About Me

Welcome to my Website Are you looking to transform old repetitive patterns that are causing distress in your life and relationships? Are you interested in searching for new ways of being with yourself, others, and in the world? Would you like to embark on a process of personal growth and change that can lead to a more satisfying existence? Then I may be of assistance to you. I practice depth psychotherapy and Jungian analysis and treat general emotional and psychological problems, such as anxiety, depression, relationship issues, addiction, career transitions, grief and loss , sexual and sleep disorders. I work with individual adults, couples, and adolescents with diverse backgrounds. I am a Jungian analyst, Marriage and Family Therapist (Lic #MFC 24464) and an Analyst member of the C. G. Jung Institute of San Francisco with over 30 years of clinical experience. My office is in Montclair, Oakland, in the East Bay. In my practice of Jungian psychotherapy, my focus is on unconscious communications from the inner voice. This includes an analysis of issues in life that are blocking the way to being more creative, in service of your vocation and meaning. What actually creates the therapeutic effect in Jungian analysis is the broadening of the personality and deepening of a capacity to relate more authentically to oneself and others, and the Self. This may lead to a therapeutic process that can be healing. As a Jungian analyst, I am passionate about my work and find meaning in helping others become more resilient, related, and alive. I can work interactively with you, provide short term and long-term psychotherapy or analysis and incorporate dream work towards the goal of the healing and resolution of conflicts. I hope to help you fulfill your life-potential, and achieve optimum mental health. In working with couples, I like to work psychodynamically. I take an in-depth look at how the family of origin and parental complexes may be interfering with the healthy functioning of the current partnership, or interpersonal relationship. Sometimes a childhood trauma may be at the root of symptoms that are problematic in the interpersonal dynamics of the couple and getting an understanding of traumatic memories and how they have influenced relational patterns can set up a whole new way of relating to one another. Another important area that I explore in the relationship are the differences in psychological type of each individual and how differences in attitude and type orientation can lead to misunderstandings or complimentarity. In addition, we may talk together about improving communication, intimacy, parenting, and learning how to resolve conflicts and learn how to enjoy being together.  

At Steven Herrmann, Ph.D., MFT, Jungian Analysis and Psychotherapy, I help patients reduce depression and relieve anxiety by focusing on behavioral, emotional, and relational problems and I look at problems from a depth psychological point of view, with a focus on the inner voice, calling, or vocation. One of the basic principles of Jungian analysis is that neurosis is a defense against the creative urge or the will to create. Therefore, helping patients become more creative and motivated in their work is a primary goal of treatment. I am an MFT with a focus on early adulthood, mid-life transition, individual, child, marriage, couples and family-oriented psychotherapy. I work with issues of job dissatisfaction, loss, and bereavement. I bring to my general practice a focus on typical mental health and emotional disorders from childhood to full maturity. One of my goals in Jungian analysis is helping people clarify their vocational choices and examining the meaning of dreams. In addition, I have experience working with gay & lesbian patients. As a Jungian analyst practicing in Montclair, Oakland, in the East Bay, I work with vocational and relational issues via dream work and Journal methods.  

Couples Therapy

Are you looking to achieve better communication in your relationship? Are you wondering why you can no longer speak effectively with the person you fell in love with? Would you like to outgrow dysfunctional patterns of communication and make room for change? If you are seeking to understand why your relationships no longer work and want to learn how to create lasting friendship, I may be of assistance to you. I am a Jungian psychotherapist who has been helping couples create more satisfying relationships and discover meaning in life. Improving communication patterns solves many of life’s problems. I assist couples in achieving better communication skills to arrive at a better understanding of who each person is and how to be more fully oneself. As a psychotherapist, I explore with patients the underlying psychodynamic issues that are causing problems in arriving at mutual understanding. Being understood better means being open to the meaning of complicated emotional patterns, or affect-complexes, which stem from one’s family of origin. 

Dream Work  

Helping patient's find out what dreams mean across the course of an analysis is key to my work. Oftentimes the discovery of a patient's dream language requires the careful keeping of a dream journal. Dreams tend towards a goal. Sometimes their meaning may be vocationally oriented. By paying frequent attention to dreams across many months, a patient may become better attuned to the messages of their authentic Self. Keeping a daily dream log is a way to live a symbolic existence in the Now. A symbolic life forms a central way on our path towards wholeness. When we live a symbolic life the meaninglessness of existence may be transformed into meaning, neurotic symptoms may be significantly minimized, and one may begin to experience true joy and increased relatedness. As a Jungian analyst, I recommend the keeping a dream journal, as reflecting on the meaning of dreams is a way psychological complexes and conflicts can be made conscious in a way that a rational analysis sometimes can't reach. Understanding a patient’s dream language can be a vehicle for better understanding career conflicts and interpersonal problems in relationships, whether in adolescence, early adulthood or at mid-life and beyond.