Ian Kepler LCSW

I really have one goal for my clients. I want them to feel strong. I want to help them understand that the challenges they face in their life have not been an expression of how they are broken but in fact how incredibly powerful they are. This fact is something that we often lose track of, and when we do we can find ourselves in a state or retreat from our lives. This orientation of fear tends to cause us to seek out ways to cope, rather than ways to change. My methods are designs to turn us towards that which we would most like to avoid so that we can find out that we are capable of so much more than we give ourselves credit for. This means taking radical responsibility for ourselves, for our minds, and for our actions.

Change, in life, is not only possible, it is inevitable. We will not stay the same, and we are not who we used to be. It’s important to notice that most people could not have truly predicted the life they are currently living, which can give us a pretty good hint that our ideas about what will happen to us are mostly inaccurate. Growth means moving forward not into an inevitable future but into a mystery. There is so much we don’t know about yet and Healing, likely doesn’t look how we expect it will.

I have spent my entire life trying to understand why people suffer. Why we are prone to depression, anxiety, fear, and anger. I have tried to learn what we can do when we inevitably face loss, the loss of people, of opportunities, of hope; and as we face these universal difficulties, how we can grow in strength, wisdom and compassion such that we can truly effect the world, our world, for the better.

My own path out of the darkness has been walked with the help of spirituality in the form of intensive Zen practice, guidance from wise teachers and friends, and the psychological theories of modern western psycho-therapy.

With my clients I offer everything I have gained from that process to try and help them find a way forward, whether we are treating depression or anxiety, CPTSD, PTSD, ADHD, OCD, dissociative disorders, psychotic disorders, personality disorders, or if we are simply facing existential dread about our lives, are confused about who we are or are lost and trying to figure out what direction we should be going. In the beginning especially, we often don’t know what’s wrong, only that something isn’t working. At other times, there is nothing wrong but we feel the deep desire for growth.

I strongly value science, whether of Psychology, neuroscience, biology etc., as a bedrock for successful psychotherapy and I strongly value spiritual perspectives of all kinds, including Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Pagan and others as the original holders of systems for healing and caring for the human mind.

I have experience with psychedelics as a source of profound meaning, and value the science which shows the incredible potential benefits to mental health and spiritual well being that they offer. I have worked well with people who are seeking integration work from psychedelic or other transcendent spiritual experiences which can be difficult to make sense of and are often misunderstood by inexperienced therapists.

Ultimately, any effort you are making to grow and to heal is an act of great courage. Please take what ever encouragement you can that what you are doing for yourself in this process is something that will be of benefit to the world that we share. I wish you well.