecuador, the other a German therapist—I recognized a gift for listening deeply to people’s problems and desires. My time in music had trained me to be keenly attuned to others and to collaborate effectively. As I aged, I was drawn to academia, and after my mother passed away from cancer, the sublimity of loss and the unexpected explosions of grief inspired me to enroll and finish my degree in philosophy. In college I immersed myself in Eastern wisdom traditions, American Utopian movements, and post-modern philosophy, traveling to sacred sites across Mexico, Spain, Japan, and South America to conduct fieldwork and write paper in the intersection between anthropology, sociology, wisdom traditions, and folk practices.

After receiving my B.A., I started the non-profit Rogue Scholars, a radical experiment in pushing experiential learning to its zenith. I ran the group for two years, utilizing a non-hierarchical model to facilitate in person gatherings towards interpretation of critical works by figures like Maggie Nelson, Susan Sontag, all the way to Guy Debord and Jack Halberstam --- committed to making challenging, free-thinking ideas accessible regardless of scholarship level. I'm honored to say many attended these encounters at my home in South Central LA. This project cemented my commitment to systemic thought and collaborative illumination. I returned to college for my Master’s, finding profound alignment with Michael White’s Narrative Therapy—which drew its ideas from anthropology and critical theory. I combined these ideas with an interest in the humanistic core of Carl Rogers work in relational Gestalt therapy. Yet, it is the Taoist tradition, Lao Tzu, Lieh Tzu and Chuang Tzu, with their wild subversion of language and beautiful potentials, all embedded in rich poetry, that remains the primary influence in my practice.

I interned at the Southern California Center and Narrative Counseling Center, and upon completion, I opened my own practice, which is now running for its 13th year. Through this rich and varied journey, I moved away from writing about obscure cults and religious outcroppings and instead moved my thought towards the vital intersection of ecology and psychology. I’ve hosted the scholarly podcasts, led workshops on psychedelic psychotherapy, and trained talented therapists. All of these threads—the collaborative punk stage, the contemplative wisdom of the Tao, and the rigor of philosophy—inform my work as an LMFT, where I am devoted to illumination of the intricate systems that hold your life in place.

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321 N. Larchmont Blvd. Suite 506 Los Angeles California 90004

P: 323.334.0464

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