| Practice Info: |
Gil Shepard has been licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist since 1976. Gil is a specialist in Trauma, Dissociative Disorders, PTSD, sex abuse from childhood and relationship counseling - straight, gay, business; any type of relationship.
Trauma is the root of many emotional and psychological problems, such as addictions, anxiety, depression, panic attacks, PTSD, and problems in relationships. I have special training, expertise and experience in all these areas.
A Big "T" trauma is life threatening: sex abuse, rape, sexual molestation, childhood neglect, being beaten, or being in a Tsunami, a devastating earthquake or other natural calamity.
A small "t" trauma is something that overwhelms you and can interfere with your life. Examples are losing a loved one, knowing someone who suicides, being shamed by a grade school teacher and feeling you are stupid, being verbally or physically abused, being teased for being poor by classmates, or being fired from a job or other events that overwhelm you.
Traumas are especially painful and damaging when they occur in early childhood or when they are repeated. They can be devastating. Traumas stick in the recesses of your mind, often hidden from consciousness but they drain your energy and ability to function fully in life. They can come out as anger, depression, panic attacks, and more.
You may find that the skilled use of EMDR, EFT and sometimes hypnosis (to find the roots of trauma) can leave you free for the first time in your life. Of course you will also need a calm, supportive, experienced and alert presence to help you as you do this work. And you will want to become free of the effects of trauma without becoming retraumatized by the process. My goal is to provide these to help you experience freedom, flexibility and to live a life with meaning, genuine love, and joy.
Since I have been licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist in 1976, most of my work has been with people who had complex problems such as multiple abuses, severe dissociation (Multiple Personality Disorder, now called Dissociative Identity Disorder) and complex family and interpersonal issues.
I use a lot of alternative methods to avoid the toxicity of medication whenever possible. Such methods include:
* Aromatherapy
* Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR)
* Hypnosis
* EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique)
* Specific techniques designed to calm you quickly, almost instantaneously
I am also connected with a variety of excellent holistic practitioners as well - Cranial Sacral Chiropractic, Acupuncture and homeopathic.
Please don't hesitate to call me to get more information or for a FREE telephone consultation:
• Call me at 925 937 3337
• Email me 24/7 |
| Bio: |
I grew up in a little farming and fishing village way out on Long Island, NY where I loved the Bays and the Ocean. I have always loved nature and hike often, preferably near water or Mountains (none of them on Long Island.)
Everyone I meet teaches me something. This includes my children from when they were very little. I remember one who taught me to be softer. I had learned to be tough like I thought the Native Americans were that I studied in school. But that meant I couldn't connect to him because my eyes were to hard. One day by a lemon tree he came to me, looked at my hardness and walked away. Immediately I knew why, but I had to work to change it or I knew I couldn't be close to this little 4 year old. It was hard work but I did learn to be open to him - and others.
When I studied to be a Catholic priest I was very active outside the seminary. One summer I did Community Organizing on the West Side of Chicago. It was said to be a dangerous area and that I could not achieve anything with "those" people. It was a very depressed ghetto area and my job was to somehow get strangers who lived alienated from each other in crowded duplexes to work together.
So I decided that any change I saw would be an achievement. The people saw this white kid walking down the street and by the third day I heard, "I could tell by the way you walked by that you weren't selling insurance and that you were OK.!" What a thrill I had. Then I knew I could help them make changes.
They did organize and do a project that involved the whole block. Each week different people on a different block determined their project and did it!
.
In one block they decided to clean up the street and back alley. But one sharp 14 year old girl said there was no place for kids to play, or even be. From the energy created between Roy Wilkins ( my partner) and me in a dark living room these folks did the impossible. Oh, they did clean up the block that week. But after that they got the city of Chicago to dig up a parking lot the City had just paved and got the City to put in a play ground with earth and swings! And they did this on their own after we left! What a thrill to see this the next summer when I visited!
All the people needed was hope, a clear goal, trust in each other, and they succeeded. And that is how I see therapy. Develop hope, clear goals and the safety to try new ways of being. And I get a thrill when my clients succeed in doing that. |
| Education/Training: |
Certified in Hypnosis, 1980
Certified in the treatment of Alcohol and Drug Addiction, 1989
Certified in EMDR (Completed Part I and Part II of training), 2004
Certified in the Treatment of Dissociative Disorders, 2002
Certified in Breema (bodywork), 1981
Certified in Ortho-Bionomy (bodywork), 1980
Advanced Training in (EFT) Emotional Freedom Technique |
