Do you offer a free consultation?

Yes. I invite every prospective patient (or their parent) to a complimentary 15-minute video or phone call, so we can see whether we’re a good fit.

How do I book that call?

Fill in the contact-form button at the top of the page to request a time, or call +1-916-776-6089. I’ll follow up within one business day to confirm.

Where are you located?

My office is in Midtown Sacramento at 801 Alhambra Blvd, Suite 4. I also work with clients anywhere in California via secure telehealth.

What is psychodynamic psychotherapy?

Psychodynamic work explores the patterns—often outside conscious awareness—that shape how we think, feel, and relate. By bringing those patterns into focus, we create space for insight, relief, and lasting change.

What happens in the first session?

We’ll talk about what brings you in, your history, and your hopes for therapy. The meeting also lets you get a felt sense of how I work so you can decide whether to continue.

How long will therapy take?

Every person’s process is different. Some clients come for a few months to work on a specific issue; others choose open-ended depth work. We’ll revisit goals together as therapy unfolds.

Who do you work with?

• Adults and kids (10+) • Men exploring masculinity • Individuals, couples, and families • People navigating gender identity, transition, or LGBTQIA+ experiences • Anyone facing grief, anxiety, depression, or existential questions

Do you provide letters for gender-affirming care?

Yes. I can provide letters of support for HRT or surgery in line with WPATH guidelines.

What is psychedelic-integration therapy?

Integration work helps you make meaning of altered-state experiences—whether from sanctioned clinical use or personal exploration—so insights translate into daily life. While I don’t provide or refer for illegal substances, I support clients in integrating those experiences thoughtfully and ethically.

Individual therapy – $150 Couples therapy – $250 Sliding-scale spots are occasionally available—please ask.

Do you take insurance?

I’m an out-of-network provider. If you have a PPO plan, you may be eligible for partial reimbursement. I’ll supply monthly superbills you can submit to your insurer.

What if I need to cancel?

Cancellations with at least 48 hours’ notice incur no fee. Late cancellations or no-shows are billed at the full session rate. (No charge for same-day health-related cancellations.)

Is therapy confidential?

Yes. Everything we discuss stays between us, with a few safety-related legal exceptions that we’ll review in our first session.

Do you offer evening or weekend appointments?

Yes. I currently see patients only during evenings and weekends to support busy professionals and their kids. Let me know what you need, and I’ll do my best to accommodate.

What if I’m in crisis?

I’m not a 24-hour service. If you’re in immediate danger, call 988 (emotional support) or 911 (medical emergency), or go to the nearest emergency room. You can also text HOME to 741741 for free, confidential support from trained crisis counselors.

This is not CBT.

Jun 9

Written By Oliver Slate-Greene

Psychodynamic therapy is not about quick fixes. It’s about going deeper—into memory, into meaning, into the patterns that live beneath our awareness but run the show.

If you’ve Googled “therapist in Sacramento,” chances are you've come across a buffet of modalities - CBT, EMDR, DBT, ACT. Acronyms promising solutions. Tools. Techniques.

But psychodynamic therapy doesn’t promise tools. It promises transformation.

So what is it, really? And how is it different from something like CBT?

Psychodynamic Therapy Isn’t Focused on Symptom Relief

CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) is often structured, goal-oriented, and symptom-focused. It’s the therapy of to-do lists and thought records. For many, it works beautifully—especially for targeted issues like phobias or test anxiety.

But psychodynamic therapy isn’t interested in putting a Band-Aid on a festering wound.

It asks:

Why is this wound here at all?
Who taught you to keep reopening it?
What part of you thinks you deserve it?

CBT may help you reframe the thought, but psychodynamic work invites you to feel the original pain, make sense of it, and let it move through—so you don’t keep living it out unconsciously.

It’s Not About Managing the Inner Critic. It’s About Meeting Them.

You can’t out-logic a voice that was never logical to begin with.

That part of you that says you’re not enough didn’t come from nowhere. It has a history. It has a tone. It sounds like someone. In psychodynamic work, we listen to that voice. We trace its roots. And slowly, we change the relationship—not just the message.

This isn’t about “fixing” your self-talk. It’s about understanding who you had to become in order to survive. And whether you still need to be that person.

The Unconscious

In psychodynamic therapy, we don’t just focus on what you know. We pay attention to what you almost said, the dream you had, the way your body tensed when we hit something close to home.

That’s the unconscious at work.

We all have an emotional history that lives inside us—shaping how we love, fight, retreat, and long. Psychodynamic therapy gives that history space to be seen.

And when we bring the unconscious into consciousness? That’s when real, lasting change begins.

The Work Takes Time - But It’s Built to Last

Quick relief is not the same as deep change.

CBT often runs 6–12 weeks. Psychodynamic therapy can take longer. Not because it’s slow, but because it honors the complexity of being human.

We are not spreadsheets.

We are not symptoms to be reduced.

We are stories—layered, symbolic, unfolding.

In Sacramento, where the pace of life can feel like a tug-of-war between burnout and stillness, there is something radical about going slow. About making space for what’s been pushed down.

Psychodynamic Therapy in Sacramento

If you’re searching for a psychodynamic therapist in Sacramento, you’re looking for someone who understands the depth of this work - who sees therapy not as advice-giving, but as a collaborative excavation of meaning.

Not every therapist practices this way. And not every patient is ready for it. But if you’ve tried surface-level approaches and found them lacking—this may be the next right door.

Ready to Begin?

I’m a psychodynamic psychotherapist based in Sacramento (I am available for telehealth anywhere in California), working with individuals who want something more than symptom relief. If you’re drawn to depth, meaning, and the slow unfolding of insight -I’d be honored to meet you there.

Oliver Slate-Greene