About Paul
In private practice, Paul provides counseling that addresses couples’ problems, substance abuse, violence in relationships, problems in masculine identity, and problems with spiritual identification and belief. As a Certified Domestic Violence Counselor, Paul’s work includes a strong emphasis in Anger Management, working extensively with problems of substance abuse as it affects relationships. He is trained in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and particularly emphasizes learning core mindfulness skills as an aid to emotional regulation. He has training in Jungian therapy and dream analysis. He also specializes in counseling in relation to spiritual problems, such as loss of faith or transition from one faith to another, or “dark night of the soul” difficulties. He is also passionately concerned with grief and mourning, and works particularly with parents who have lost a child and with that child’s siblings.
Paul has a strong interest in the problems faced by men in our society, and works to help men find a meaningful, non-destructive expression of masculinity. In this regard, he is also interested in helping couples express both masculine and feminine energies in relationships. He has worked extensively in the foster care system with adolescents, particularly with boys who struggle with issues in relation to the adaptation to loss, low motivation for life achievement, increasing tolerance for frustration, and reducing the need for immediate gratification.
He views the problems of individuals not as illnesses but as problems of life passages, transitions from one phase of life to another, and uses the symbolism of initiation, alchemical processes and archetypes to help his clients understand the demands that life puts upon them and the most healing and developmentally strengthening response to those demands. He sees many problems as symptoms of unresolved grief, and sees the grieving process – denial, anger, bargaining/searching, depression and acceptance – as a useful model for negotiating these difficult life passages. The problems of living – difficulties with intimate relationships, an urge to self-medicate through substance use, aggressiveness and rage, a sense of being alienated and out of place in the world, dissatisfaction with work, worry about the future – can be indicators of a need to mourn an unacknowledged loss, to master something missed or lost in previous development, or to grow into the next phase of life.
Paul True is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Philosophy and a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology. He is currently in the dissertation process for a Doctorate in Psychology, with an emphasis in Counseling Psychology. He has 8 years of experience working with the Orange County Foster Care system as a Residential Therapist. He is the Clinical Director for the Center for the Treatment of Addictions in Garden Grove and is certified as a Domestic Violence Counselor.
