Talk therapy to help you make long-term, meaningful change
Dr. Kassel helps adults and adolescents build the lives they want by identifying and shifting old patterns and discovering new perspectives. He is a clinical psychologist with 30+ years of experience working at some of the country’s leading universities and in private practice.
about DR. KASSEL
Licensed Psychologist, California PSY 21958
Licensed Psychologist, Massachusetts 4816
As a licensed clinical psychologist with over 30 years of experience in clinical practice and training professional therapists, I can help you better understand the origin and solutions for the complex issues you may be encountering. My expertise is in offering effective brief and longer-term evidence-based psychotherapy for adolescents, adults, and couples based on scientifically proven methods.
I received a BA in psychology from UCLA and earned a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Denver. Next, I completed a doctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. I undertook specialized fellowship training in adolescent and family mental health training at Harvard Community Health Plan.
Until 2020, I served at UCLA, training the next generation of mental health professionals to provide the highest quality care in the context of ethical professionalism and a trusting relationship. Before that, I held the same position for 15 years as Training Director at Harvard Medical School/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
I have continuously maintained a private practice in addition to faculty appointments and responsibilities at Harvard Medical School, MIT, and UCLA.
Employment
2007-2018: Director of Training and Chief Administrator, UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services
2018-2020: Senior Staff Psychologist at UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services
1988-2005: Assistant Director of Psychology and Psychology Training & Director of Inpatient Psychology, Harvard Medical School/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
1988-present: Private practice, Boston and Los Angeles
Faculty and other appointments
2008-2020: Assistant Professor of Psychology, UCLA
1986-2011: Assistant Professor of Psychology, Harvard Medical School
2012-2019: Member, American Psychological Association Division 44 Education and Training
2002-2008: Board Member and Vice-President of GLAD
1996-2002: New England Institute for Gay and Lesbian Studies, Faculty and Advisory Committee
1995-1997: Commissioner and Committee Co-Chair, Massachusetts Governor's, Commission for Gay and Lesbian Youth
WhO I CAN HELP
adults & adolescents
Effective talk therapy helps you to gain greater control over your life, improve personal relationships, increase positive emotions as you get relief from distressing emotional issues, and become more engaged in your life at home, work, and school. Therapy can also help you to change lifelong ways of coping that aren't working well right now, and feel freer to derive more pleasure, satisfaction and meaning from your life.
To be effective, therapy has to address your life situation and goals. When you are ready, here are some difficulties I can help you with:
Achieving greater happiness
Improving mood and reducing distress
Lessening anxiety, worry, and other forms of stress
Addressing procrastination
Enhancing your self-esteem and self-image
Improving and strengthening relationships
Decreasing self-defeating thoughts, feelings and actions
Addressing concerns about sexual orientation or identity
Reducing problematic behaviors or habits
Enhancing resilience, emotional control and growth
Clarifying your values and goals increasing your sense of hope about the future
Increasing your sense of hope about the future
mental health Professionals
For over 30 years, I have maintained a private practice and served as a faculty and staff member at UCLA, MIT and Harvard Medical School/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
As director of training programs for psychologists and other mental health professionals in hospital and healthcare settings, I provided education, consultation and clinical supervision to psychologists, psychiatrists, nurses, social workers, and MFTs. These combined professional experiences have helped me develop a breadth of knowledge and expertise in the following two areas.
Psychotherapy Services
Having trained therapists of all kinds for many years, I understand the incredible professional and personal importance and value of one’s own psychotherapy. I specialize in offering these services to mental health professionals, physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. I provide some reduced-fee psychotherapy times available for training mental health professionals (psychologists, psychiatrists, nurses, social workers, and MFTs).
Consultation and Supervision
These services are for mental health professionals seeking an experienced clinician’s perspective and recommendations for treatment, deepen their clinical work, find more effective ways of working with their patients, and developing or growing a successful private practice.
I offer consultation and supervision for psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and masters level therapists. I strive to create a space promoting personal and clinical flexibility and the development of unique clinical voices rather than imposing any one style or ideology. A commitment to multicultural awareness and competence is a cornerstone of my practice. I am a particularly good fit for newer and experienced clinicians seeking guidance in case conceptualization, diagnosis and treatment in complex cases, therapists who are struggling to feel connected to a theoretical orientation, and those interested in some of my areas of specialization.
my approach
The decision to begin psychotherapy is a sign of resilience, self-awareness, and inner strength. Sometimes, the same self-reliance and determination that contribute to our personal, professional, and academic success can get in our way, leaving us feeling isolated and reluctant to reach out for support. Effective talk therapy involves helping you to gain greater control over your life, improve personal relationships, increase positive emotions as you get relief from distressing emotional issues, and become more engaged in your life at home, work, and school. Therapy can also help you change lifelong coping methods that aren't working well right now so you can feel freer to derive more pleasure, satisfaction, and meaning from your life.
I have extensive experience working with those who may feel stuck, sad, demoralized, or increasingly anxious and whose usual ways of coping may not be working well right now. I will listen closely to you, ask questions to promote your curiosity and awareness, offer feedback, support, and insight, and introduce you to skills to help identify and soothe difficult feelings. You'll be encouraged to gradually integrate changes into your daily life to help you move toward the life you want to live.
The evidence-based therapy techniques and perspectives I use are based on methods that are scientifically proven to be effective. I strive to be warm, engaging, collaborative, compassionate, and inclusive. My integrative therapy approach incorporates over thirty years of clinical experience in practicing therapy using insight-oriented, psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and acceptance and commitment perspectives. A powerful form of cognitive behavioral therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an empirically-based treatment that teaches acceptance and mindfulness strategies and commitment to behavior change strategies to increase your psychological flexibility. The goal of ACT is to learn to cope with and accept those inevitably painful moments you face while also creating a rich and meaningful life. ACT helps us feel less "stuck" when we cannot change challenging life circumstances while also empowering us to move forward in ways that leave us feeling less distressed, calmer, and eventually happier in our everyday lives.
I offer brief or longer-term therapy customized to your life situation, interests, and the issues you wish to address. Depending on your goals, the duration of therapy may be short-term or long-term, and the frequency may be weekly or more than once a week. Psychotherapy sessions take place in my Beverly Hills office or via teletherapy (video or phone) and typically last 50 minutes. Teletherapy allows for more flexible ways of meeting. It is helpful when face-to-face sessions cannot occur due to illness, unexpected work and/or travel obligations, childcare needs, or other issues.
See FAQ for information about how psychotherapy can help you.
FAQ
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Adults and adolescents who want help in addressing: sadness and depression, worry and other forms of anxiety; relationship issues; sexual orientation or sexual identity issues; issues faced by gay men, lesbian women, bisexuals and people who are gender non-binary or non-conforming; procrastination; self-esteem; resilience; and increasing your sense of hope about the future.
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Talking things over in a safe and private environment allows you to:
Develop skills to function better and thrive in your life
Better understand of your thoughts, feelings and actions
Identify self-defeating or destructive patterns of behavior
Work on developing more honest relationships to better meet your needs
Lessen the way that the past interferes with the present
Expand your creative potential
With persistence, you should be better able to:
Understand your needs, emotions, reactions more fully and make choices better aligned with your goals and values
Feel better by enhancing your emotional resilience and coping skills, and cope more effectively with the ups and downs in life
Understand and loosen the grip of the past so you can live more fully in the present
Cultivate greater intimacy, happiness and success
Navigate the transitions in your life more successfully
Expand your potential for creativity and innovation
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During a brief phone consultation, I will ask what is leading you to seek therapy now and answer your questions. In this conversation, my goal is to understand if I feel I have the skills to be helpful to you. You will gain the most from a therapist who is a good fit/match for you, so our brief phone call will also help you gain some information about this important factor. If we both agree to go ahead, the next step is to schedule an initial 50 minute consultation appointment.
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After saying hello and getting to know one another, I will help to build your comfort and trust. Topics I will ask about include why you are considering therapy now, your current situation, life, and history, and what concerns or worries you. After developing an understanding of your goals, we will talk about how therapy might help.
If we both agree that I am a good fit for you, we will develop a plan to meet your needs. I will explain our mutual roles and how you can get the most out of your psychotherapy.
You will also have plenty of opportunity during our initial consultation and throughout our collaboration together to ask any questions you have for me.
In some cases, I may not be able to offer the kind or level of care you need. In that situation I will offer you referrals to better options in the community.
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A professional, warm and inclusive collaboration that fosters respect, trust, empathy, and collaboration
A supportive atmosphere that helps you make meaningful changes in your life
Careful listening and attention coupled with compassion and insight
Engaged support with facing the difficult situation(s) you may be in
Honesty about what is important to you
Attention to past and present challenging family, social, cultural and other dynamics
A “person specific”, non-formulaic approach that doesn’t come from a manual or textbook
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Weekly sessions are ideal for most patients, particularly if you are experiencing distress that interferes with important areas of your life like work, school, relationships, or health. On occasion, meetings may take place more frequently. This regularity is especially useful at the start, and assists in maintaining progress from session-to-session. Scientific research demonstrates that improvement happens more quickly in therapy that occurs at least weekly. Research suggests that therapy is less effective when several weeks occur between visits because it’s much harder to follow-up on recent developments, your responses to treatment and therapy goals. Over time, biweekly visits may be appropriate.
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There are many ways people experience change and growth. With persistence in psychotherapy, these can include:
An improvement in your outlook and mood
Less distress and greater hope
Improvements in relationships, work and/or school
Increased intimacy, happiness, and success in your relationships
Expanded self-awareness
Greater comfort within yourself
Fortified self-worth
Reduced anxiety and sadness, and a decrease in self-defeating patterns
Greater emotional resilience with the ups and downs in life
Increased vitality, motivation, and innovation
Greater connection to your values and goals
More success in navigating the transitions in your life
The efficacy and impact of our work will be an ongoing focus of our collaboration.
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Payment is requested via credit card, cash or check at the time of service. I do not bill insurance companies directly. PPO and PSO insurance plans may reimburse you for a portion of the fee. You are responsible for contacting your insurer to understand or clarify your benefits. If you plan to request reimbursement from your insurer, I will provide you with a monthly Superbill indicating your payment and other required information.
I offer reduced-fee psychotherapy for mental health professionals in training (psychologists, psychiatrists, nurses and MFTs) and occasionally to others if I have the availability.
I welcome your call to discuss payment or questions about submitting a request for reimbursement from your insurer.
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Any of these three methods:
Click on this Contact link, and fill in your information.
Call me at 323-599-1300
Email me at doctorkassel@gmail.com. Please include your phone number
Contact
doctorkassel@gmail.com
(323) 599-1300
9777 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 907
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
Parking
The building offers valet parking accessed from S. Santa Monica Blvd. From S. Santa Monica Blvd., turn south on N. Linden Dr.
On-street metered parking is available on S. Linden Dr., north or south of Wilshire Blvd. The distance to 9777 Wilshire Blvd. is 1 block. Street parking is accessed via S. Santa Monica Blvd., Wilshire Blvd., or Charleville Blvd.
Beverly Hills public parking structure SM-5 is located nearby. The distance to the building is 1-2 blocks. To enter this structure, from S. Santa Monica turn north on Roxbury Dr. Pay for parking at the machine located on the ground or roof level. The west side of this structure is closest to my office.