possibilities: about Gustav Helzberg, MA, LMFT
I’m Gustav, a licensed marriage and family therapist with offices in Kentfield (Marin County) and Oakland, and online sessions throughout California. I work with men, adults with ADHD and other neurodivergent folks, and people moving through big life changes. Here’s a little about who I am and why I do this work.
Regardless what you have been taught to believe,
there is nothing wrong with you.
~ Cheri Huber
the only path is through
I am a sensitively-oriented person. Throughout much of my early life I experienced this as a hindrance, the proverbial albatross around my neck. Sitting with people, being a deep listener, attuning with the plights of others and the connectedness of people—these are all ways of being that felt necessary to me before ever “officially” going down the psychology road. It is this underlying, instinctual sense which drew me to explore Eastern religions, meditation practices, music, nature, drum circles in the forests of Santa Cruz, theater geeks and outlier freaks– human beings of all walks of life. Anything, initially, that remotely reeked of possibility.
within reach
What I offer as a therapist, as a human being, is the completeness of my attention, my intuition, my creativity and love, all of which I have been following like a neurodivergent bloodhound in the snow, ever since the recognition that self-awareness, mindfulness, personal growth, introspection, compassion, heart—whatever for you uniquely defines “an examined life”—are the foundation for joy, fulfillment, gratitude. These qualities are both attainable and at the same time a constant works-in-progress. Also they are not too big a deal. We can’t just burst into the equanimity store, hands on hips, and demand to speak with a manager. What I offer is who I am, therefore continuing to befriend my dragons (not pictured here) is an ongoing and indispensable practice that fuels and sustains my life/work, which are not so different. I am not an authority with the answers; I am in it with you and honored to be so!
Many of the folks I see come in with ADHD; you can read more about that work here young adult and adult ADHD therapy. Many of the folks I see are men; you can read more about that work here therapy for men. Many come in during a big change; you can read more about that here: life transitions.
For more on how my own struggles shape this work, see albatross: the wounded healer.
