Hey there, thanks for coming to find my page. 

I’m Dain Dorsey and I am a psychotherapist. 

Here is a little bit About Me, and how it informs What I Do:

I would consider my soft start in the field of social services as a teenager, working as a tutor, camp counselor, and eventually a classroom teacher. I grew a lot, developing skills around being patient and supportive. It became very apparent that everyone learns and grows in different ways, and at different rates.

These years led up to my first bout of college. I had the intentions of pursuing a degree in Engineering, as a self-identified math and rational type. During this time though, like many of us in our early 20s, I started to quickly change. I entered a period of questioning, hesitation, and doubt with where life was taking me. I withdrew from college, and did some soul searching.

Journalling became an important part of my self-discovery journey. If you haven’t tried it yet, I would highly recommend it. Journalling challenges us to put thoughts into words, or drawings. This sort of fluency leads to better self-knowing. This is a great starting place for depth work.

Over time, though, it became obvious I had certain limitations in developing new insights or world views - I had blind spots. I was fortunate enough to find support through therapy and mentors. Having a place to bounce off ideas, thoughts, and fears with trusted others allowed me to deepen and stretch my exploration, in trying to solve a quarter-life crisis.

Combined with assorted odd jobs, relationships, and experiences, I was able to refine my mission, calling me towards the mental health field. It was an area of life I considered personally meaningful, intellectually challenging, and socially/culturally important.

So, in returning to school to pursue a Master’s of Arts in Psychology from Antioch University Los Angeles, I also began working with clients in a psychotherapeutic setting. Initially, I worked in a community health setting with low income clients, on a “sliding scale” payment model. This included individuals, couples and families from the greater Los Angeles area. A majority of my work was what I would consider low-risk depression, anxiety, and relational problems.

Eventually, I sought new types of work and transitioned into Dual Diagnosis; the intersectionality of mental illness and substance abuse. Clients here were more medium to high risk. I worked in halfway homes, detoxes, PHP, and IOP programs during the (still ongoing) opioid epidemic. While absolutely challenging, I found myself willing, able, and driven. I worked with individuals, couples, families, and ran varying treatment groups routinely. I gained a lot of dynamic wisdom, and sharpened my craft during my 5+ years in this part of the field that I will always be grateful for. 

Nowadays, I reside in San Diego, and work with clients California-wide with all kinds of mental, emotional, social, or spiritual challenges. Depression, Anxiety, Grief, Anger, Apathy, Loneliness, Fear, Shame, Paranoia, Relational Issues, Career Issues, Purpose and Meaning.

While problems are widely diverse and subjective, I believe we have fundamentally similar needs and goals:

•to feel safe, healthy, and confident in our bodies and environments.

•to feel loved and connected to the people and world around us. 

•to find activity and purpose that is sufficiently challenging, interesting, and meaningful.

•to be at peace and find joy.*

*(I would say loosely, this is my operating system)

I consider myself to be philosophical, non-traditional and humorous by nature, but look to boil things down into simplified, pragmatic, and actionable wisdoms.

Ultimately, I want to see people succeed in their ventures, and I see my therapist role as playing the part of a guide, an ally, or sometimes, just a witness. In my work, I look to explore the past, clarify goals, understand obstacles, and empower people forward.

Thanks for reading and best of luck.

CREDENTIALS

More about me…

Yikes.. its difficult walking a line of limited self disclosure. But I wanted to share a few more things about myself as they may help explain how I understand and process information, and how it might be useful for you.

Gaming and internet culture

Since the days of dial up, I had an instant fascination for puzzles, riddles, and particularly, games. I just find them tremendously stimulating: theory, deduction, strategy, competition, teamwork, probabilities, luck. As a self-identified thinking type, it gave me a lot to think about.

Online gaming was an instant attraction, and a large part of my adolescence. Playing with real life friends, and eventually online friends, it created a new platform for social relationships, with unique dynamics. Being a part of this community has led me to thinking outside the box (or in this case, inside the inner box?). It’s been fascinating to watch this new, invisible sub-culture make it’s way into the mainstream in the short span of my lifetime.

Working as a therapist, a client’s stuckness is a bit of a puzzle to me. I try to deconstruct and understand who you are. I look for patterns or reoccurring themes. What is working, and what is not? If you are not reaching your desired potential, with genuine curiosity and love, I want to understand why. How can we improve your game?

Fire and Flow Arts

A subculture in its own right, fire and flow arts is a movement based art form I have been a part of for over 10 years. It can be technical, performative, mischievous, and scary at times. But I ultimately fell in love with it because, for me, it became a tool for self-expression.

Psychotherapy is essentially self-expression through the medium of language (talking). However, we communicate in many ways. Through passions, activities and hobbies, we are communicating something important about ourselves.

I have worked with all sorts of artists, athletes, tinkerers, collectors, animal/plant lovers, gamers.. the list goes on. Whether you are professional or amateur is of little consequence. I find that learning about your relationship with your activities and interests reveal important parts of who you are. I emphasize a non-judgemental environment so I can truly get to know what you’re about.