My name is Dr. Chris Emerson, and I am a Licensed Clinical Psychologist with the California state Board of Psychology (PSY23147).  As an active, empathic and experienced psychotherapist, I strive to help patients resolve long-standing issues and achieve current goals.  I work by integrating the approaches that will be most helpful to each individual, including contemporary psychoanalytic and existential perspectives.

My approach to therapy addresses practical issues in the "here and now," and also works to uncover and make meaning of the unconscious aspects of our lives. I emphasize the importance of relationships as fundamental to good emotional and mental health, and help my patients find a healthy balance of independence, relatedness with others, and personal freedom. As a result, patients can make better life choices, and live richer, more meaningful lives. 

In a comfortable and supportive atmosphere, my patients and I work together toward maximizing personal growth -- to "make the unconscious conscious" -- developing new strengths, resolving old issues, and achieving life goals.