Doug Newton, LMFT

The first thing I do is get to know you, ask questions to help clarify your perspective and then listen to get a sense of how things are going. Then we work together to identify clear goals for therapy so that you and I both understand what success looks like. Then we chart a course to get there. I work with Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and other tools to help clients identify their strengths and areas of growth. I then increase awareness and insight around the pattern of symptoms to help you develop a stronger agency and increase control. A sense of space can emerge from this process. Counseling this way can help you find a better balance and invest in a life worth living, refining your growth and potential.

It is an honor to help clients create a more durable, tangible vision for their lives. When clients feel less eclipsed by the past, they have more energy and awareness to exist more fully in the present. They experience a new, more centered sense of self. I feel energized to work through difficulty and then realize useful changes for my clients. The freedom that awaits clients when they stop carrying things that have been dragging them down can feel like a new beginning. When my clients feel lighter, they can concentrate better. They exchange the tightrope for the sidewalk and we both feel satisfied by the terms of this novel transition.

I want you to feel peaceful, loved, calm and balanced, so that you can lead your life the way that makes the most sense to you. The troubling and confusing world needs people like you to realize your power and step up to be your own best ally. I want to work with you to claim a clearer ownership of your values, better to leverage your intelligence and creativity to realize your goals. This leads to a great capacity to co-create the life you wish to fulfill, including the love you wish to realize in relationships. Counseling can disentangle you from patterns that interfere with personal progress, such that you can breathe easier, and develop a fresh confidence to enact your vision for your life.

My specialties include working with at-risk youth, teenagers, immigrants, people with disabilities, the currently and formerly incarcerated and people who feel marginalized for any reason. I am passionate about helping to create a more equitable, just society for all people. I have lived for many years in Europe and Asia, which helps me understand the perspective of those who have left their home to live in the US. I have served as an advisor to CEOs and nonprofit leaders, consulting around strategy and communications. In addition to DBT and CBT, I have a strong interest in writing, music, art, and using creativity to spark and nourish awareness, insight and personal growth.

Co-Facilitator: AWA Method Creative Writing Workshop, Folsom Prison (3 years)

Advisory Board Member: A Touch of Understanding (disability awareness workshops in schools)