Identity-Focused Therapy

At various points in our lives we may feel stuck or struggle to move forward from a shift in a relationship, job, or our families, chosen or not. We may also find it difficult to (re)discover ourselves or are challenged and confused by our sexuality, expression, and identity. If this feels familiar to you, you are not alone. My goal in therapy is to walk with you through these transitions and uncertainties of identity and purpose with self-compassion and awareness toward a future filled with confidence regardless of where you currently find yourself.

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” — Martin Buber

Hello, I’m James

James Dvorak, Registered Associate Marriage & Family Therapist, AMFT #137870

I am a registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT) #137870 in California, located in Los Angeles. Raised on a farm in the Midwest, I spent over a decade in human resources and public relations prior to becoming a psychotherapist.

I am deeply interested in providing clinical support to individuals dealing with the challenges faced in grief, modern relationships, life transitions, and LGBTQIA+ issues and stressors. These focus areas delve into the profound existential questions of identity and purpose that we encounter amidst such difficulties. I aim to help individuals uncover the stories, patterns, and bodily responses that contribute to an individual’s expression of self. This process of co-investigation helps us understand the meaning we attach to these experiences and challenges and guides my therapeutic approach in the counseling room.

I began my training at The Ness Counseling Center, a non-profit providing low-fee counseling to individuals, couples, and families in the LA area. I have also served as a volunteer group counselor at Our House, a grief support center serving the Los Angeles community, and I am currently a proud member of the Beyond Psychology Center practitioner network.

I am supervised by Michelle Seely, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) #41680. My interest in how we tell and create stories of ourselves and others led me to complete my Bachelor's Degree in Journalism at the University of Nebraska and my Master's Degree in Counseling with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy at California State University - Northridge.

I currently provide in-person mental health treatment in Los Angeles (Toluca Lake, California) and offer virtual sessions throughout California via Telehealth.

My goal in this work is to meet you where you are by prioritizing building trust and connection with you as we work together to address your goals.

More specifically, I use a multitude of frameworks in therapy. These frameworks and therapeutic orientations include relational gestalt, attachment, internal family systems, jungian, somatic, hakomi, and acceptance-based psychotherapy modalities. During our sessions as co-investigators, we will focus on your current experiences and senses, becoming more aware of the present moment while discussing topics and stories. Through present awareness in our work, we will invite inquiries into how your body responds to your current challenges and stressors. Bringing forward the moment-to-moment dialogue with words and the body’s responses, we work to uncover patterns inviting insight and meaning-making to aid in growth and personal expansion.

I aim to create a safe and supportive environment where you feel comfortable expressing the most difficult thoughts and feelings, even those you may have had to silence in the past. Through our work together, we will wonder and examine the unknowns and fears that illuminate your understanding of yourself and your experiences and find tools and ways of being that guide you forward.

Importantly, my practice provides queer-affirmative therapy and is sex-, kink-, consensual nonmonogamy-allied. I am aware of white supremacy and the impact of systemic racism and oppression. I am committed to ongoing consciousness in my practice and building a safe and supportive space to value and explore these experiences and intersecting identities, such as race, gender, sexuality, and class.

“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” - James Baldwin

How I Work

Clinical Interests

Grief and Loss

Grief and loss come from a number of experiences: jobs, people, pets, identity, and relationships, among many others. These experiences can shift how we move through the world and may change how we view ourselves. Here I outline some key approaches in working with grief in therapy.

Gender Expression and Sexual Identity

Gender expression and sexuality can be a journey filled with anxiety, shame, and judgement towards self and from others. It can also be a journey filled with joy, humor, and surprises. Here are some themes that come into therapy while working in this area of interest.

Relationships

Relationships are dynamic relational systems. Therapy can help enliven patterns in those systems. We work together to understand, wonder, and explore how you exist and potentially engage in your relationship patterns.

Anxiety

Anxiety can look and feel like constant worrying about how we are perceived, or ruminating on what will happen “if” something takes place. Anxiety can too often take the drivers seat of our lives. In therapy, we befriend anxiety, getting to know how it helps protect us and how it can also hold us back from personal growth.

Depression

Depression can ebb and flow in our lives. From lethargy and low motivation to generally feeling down on life and ourselves, depression can feel like we are moving through sludge. In therapy we co-investigate what doesn’t feel aligned or alive in life, while finding ways to understand depression’s call to action.

Open Relationships + Polyamory

More commonly discussed today, ethical or consensual non-monogamy (ENM) can lead to personal and relational exploration. It can also lead to challenges and conflicts, confronting our emotional and physical intimacy needs and wants with others. Learn how therapy can address the challenges that CNM can highlight in our way of being.

  • My current rate is $140 per 50-minute session.

  • I have a deep clinical interest and evolving specialization in grief and loss, LGBTQIA+ issues, relationships, identity and sexuality, and life transitions. Furthermore, I find engaging in the exploration of existential stress that often comes with such challenges and experiences to be of increasing value to clients in therapy.

  • I currently do not work with any insurance companies, however, clients who wish to use insurance for their therapy will be provided with a monthly statement that may be used to submit a claim for out of network coverage.

  • The length of therapy varies from person to person. Typically, we start by engaging in weekly sessions and may adjust to every other week or monthly session, depending on how we feel about the therapy progress. However, we will discuss this in collaboration during our initial session and will continue to check in on this topic throughout our work together.

  • I work with a variety of people, including adults, older adults, emerging adults, teens and couples. As a queer-identifying clinician, I also enjoy working with individuals who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community and the challenges of such intersections, including identity and sexuality, stress, relationships, and depression, among others.

  • I have clients that prefer in-person therapy and others that prefer online. As a result, I see clients in person in Toluca Lake, California and online via telehealth throughout the state of California.

  • We'll schedule a 15-30 minute consultation to determine if we're a good match. We'll discuss your therapy goals and how I can support you before deciding to move forward. If we do, we'll collaborate on the initial session details so that you feel confident in our future work together.

Commonly Asked Questions

Finding a therapist can be challenging. If you would like to connect and see if we may be a good fit for working together, feel free to send me an email or book directly through my calendar here and tell me a little bit about you and what you hope to address in therapy. From there, we’ll schedule a free 15-30-minute consultation on Zoom to learn more about each other. If we are not a good fit, I will help get you to the right place.

Email me at Dvorak.Therapy@protonmail.com, book directly on my calendar, or fill out the form below. I try to respond to all messages within 24-48 hours.

“To be human is to need others, and this is no flaw or weakness.” - Dr. Sue Johnson

Interested in Getting Started?

“Healing ourselves is a personal movement we embark on to let go of all the conditioning that limits our freedom; in this journey there will undoubtedly be moments of bliss and difficulty. Real happiness and wisdom grow from the reality we experience, not from the fleeting moments of bliss that we feel“ — Yung Pueblo

Recommended Resources

Books

  • A beautiful book by the psychiatrist, Viktor Frankl about finding hope and strength in the darkest of times.

  • A collection of poems by Yung Pueblo (Diego Perez) focused on introspection and reflection of self and growth. A book that I come to often for inspiration and connection to self.

  • Steeped in meditative practices and guidance, poet and teacher, Stephen Levine, offers a gentle invitation to be with awareness, slowing down and being with with is; presence.

Podcasts

Videos

  • Jeff Foster, a spiritual teacher and author, discusses our negative cycle of internal dialogue and holding and acknowledging the emotions of sadness, hurt, and anger, rather than judging and locking them out aiding in our healing and growth.

  • KC Davis, a therapist and author, discusses the morality that we are often assigning to care tasks in our everyday life, especially when we are struggling and experiencing periods of anxiety, depression, and grief, among many others.