John A.Martin, PH.D. California Licensed Psychologist
Important Notice:
As I've indicated above, psychotherapy involves the diagnosis treatment of mental and nervous disease. I'm a licensed psychologist, and like many licensed psychologists, I have been trained to work as a psychotherapist and have done so for many years.
However, I no longer offer psychotherapy services, and will no longer accept clients who require psychotherapy or who believe that they may require psychotherapy.
Instead, I now work exclusively with people who are seeking to find ways to have better lives, to improve their relationships, to overcome their resistances to change, to address bad habits of behavior and/or thinking, and the like. I work with people who are psychologically healthy but find they are in need of some assistance. In the absence of psychopathology (illness), I believe that many people may benefit more from a consultant than a therapist.
This is not to say that my clients are free of pain or distress. However, we recognize that not all pain is bad, that not all pain is a sign of illness or evidence that there's something broken that needs fixing. Ordinary frustration, disappointment, sadness and lack-of-enthusiasm are, for example, sometimes mislabeled as depression. Likewise, ordinary worry, agitation and fearfulness are sometimes mislabeled as an anxiety disorder. Sometimes psychological discomfort needs to be accepted as part of life; sometimes discomfort amounts to growing pain.
If you believe you may be psychologically ill and in need of psychotherapy, I suggest that you seek the services of a licensed mental health professional (for example, a clinical psychologist, a psychiatrist, or a clinical social worker) specializing in psychotherapy for evaluation and/or treatment. Likewise, if you and I choose to work together and questions subsequently arise about your mental health status at some point during the course of our work, I may recommend that you seek an evaluation by a licensed mental health professional.
I conduct no mental health evaluations or diagnoses myself, however, and will require, as a condition of our work, that you affirm your understanding that I do not offer the diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems in my practice. My work in no way substitutes for psychological treatment.