Certified Psychedelic Assisted Practitioner
Howard P. Goodman, MA LMFT, CPAP is a licensed psychotherapist and Certified Psychedelic-Assisted Practitioner, located in Los Angeles, California. In addition to seeing individuals, couples, and families in his private psychotherapy practice, Howard is now treating Treatment Resistant Depression, Anxiety, Grief/Loss, and Trauma with a transformative new approach to healing: Ketamine-Assisted Therapy.
About Howard
Howard P. Goodman received his Master’s degree in counseling psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute 2005, and is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Howard began his career heading up a pilot program for the Los Angeles County dept of Mental Health to help gravely disabled, deaf/hearing impaired individuals “Step-down” from institutional care to a community-based setting to develop independent living skills. His two years as Clinical Director of this program was transformational for Howard. “I was humbled and inspired by my clients. They educated me on the healing power of meeting individuals where they are and helping them connect with their innate abilities to grow and develop.”
Howard entered the inpatient, dual-diagnosis substance abuse treatment field in 2009. He ran groups, provided individual and family therapy, and ultimately became Clinical Director of SOBA Treatment Center and Prominence Center for Healing in Malibu, California. His experiences in these settings led to the creation of developmental paradigm to help clients stay sober after leaving inpatient treatment. Howard’s program, “The Spectrum of Sobriety” a step-by-step, psycho-educational model for long-term sobriety is detailed in his best-selling book, “The Staying Sober Handbook.”
In addition to his education and training in mainstream approaches to therapy, including, CBT, DBT, Somatic-informed, Motivational Interviewing, and Trauma-informed modalities, Howard received specialized clinical training in Internal Family Systems and Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy. In this Private Practice, located in Culver City, Howard currently sees individuals, couples, and families remotely as well as in person.
“My approach is to meet people wherever they are without judgment, help them identify the places in life they feel stuck, then provide them with the tools to better navigate those places so they can achieve their own version of success.”
Howard successfully completed a year-long training program and is now a Certified Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Provider, specializing in KAP.
Naming
This skill teaches clients how to “come to their senses.” This starts with learning how to listen to their body, mind, emotions, and sensations to actually identify what they are feeling. This is paired with the development of an emotional vocabulary to help clients articulate their feelings with increased accuracy, depth, and emotional clarity. The NAMING process gives voice to previously unknown, misunderstood, or traumatic emotional experience. This, in turn initiates a process of self-understanding and acceptance. Most important, NAMING activates the individual’s innate healing ability in ways that are cathartic, insightful, and promote well-being.
Claiming
Is the process exploration and contextualization. Clients learn how and why negative, painful, feelings from the past get triggered and resurface in the present in ways that can cause over/under reactions, emotional suffering, and can result in poor decision-making.
In most cases, these feelings turn out to be negative or traumatic emotional experiences split-off or disowned earlier in life. Though they may be out of conscious “sight” these negative emotional experiences are not “out of mind.” On a day-to-day basis, they carry powerful messages about who we are and inform our sense of self in ways we are scarcely aware. CLAIMING is the ability to follow the bread crumbs back to the origins of these experiences and re-member or reclaim these shadowy, split-off aspects of ourselves.
Reframing
This skill-set teaches clients how to leverage the power of identifying and NAMING emotions with the insight and understanding of CLAIMING to create REFRAMING: the ability to navigate life with increased clarity, confidence, and perspective. The ongoing process of NAMING, CLAIMING, and REFRAMING potentiates improved self-acceptance, self-confidence, and ability to live in the present with more insight, purpose, and joy.