Dr. Philip MacEachron, PsyD
Licensed Clinical Psychologist, PSY 22427
3155 College Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94705
510-859-8553
Psychotherapy Services Specializing In:
Stress and Anxiety
Life Transitions
Creative Blocks
Neurodiversity Support
Assessment Services
I see people who might have grown up being seen as "weird" and despite their successes may still find it hard to shake a negative self-image that undermines their current efforts. You may struggle with a creative self that has been muted in favor of a professional self to accommodate the needs of family and others. You may have tried self-help books or behavioral treatments and know that there is a part of you that remains untapped. You are pulled in too many directions, and it can be hard to find your balance. You may be trying to live in an antiracist way in a world that doesn't always support that effort. Psychotherapy offers an opportunity to work with another mind to help you access parts of yourself that are hard to find and integrate on your own.
Another aspect of my practice is diagnostic assessment, mostly focused on assessing for ADHD and Autism in adults. This is a much more structured and short term process than therapy, focused on identifying a specific diagnosis that may lead to treatment recommendations. I am not a medical doctor, but I do take referrals from them and can refer you for treatment if that is appropriate.
About Me
Over the years I have found that many things I thought were impractical or weird about my interests, things totally at odds with any serious career aspirations for example, ended up being more relevant than I expected. When I studied Buddhist philosophy & Tibetan language at Columbia, it wasn't exactly a smooth path to a good job. Like many people with impractical degrees who graduated in the mid-nineties I ended up working in technology during the first web boom, but it was never fulfilling. When I decided to become a psychotherapist years later, the field was in the process of integrating Buddhist meditation techniques and philosophies in a major way into therapies like DBT, ACT & MBCT.
While mindfulness-based therapies have been incredibly helpful to many people I always felt uncomfortable with what seemed like a kind of cultural appropriation without sufficient attribution to the original sources. As a cis-gendered white male born into a position of privilege in this society and living on occupied Ohlone land I have tried to stay current with feminist, antiracist, and queer theory in order to better understand the impact centuries of colonialism has had and to work toward a more balanced world. Like most fields of study, psychology has its roots in Empire and is always at risk of reiterating old power dynamics in new ways, but it can also be a force for liberation.
I have been a licensed psychologist since 2008 and have worked in the mental health field since 2001, when I was a counselor in a residential drug treatment program serving people with HIV, severe mental illness, and severe addiction. Since then I have trained at the VA, in a foster/adoption agency, and in cognitive behavioral clinics. I completed my predoctoral internship at the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco, training in depth psychotherapy and dream interpretation. My postdoctoral residency was at Kaiser Permanente's outpatient Child & Family Psychiatry Clinic, where I continued to work as a staff psychologist for 10 years. In 2018 I transitioned to the Adult Psychiatry Department in KP's Oakland Medical Center, where I worked on the Trauma Treatment Team. For the past several years my work at KP has primarily involved the supervision of predoctoral interns and postdoctoral residents in the adult ADHD & ASD psycho-diagnostic assessment program. In that capacity I have conducted or supervised a large number of adult ADHD and ASD assessments since taking on that role in 2018. My experience has exposed me to a very wide range of clinical concerns and has been invaluable when it comes to the difficult task of differential diagnosis.
I have been trained in depth therapy approaches, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), trauma-processing therapies like EMDR. and "third-wave" therapies like Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT).
In my private practice I like to work with people who may already have tried skills-based therapy approaches and want to go deeper in a weekly individual psychotherapy to explore more complex issues that aren't easily identified or addressed but which may impede progress and change in profound ways.
I can provide superbills if your insurance plan allows for reimbursement of private practice psychotherapy, but I am not a member of any insurance panels.
A note for KP members: I do not take KP or any other insurance in my private practice and my work in this practice has no connection to Kaiser Permanente. If you found this page looking for me at the KP Oakland Medical Center, you can contact the department at 510-752-1075.
Credentials:
Licensed Psychologist, CA Psy 22427
The Wright Institute, 2007 PsyD
Columbia University, 1994 BA
Affiliations:
American Psychological Association
EMDR International Association
Trained in "Geek Therapeutics"