About Scott Menasco, PhD, LMFT

I work with adults that struggle with anxiety, attachment related issues, cptsd and relationship patterns that keep repeating. My work with attachment is not just which “style” someone has, but how early relationships continue to shape the way you connect, react, and protect yourself now.

How I came to this work

My path to this work wasn’t direct. I was studying construction and unhappy, without a clear sense of what else I wanted. Then I broke my collarbone playing a sport, and during that forced pause I was introduced to Buddhist thought. I started meditating.

Not long after, I spent three months as a volunteer wildlife ranger in South Africa. The work was difficult and at times dangerous. Afterward I went to Nepal for nearly six months, teaching English in a village and at a Buddhist monastery at the foot of Swayambhunath. In my free time I wandered the bookstores in Kathmandu’s tourist district, reading Jungian psychology alongside Buddhist philosophy, and realized I wanted to study both. Around then I met a man staying at Pema Osel Ling, a monastery just up the hill, who told me about the California Institute of Integral Studies, one of the few schools where I could bring the two together. I eventually completed my doctorate there, exploring intersections between consciousness, Buddhist philosophy and mental health.

How I work now

My approach is relational and attachment-focused. In addition to treating symptoms on their own, we look at how early relationships shaped the patterns you live with now, and how those patterns show up in the present, including in the room with me. We also work with the self-critical and protective parts of you, and with emotions that have been hard to feel or express. I pay attention to what’s happening in your body and in the relationship between us, alongside more reflective work. We also explore your reactions and patterns that show up in your current relationships.

Many of the people I see have done therapy before and are looking for something that goes further than coping strategies.

I also host Thresholds of Consciousness, a podcast and YouTube channel featuring conversations with scholars and clinicians on psychology, contemplative traditions, and dreams. If you’d like a sense of how I think before we meet, it’s a good place to start.

What I specialize in

–     Anxiety, overthinking, and emotional overwhelm

–     Self-criticism, shame, and chronic self-doubt

–  Attachment patterns and relational wounds

–     Codependency and recovery

–     Developmental and complex trauma

–     Religious trauma and shame-based conditioning

–     Dreamwork, integrating dreams as a living dimension of the therapeutic process

–     Transpersonal psychology including integration of contemplative practices into daily life.

Background

I am a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a Ph.D. and advanced training in integrative, experiential, and trauma-informed approaches.

My doctoral research explored consciousness and the nature of mind through Buddhist contemplative philosophy, an inquiry that informs how I think about well-being at its deepest levels.

My clinical training includes work in developmental trauma and attachment, experiential and somatic methods, inner child and parts work, and transpersonal and depth-oriented psychology.

I work with individuals online throughout California, and in person in Petaluma.

Getting started

If you are considering therapy, I invite you to reach out for a free consultation. This gives us a chance to connect, talk about what is bringing you in, and see if working together feels like a good fit.