Aaron Freshour MA, LMFT
OTHERMESSAGE THERAPY
Serving the Los Angeles, Hollywood, Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Highland Park, and Downtown L.A. communities
"All that you touch You Change. All that you Change Changes you. The only lasting truth is Change."
- Octavia Butler
Welcome
Existing can be difficult. Everyone has their own particular need and reasons for seeking help at any given time. Whether it's to discover more about yourself, to heal from specific past/present traumas, to change certain behaviors and/or relationships patterns; your willingness to connect is a powerful step in the process of growth and healing. I look forward to continuing the journey with you.
Services
Individual Therapy
Adult, Adolescent
Monogamous, Non-monogamous, polyamorous, and all non-normative relationship forms.
Couple/Relationship Therapy
Clinical Areas of Focus/Interest
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LGBTQ+ Continuum
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Highly Sensitive Persons
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Borderline Personality Spectrum / Complex PTSD / Trauma
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Black Indigenous and People of Color Oppression / Antiracism
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Life Transitions
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Anger and Conflict
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Anxiety
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Grief / Death
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Mood Disorders and Depression
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Relationship Issues
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Sex and Intimacy
Education:
B.F.A. School of The Art Institute of Chicago
M.A. Antioch University, Los Angeles
Post-Graduate Training:
Maple Counseling Center
Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis Los Angeles - Extension Program 2020-2021
AEDP Institute New York
My standard fee is $200 per 45minute session and $250 per 60 minute individual/Relationship-couples session.
For those in financial need, I do have a limited number of reduced fee slots, priority given to Black, Indigenous POC/LGBTQ+ community.
Free 20 minute Consult
About
Therapy is an inherently relational experience where the relationship itself, and all that happens within it, is where transformation occurs. I collaborate with couples/relationships and individuals to find areas of pain and suffering that require healing. In my work, I focus on creating change and growth through increasing the resilience that is already within. Using my intuition and evidence-based techniques, I aim to create new experiences that encourage and develop new ways of being and experiencing life.
I have long been intrigued by my influence on the world around me and vice versa. As a clinician, I continuously question systems of contemporary society and existing mental health structures when working with clients. This stems from my tenure in the art world where my passion for conceptual art and people's emotional experiences within systems of oppression informed my decision to study psychology from a social justice perspective. Rather than take the view of an all-knowing therapist, I utilize my authentic personhood in relation to yours in order to help facilitate the change you seek. This stance creates a space for a transformative process that involves room to explore how social identities, past traumas, and relationships with the self and others coalesce to create the psyches and character structures we have and are choosing to change.
I have previous and ongoing training in LGBTQ+ Affirmative psychology, Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy, Existential, Object Relations, and Psychodynamic theory. All of these are used to varying degrees to find the safest and most empowering pathways to explore how your history influences the present, how your character can transform, and how you have the power to change your destiny.
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More
Highly Sensitive Persons/ Sensory Processing Sensitivity
High sensitivity is highly researched trait found in over 20% of the population as well as over 100 other species. This trait causes people to deeply process sensory information resulting in highly empathic, conscientious, and attuned people that are often overlooked in modern society. People with this trait are often prone to anxiety and depression due to years of being misunderstood and having to cope with the overwhelm and overstimulation of their powerful nervous systems picking up subtle details of the world. Take the test and find out if you are a HSP!
LGBT Affirmative Psychology
LGBTQ+ affirmative psychotherapy emphasizes the importance of all the parts of the self that may have been mishandled or stigmatized while growing up queer in a heteronormative society. This non-judgmental stance allows for those pieces to be explored, appreciated, and lifted up to be considered gifts. This stance is used with anyone who feels they were not part of the dominant norms of society, be it through race, sexuality, gender, etc. Affirmative psychotherapy allows an individual to comfortably step into their identity with less pressure from the social identities placed upon them by society.
Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy
AEDP is a mind-body psychotherapy technique with roots in neuropsychology, affect theory, attachment theory. The model uses experiential exercises to process and heal deep attachment trauma through the therapeutic relationship by creating new and transformative experiences with a safe and secure base. The new experiences create new neural pathways reducing the overwhelming aloneness often felt from old wounds, creating relational healing.
Existential/Relational Psychology
Existential psychodynamic theory seeks to uncover the unconscious roots that drive our patterns of behavior that are limiting us In how we are dealing with the human condition: isolation, meaninglessness, mortality, and freedom. Relational therapy uses the therapeutic dyad to explore the dynamics of the relationship to facilitate insight and change.
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Free 20-minute consultation to find out more.