Gregory Bendau, AMFT #124339

I approach psychotherapy from a psychodynamic perspective that focuses on uncovering patterns of behavior and ways of relating to ourselves and others that are often outside of our awareness. I also consider how the past impacts who we are today. Through acceptance and empathy, we will establish a trusting therapeutic relationship from which we will work collaboratively toward your personal growth and self-discovery.

I believe that our patterns of behavior and the ways we relate to ourselves and others begin forming early in childhood and that our mental and emotional responses to the difficulties that we experience are intertwined with our personalities. Gaining insight into the parts of ourselves previously outside of our awareness allows us to more fully accept who we are, rework habits that may be holding us back, and live a fulfilling life.

My Approach to Anxiety Disorders

 The symptoms of anxiety can take many forms. Anxiety can include chronic worrying, difficulty concentrating, avoidance of situations, and problems with sleeping and appetite among others. Unmanaged anxiety can cause disruptions in our ability to function in our day-to-day lives. Fears, chronic worry, and stress can lead to difficulties at work, negatively impact our relationships with family, friends, and romantic partners, and cause physical stress and strain. I have experience working with individuals who are suffering from anxiety that has become a barrier to living a meaningful life. By exploring your experiences, thoughts, and feelings surrounding your anxiety, I can help you to better understand how it started, figure out what is driving it, develop coping skills to manage it, and work toward overcoming it.

Depression

Like anxiety, depression can be debilitating. Its symptoms can manifest in a variety of different ways. The predominant symptoms of depression include a loss of interest or pleasure in activities you once found enjoyable and/or a depressed or low mood. Signs of depression, however, can also show up in less obvious areas of your life. Other symptoms include a change in appetite, insomnia or excessive sleeping, difficulty concentrating, restlessness, fatigue, and recurrent thoughts of death. When these symptoms of depression significantly impact your ability to function at work or school, in your social life, and in your relationships it may be time to seek out help. I have experience helping individuals who suffer from depression. With a combination of self-exploration to gain insight into the dynamics of your depression along with coping skills designed to help you regulate your mood, I can help you to better understand and move past your depression.

Identity

In our increasingly technology-driven world in which so much of our social lives are taking place online, we often feel pressured to conform to a certain ideal or standard. We develop “masks” in order to amplify certain personal qualities while muting others. It can feel like the “real me” gets lost in the pressure to be what others want me to be, and it often becomes hard to figure out who we really are. We may feel at times like chameleons - conforming our interests, opinions, and preferences to those of others. At other times we may feel a sense of emptiness inside. Our sense of self begins to form during early childhood as we interact with our parents and siblings. The process of developing a sense of self, however, can go awry in a number of ways. Sometimes, a lack of a sense of self can result from childhood abuse, neglect, and abandonment. I specialize in helping individuals who have trouble figuring out who they are, including those who have experienced childhood abuse, neglect, and abandonment.

Evidence-based Treatment

I incorporate a number of modalities and theories into my practice of psychotherapy. I have experience providing long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy, mentalization-based treatment, and short-term crisis intervention grounded in cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Psychodynamic Psychotherapy – Psychodynamic psychotherapy is a treatment modality rooted in the theories of psychoanalysis – the godfather of contemporary psychotherapy. Psychodynamic psychotherapy seeks to uncover, understand, and rework limiting patterns of behavior, ways of relating to self and others, and internal conflicts that are often outside of awareness. It focuses on how the past is repeatedly, and unconsciously, replayed in the present, and how our automatic ways of inevitably entering into the therapy relationship.

By promoting an expanded awareness through self-exploration, psychodynamic psychotherapy helps give people the option to make different choices and to more fully accept themselves.

Mentalization-Based Treatment – Mentalization-based treatment (MBT) is a treatment that seeks to expand one’s capacity to mentalize. Mentalizing refers to the capacity that we all have to think about minds – other peoples’ and our own. It is our ability to – either automatically or deliberately – consider how our actions may be influenced by thoughts, feelings, perceptions, intentions, wishes, beliefs, etc. It is the attempt to understand how we may be perceived by others, and how others may be perceiving themselves. During stressful situations, such as an argument with a significant other, we may temporarily lose this capacity which can cause relationship difficulties and contribute to psychological distress. For example, in a disagreement, we may react impulsively out of anger at our significant others. In that moment, we are certain he or she had bad intentions, instead of considering the possibility that he or she may have perceived the situation in a different way. By slowing down and allowing ourselves to reflect on situations, we become more psychologically flexible and better able to regulate our emotions. 

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy – Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying and modifying maladaptive thought patterns that negatively influence how we feel and how we act. Psychological distress often involves cognitive distortions – ways of thinking about ourselves, the world, and the future that work against our best interests. However, these habitual ways of thinking may not conform to reality. CBT seeks to change how we feel by identifying, disputing, and changing the thought patterns that tend to undermine our goals.

I provide individual therapy sessions for 50 minutes/$130 per session and couples therapy sessions for 50 minutes/$150 per session.

Feel free to contact me for a free 20-minute consultation.

Phone: (310) 853-0379

Email: gregorybendautherapy@gmail.com