Jerry Soucy, Ph.D.

My name is Jerry G. Soucy, Ph.D., and I have offered professional psychotherapy and counseling services to clients in the Orange County and Los Angeles County areas since 1979. I have been trained in human behavior and effective ways of helping people through my two graduate degree programs and four internships.

The focus in my practice is to help people:

identify specific causes for problems in daily living;
form realistic strategies to deal with life’s challenges;
change problem behaviors, habits, and thoughts;
improve emotional health;
deal more effectively with stressful situations;
create more positive relationships; and
improve with their problems of depression and anxiety.

As a licensed psychologist in private practice for more than 30 years, I have been able to offer a wide range of help to over 1000 clients in their efforts to make their professional and personal lives more satisfying, productive, and healthier.

I have advanced training and experience in working with adults as well as couples and families. My training background is in the area of cognitive-behavioral theory and therapy, which serves as a guide for clients to examine how problematic thoughts, emotions, and behavioral patterns interact and interfere with one’s life. While it is true that expressing one’s feelings can be helpful, in itself this does not necessarily lead to improvement. In addition, developing insight into the origins of one’s problems, although helpful, doesn’t lead to significant, practical improvement. Research studies do show that clients improve more rapidly and for longer periods of time if they consistently and systematically apply targeted therapeutic strategies in their daily lives.

Some of the more common therapeutic strategies I incorporate into treatment include strategies to learn to:

respond to negative, self-defeating thoughts with alternative, more positive and practical ideas;
breakdown overwhelming problems into manageable ones, prioritizing them, and learning to make decisions about what to do first;
conquer fear by actually doing things you’ve been afraid of trying;
assert yourself in a variety of professional and personal situations (learning to say no appropriately; learning to ask effectively for what you want);
improve one’s social effectiveness (i.e. talking in front of groups of people);
manage skills of intimacy that allow trust as well as boundary setting to be valued and established.
Specific treatment problem areas include:

Anxiety & Panic Disorders
Assertiveness Deficits
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD)
Bipolar or Manic Depression
Depression
Grief and Loss Issues
Marital or Relationship problems
Insomnia
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Parenting difficulties
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Schizophrenia
Self-Esteem Issues

Clinical services are available by appointment to adults 18 years or older. I am on most insurance panels for mental health including: Aetna; Anthem Blue Cross; Blue Shield of California; Cigna Behavioral Health; Great-West; Magellan; Managed Health Network; Medicare; Pacificare PPO; Private Health Care Systems; United Behavioral Health; Value Options; Beacon Health; and HealthNet.