Counseling for Men

Help for those who are high achievers but struggle on the inside with anxiety and trauma. 

Anxiety Therapist Oakland Lara Clayman standing outdoors, denim jacket, smiling face, brown hair

Maybe you’ve spent years in your head wondering if something might be wrong with you. (And you’re starting to wonder if counseling for men could actually help.)

On the outside, things look okay. You’ve kept your life together—managed to show up for work, relationships, responsibilities. Maybe you’ve even built a version of success. But under the surface? There’s a disconnect. A quiet, constant hum of something’s not right. “I don’t know who I am… and I’m afraid of what I’ll find if I look too closely.”

You’ve been thinking about therapy for men for years. You’ve probably even researched it, maybe made it halfway through a contact form before shutting the browser. You’re not sure what you're looking for, but you’re sure something’s got to change.

Maybe you’ve told yourself:

  • “I should be able to figure this out.”

  • “Other people have it worse.”

  • “This is just how I am.”

But underneath all that logic is something quieter—and more honest:

“I don’t feel okay. And I don’t want to feel this way forever.”

Therapy for Men Who Are Tired of Living in Their Heads

You want more than just functioning. You want meaning. Creativity. Connection. The ability to feel your emotions without fear that they'll overwhelm or destroy you. You want to feel like your life is yours—not just a performance, not just survival. You may also carry an unspoken fear - “What if I look inside… and there’s something wrong with me? This fear doesn’t make you broken. It means you’ve been carrying pain alone for a long time. Maybe since childhood. Maybe from a past you’ve done everything to outrun. Maybe from a home that never felt safe.

You don’t need fixing. You need space to heal.

For years, you’ve put your feelings on the backburner. You learned how to analyze instead of feel. You shut down anger because you were scared it would make you like your dad. You avoided vulnerability because it never felt safe.

And now? You feel lost and exhausted. You want to feel more present and stop second-guessing every emotion, every decision. You want to stop wondering if you're too much or not enough. You want to know who you are—without the fear that the answer will confirm your worst thoughts about yourself.

Starting Therapy for Men Can Feel Scary—That’s a Sign You Care

Calling a therapist isn’t easy. You’re handing your most private thoughts and fears to someone you don’t know—and hoping they won’t flinch. It’s normal to feel nervous, uncertain, or afraid of the unknown - what if you don’t have control or you’ll say too much?

Therapy doesn’t have to feel clinical or detached. It can feel deeply human. Rooted in our relationship, built on trust, you won’t be treated like a diagnosis or a set of symptoms. You won’t be asked to justify why your pain, but invited to explore it safely. All of you will be welcomed with compassion, not questioned.

How I Help: Therapy for Men in the Bay Area

I work with men who are navigating trauma, numbness, and the deep fear that they’re fundamentally flawed. My clients are often thoughtful, insightful, and high-functioning—and also feel completely disconnected from themselves. Therapy can help you reconnect—to yourself, your relationships, your purpose—and give you language and tools for things you may not have had space to explore before. You don’t have to justify your pain. If something feels off, that’s reason enough to reach out.

My clients come to me feeling like they’ve been carrying something alone for a long time (even their partners or children have no idea what they have lived through…) and they’re ready to see what life could be like with real support.

In our work together, we’ll:

  • Gently unpack past experiences, not just the timeline—but the emotional imprint they left.

  • Explore anger, grief, fear, and shame in a way that feels safe and steady.

  • Learn how emotions aren’t dangerous—they’re data that’s there to protect you.

  • Build tools for self-reflection that don’t involve overthinking or self-judgment.

You’ll begin to reconnect with the parts of yourself you’ve shut away. Not just to “heal”—but to reclaim who you are.

This Work Is Deep—And You Don’t Have to Do It Alone

Yes, we’ll go deep. But we’ll go at your pace. This isn’t about forcing revelations or reliving trauma for the sake of it. It’s about creating space for the truth of your experience to emerge, gently, and with support.

We’ll hold space for:

  • The version of you that’s still grieving what you never got.

  • The version of you that’s scared of what you might find inside.

  • And the version of you that wants to believe that healing is possible—even if you don’t fully believe it yet.

I invite you to reach out if any part of this message landed—if something inside is telling you “this might be what I need”. Let’s start with a free 15-minute phone consultation to see if we’re a good fit. No pressure. No commitment. Just a conversation.

Get started with therapy for men in the Bay Area - it can change your life.

 

Frequently Asked Questions About Anxiety Therapy in Oakland

  • Yes—and no. The emotions are universal, but men are often taught to disconnect from them starting very early on. If you struggle to identify emotions or feel very familiar with only a few (anger, sadness, love), that is totally okay.

    We will start where you are at. I will guide you toward identifying and putting language toward your emotions, identifying how they feel in your body and processing them without getting pulled under.

  • Completely okay. Most of my clients (regardless of gender identity) come in not knowing what they truly need. They just know things have gotten harder and they haven’t been unable to feel better on their own.

    We will explore what you need from therapy and in life. This exploration will be at the center of our work together.

  • That’s a really common concern, especially for men who may not have had many spaces where deep emotional honesty felt welcome—or safe. If you’re worried that once you start talking, things might come pouring out faster than you can manage, you’re not alone.

    Therapy isn’t about forcing you to talk about everything all at once. In fact, one of the most important parts of therapy is pacing. You get to decide what you share, when you share it, and how deep you want to go. I’ll follow your lead. If something feels too raw or too big to unpack right away, that’s okay—we can pause, shift focus, or simply acknowledge that it’s there without diving in.

    Sometimes, people worry they’ll regret being “too open” or “too emotional.” But here’s the truth: it takes real strength to be honest about what you're carrying. And in therapy, you're not doing it alone. We create a space where your story—however much of it you choose to share—is treated with respect and care, not judgment.

    You are always in control. I’m here to help you feel more grounded, not more overwhelmed. So if you’re feeling hesitant, that’s actually a really thoughtful place to start.

  • Nope. Therapy doesn’t come with a script, and you won’t be expected to dive into your past on day one—or ever—unless that feels right for you.

    We will start wherever you are. Sometimes that means exploring the past because certain patterns or pain points have roots that go way back. But other times, the focus is simply on how to get through the week, manage stress, improve a relationship, or stop feeling stuck in the same loop.

    Many men come into therapy unsure if they’re “doing it right” or worried that they’ll be pressured to relive painful memories before they’re ready. That’s not how I work. If all we do at first is figure out how to show up and stay present today, that’s more than enough.

    And if the past does come up, we go at your pace. You’re in control of what gets shared and when. Therapy isn’t about opening old wounds just for the sake of it—it’s about helping you feel stronger, more grounded, and more able to handle whatever’s in front of you.

    Whether you’re ready to dig deep or just need help getting through the next few days, we’ll start from your starting line.

  • This comes up a lot—especially for men. If you’re not in a full-blown crisis, it can be easy to wonder: Do I really need therapy? Am I just being dramatic? Should I just tough it out?

    Here’s the truth: therapy isn’t just for people who are falling apart. It’s also for people who are functioning on the outside but feel disconnected, numb, stuck, or unsure of what’s next. If you're feeling flat or like you're just going through the motions, that’s not nothing. That’s your inner world trying to get your attention.

    You don’t have to hit a breaking point to benefit from therapy. In fact, some of the most meaningful work happens when we give ourselves permission to look at what’s beneath the surface before it boils over.

    So if you're feeling “off” but can’t quite put your finger on why, or you’re just not feeling much of anything at all—that’s enough. You’re enough. And you're not wasting anyone’s time by exploring what’s going on.

  • Aren’t we all? That fear makes a lot of sense. The idea of looking inward—especially if you’ve spent years pushing things down or powering through—can feel intimidating, even risky. Many men carry the weight of old experiences that were never talked about, let alone processed. So of course it can feel unsettling to imagine what might come up if you start opening the door.

    Here’s what’s important to know: therapy isn’t about ripping that door open. It’s about gently exploring what you’re ready for—at a pace that feels manageable, and always with your full consent.

    Nothing happens in our sessions without your say-so. You are not going to be ambushed by your emotions, nor will I ever push you into places you’re not ready to go. We can acknowledge the fear, hold space for it, and even talk about the fear of uncovering things before we ever talk about the things themselves.

    Some people never feel the need to go deep into past wounds—and that’s okay. Others find that naming and understanding what’s been buried actually brings relief and clarity. Either way, you decide what gets explored and when.

    Your nervous system gets to stay in the driver’s seat. Our work together is about creating a sense of safety and trust so that, over time, you can feel more grounded, more present, and more in control of your life. Whether we focus on managing day-to-day stress or untangling deeper patterns, the goal is always to help you feel better—more like yourself—and to support the kind of life you want to be living.

  • Yes. I work with men who have experienced childhood abuse—whether that abuse was physical, emotional, sexual, or a combination of these. And I want to acknowledge something important up front: just asking this question takes courage. Many male survivors carry deep pain, shame, or confusion around their experiences, and it can feel overwhelming to even begin to talk about it.

    If you’re a man who went through abuse as a child, you may have been taught—explicitly or implicitly—to tough it out, to minimize what happened, or to believe that "it’s in the past, so it shouldn’t affect me now." But those early experiences can shape how you relate to yourself, others, and the world around you—and they often show up in ways that are confusing or painful in adulthood. Therapy can be a place to begin untangling those patterns in a way that feels safe, steady, and on your terms.

    If you’re worried about being judged or retraumatized by therapy, that’s a valid concern. Many male survivors have never had a safe place to talk about what they’ve been through. My approach is built around consent, safety, and choice. You never have to share anything before you’re ready, and we will always move at a pace that feels right to you.

  • That’s something I hear often. If a past experience with therapy left you feeling frustrated, unseen, or like it didn’t go anywhere—that’s completely valid. Not all therapy is the same nor feels helpful, especially if the approach or connection wasn’t the right fit.

    Sometimes people are expected to open up too quickly, or the work focuses on things that don’t actually feel relevant. Therapy should feel like a space where your experience makes sense, where you set the pace, and where the process feels useful—not forced.

    A lot of guys walk into therapy already feeling unsure if they’re “doing it right”—then leave feeling like nothing really changed.

    A lot of men walk into therapy already feeling unsure if they’re “doing it right”—then leave feeling like nothing really changed. Gender norms can make it harder for men to fully engage in therapy, especially if they’ve been taught to stay guarded, avoid vulnerability, or believe they should just figure things out on their own.

    If you’re open to giving it another try, we can talk about what didn’t work last time and what might be different this time around. A good therapy experience honors where you are coming from. It should feel steady, respectful, and supportive—and ultimately help you feel more grounded and in control of your life.

  • Yes, your privacy is taken seriously. Everything you share in therapy is kept confidential, with a few rare legal exceptions—like safety concerns—which I’ll walk you through clearly in our first session.

    My goal is to create a space where you feel safe to talk freely, knowing that your story stays between us. If you ever have questions about confidentiality, you’re always welcome to ask.

  • It’s completely normal to feel unsure or hesitant about starting therapy. Many people worry they need to be “ready” or have everything figured out before reaching out for support, but therapy is a place for exploration—a sense of curiosity about yourself and your experiences is enough to begin the process.

    Often, simply beginning to explore your thoughts and emotions can lead to fresh insights and healing. If you’re questioning your readiness, know that it’s not about being fully prepared—you just need an openness to curiosity, personal growth, and trusting the process.

 

Get started with therapy for men in the Bay Area - it can change your life.