Paul Boyer(He/Him/His)

Paul J. Boyer, LCSW, is a therapist based in Oakland, California, who specializes in the treatment of anxiety, depression, and substance use, especially as they intersect with relationship challenges such as interpersonal reactivity and self-advocacy. Paul has also helped many clients with PTSD as well as ADHD and OCD diagnoses. He sees clients in person in Oakland and virtually throughout California.

Paul's therapeutic approach uses a lot of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), as well as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), and other approaches. Paul's approach tends to focus more on changing clients' lived and felt experience of their challenges, rather than their intellectual understanding of such challenges.

Paul is strong believer that if change is going to happen in therapy, it should start to happen pretty quickly - the first four to eight sessions at most. He is also a strong believer in conscientious measurement and evaluation of therapeutic progress. The question, "Is this working?" should never be too hard to answer, whether the answer is yes or no.

Additionally, Paul worked in corporate finance for many years before moving into the mental health field, and loves working with people contemplating or navigating similar life transitions, regardless of their other mental health needs.