About

Simeon Simov, LMFT

I've come to believe that most of the serious difficulties and challenges I have experienced in my life are strongly influenced by my internal self. This includes but is not limited to my thoughts, feelings, perceptions, values, and the meaning I make of my experiences. All these factors influence how I relate to myself and others, the decisions I make and the quality of my life. I have grown to believe that understanding and addressing each of our internal selves is critical in building satisfying lives.

This naturally lead me to prioritize increasing emotional awareness and wellness in both myself and in the people and communities around me. I believe this will help create a better future and world for myself and for humankind. These philosophies inform my passion for psychotherapy.

I make it my job to provide a safe, empathetic and nonjudgmental environment in hopes that such a relationship and space will help you face and come to terms with parts of yourself which have been forgotten, disowned, misunderstood or otherwise too painful to face.

My Approach

My depth-oriented, attachment and neurobiological approach to psychotherapy acknowledges that deep and long-term relief requires more than extinguishing troubling symptoms. It also requires more than addressing our cognitions and unhelpful thoughts. Mental health is deeply impacted by our feelings, emotions, relationships, external and internal environments, spirituality, unconscious beliefs, practical skills, resources and somatic/physiological reactions to stressors.

My approach to therapy involves consciously shaping a relationship which is safe, nonjudgmental, authentic and affirmative. The genesis of most mental health symptoms often lies in psychologically unhelpful relational dynamics (usually in childhood with caregivers or in unhealthy romantic relationships as adults. This is typically true even if the presenting symptoms are not directly related to relationships). Therefore, it is often the case that this therapeutic relationship can provide “corrective emotional experiences” to repair the damage caused in these former relationships, resulting in a decrease in symptoms.

Careful exploration of emotional experiences within the context of such a relationship can often help us come in to contact with, digest and integrate emotions, beliefs, experiences or “parts” of ourselves which have been disowned, pushed away, or otherwise unacknowledged. Such integration is the path to deeper and permanent long-term change.

I consider the therapeutic relationship to be a necessary but not always sufficient condition for healing. Our work will also include an inquiry of the root causes of mental health symptoms. This process can often help us make sense of messy feelings which are “not logical” or “don’t make sense” and create a context around them to help us better understand how to manage them. Moreover, I believe that there are no intrinsically “good” or “bad” feelings. Emotions are indicators of the state of our needs. Although emotions are not always “logical” they are extremely intelligent. In tandem with exploring the root cause of our feelings, we will also strive to make clear and find constructive ways to honor the unmet social/physical/emotional/spiritual needs expressed by mental health symptoms.

My approach also includes an understanding that our feelings are physiological reactions, not just thoughts or beliefs. Part of my role is to assist clients in becoming familiar with how emotions are physically felt in their bodies, using mindfulness techniques to help develop emotional regulation skills, and using other somatic and mindfulness-based interventions to teach the nervous system to find a felt sense of safety, even when they are experiencing unpleasant emotions.

Improving mental health sometimes means dealing with practical “life issues”. I help clients develop the skills to tackle problems such as ineffective communication in relationships, difficulty regulating emotions, setting boundaries, clarifying values, understanding thoughts, beliefs and feelings which come up in “problem situations” and collaborating to find effective ways of coping.

I believe knowledge is power. I will sometimes take on the role of “educator” to provide information (within the scope of my training) which can help shift perspectives and create new ways of seeing and addressing the concern at hand. If necessary, I will also gently challenge your current beliefs, thoughts or ideas and request that you consider alternatives. I will never require that you do anything differently, I may only encourage you to do so with your best interest in mind.

Education and Background

I received my Bachelor's degree in Philosophy from Western Washington University, and my Masters degree in Clinical Psychology at Antioch University Los Angeles. I specialized in Spiritual and Depth Psychology. I have also completed additional training which allow me to practice EMDR therapy.

I am originally from Bulgaria, thus I am fluent in both Bulgarian and English. I am well trained in understanding privilege, multicultural issues, and systems of oppression and I have spent several years working with these communities.

Prior to becoming a psychotherapist, I worked with teens in the foster system.