William Jones, MFT
License #39857
“The future is always beginning now.” — Mark Strand
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William Jones, MFT
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Training: B.A. Sociology: Tufts University M.A. Psychology: Golden Gate University End of Life Counselor Training: Metta Institute Somatic Experiencing Level I Training Hakomi Professional Training Insight Meditation Training/Practice
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Experience & Specialties: Depression Anxiety and Trauma Relationship Concerns LGBTQ Issues End of Life Grief Chronic/Critical Illness During more than 25 years of clinical work experience, I have performed psychotherapy, psychological assessments, and case management duties for several agencies and in a school setting, and have amassed a range of experience with which to assist my clients. I have worked with adults, adolescents, and families from a variety of cultural backgrounds. In addition to my private practice, I currently serve as Vice President of Programs for Hope Solutions. www.hopesolutions.org From 2013-2015, I was a clinician, I developed an intern program and I supervised intern therapists at The Well Clinic in San Francisco. www.wellsanfrancisco.com From 2010-2013, I provided direct clinical support to formerly homeless families at Hope Solutions, where I also supervised intern therapists. www.hopesolutions.org From 2005-2011, I created and managed a mental health program at the former Marin AIDS Project which served people with HIV/AIDS and others affected by these diseases. I completed an intensive training with The Metta Institute's End of Life Care Practitioner Program to work with people who are critically ill and in the process of dying. www.mettainstitute.org
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Therapeutic Style: Having worked in the field of mental health since 1996, I have acquired training and experience to work with chronic and critical illness, grief, trauma and PTSD, mood disorders, anxiety, LGBT concerns as well as issues for individuals who identify as queer or are questioning, couples counseling and alternative family issues, as well as addiction and recovery. I operate from Somatic/Mindfulness, Object Relations, and Cognitive-Behavioral orientations, depending on your needs. I also have provided clinical supervision to trainee and intern psychotherapists since 2005. When we work together, my primary goal is for you to have safe space to examine issues, problems, or areas in your life you hope to change. I help you pay attention to your internal dialogues and stories about yourself that affect your thoughts, feelings, and behavior in daily life. I use techniques from insight meditation and Somatic Psychology to help you improve your connection to feeling states and intuition which can arise from within your body, and which can have a tremendous impact on your healing. I can also work with you to examine early and pivotal relationships you have had, so you learn to see and shift patterns of communication and behavior in your current romantic, work, family, or other relationships. Together, we can create a plan to learn from your strengths while supporting lasting changes in your life.
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The following is a brief list of books I and my clients have found helpful: End of Life/Grief: Pauline W. Chen: Final Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality Joan Didion: The Year of Magical Thinking Scott Eberle: The Final Crossing: Learning to Die in Order to Live Andrew Holleran: Grief Stephen Levine: Meetings At The Edge: Dialogues with the Grieving and the Dying, the Healing and the Healed Christine Longaker: Facing Death & Finding Hope David Rieff: Swimming In A Sea Of Death Mindfulness: Angeles Arrien: The Four-Fold Way Bhante Henepola Gunaratana: Mindfulness In Plain English Jon Kabat-Zinn: Full Catastrophe Living Jack Kornfield: A Path With Heart David Kundtz: Quiet Mind: One Minute Retreats from a Busy World
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THE GUEST HOUSE This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they are a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice. meet them at the door laughing and invite them in. Be grateful for whatever comes. because each has been sent as a guide from beyond. -- Jelaluddin Rumi, translation by Coleman Barks
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Hurricane It didn’t behave like anything you had ever imagined. The wind tore at the trees, the rain fell for days slant and hard. The back of the hand to everything. I watched the trees bow and their leaves fall and crawl back into the earth. As though, that was that. This was one hurricane I lived through, the other one was of a different sort, and lasted longer. Then I felt my own leaves giving up and falling. The back of the hand to everything. But listen now to what happened to the actual trees; toward the end of that summer they pushed new leaves from their stubbed limbs. It was the wrong season, yes, but they couldn’t stop. They looked like telephone poles and didn’t care. And after the leaves came blossoms. For some things there are no wrong seasons. Which is what I dream of for me. -Mary Oliver
© 2015
