Jeffrey Young
Becoming a Relationship Therapist
As an enthusiastic student of philosophy and the humanities in my early years, through more than a decade of teaching in the U.S. and abroad, and in my graduate work in couples and family therapy, I have come to regard creating, fostering, and maintaining relationships as the greatest challenge we face as humans — and the greatest opportunity for growth. Collaborating with individuals and couples as they heal and grow is my life’s passion, and I find inspiration in every therapeutic journey I undertake with my clients. I strive to create a safe, balanced, and compassionate space for couples to grow and flourish.
Professional Counseling Background
For the last decade, I have been seeing clients in an outpatient setting as well as in my private practice. I also serve as a Licensed Mental Health Clinician at County of San Diego Psychiatric Hospital, providing acute patient-centered supportive therapy and crisis intervention for the most vulnerable population dealing with mental illness.
In my work as therapist at VA San Diego Healthcare, I collaborated with dozens of veterans and their families as they repaired their relationships, recovered from severe mental illness, and rebuilt trust and intimacy.
I have also worked as a Program Manager and Counselor at McAlister Institute, ensuring that youths at our Teen Recovery Center and three school sites received optimal care for their substance use and co-occurring disorders, whereas with Vista Hill, I provided individual, group, and family therapy for adolescents and adults with substance use and co-occurring disorders and offered psycho-educational services in the community. I continue to volunteer my time and skills as a group leader and counselor with Men’s Center of Los Angeles, helping to coordinate retreats for inner-city youth and their mentors. I have volunteered with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and at Prevencasa, A.C. in Tijuana, providing free community-based counseling.
Professional Therapist Credentials and Training
- Gottman Method Level 2 Trained
- M.A. Marital and Family Therapy, University of San Diego, 2014
- Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist since 2017
- California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
- Emotionally Focused Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- PESI Certified Trauma Professional
- American Society of Addiction Medicine certification
Counseling Philosophy
Reconnecting couples in crisis is my specialty, and helping couples realize their relationship goals is my passion.
I believe that “Your most important relationship is with yourself.” In order to change and grow, we need to foster an attitude of curiosity, acceptance, honesty, and compassion. Life doesn’t come with an owner’s manual: each of us is engaged in a process of discovery and meaning-making. Even with the best intentions, we can make mistakes with harmful consequences, we can lose our way, and sometimes our coping strategies seem only to increase our suffering. Seeking help is an act of courage and the best time is now.
Counseling Style and Strengths
My journey includes lived experience with addiction and mental health challenges, and my style is to come alongside and join with the men and women I am honored to work with as clients and collaborators. I will create a safe, compassionate, understanding space for us to work together, whatever your age, cultural background, spiritual or religious beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, or severity of your challenges.
Beside working with couples using the Gottman Method, I also incorporate Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) which is humanistic and grounded in the science of attachment and interpersonal neurobiology. I also find many clients resonate with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) which is a mindfulness-based approach to mental and physical health.
I excel at creating a space for my clients to feel supported to develop acceptance of experiences beyond our control and take committed action towards living a valued life.
Frequently Asked Questions
Hear From Our Clients
Hear from those who've experienced positive changes through our services.
“Dr. Dana made me feel so seen. I never felt shame for the trauma I’d caused. It was so healthy and helpful to find ways to navigate our conversations.”
“Thank you so much! It exceeded my expectations. You made me feel comfortable and supported.”
“I learned I need to take a 20 minute break when flooded, ask for clarity in facial expressions, use gentle startup and take ownership even if its small.”
“Gave me many tools and insights, I’m excited to implement them.”
“I couldn’t have had a better experience. Dana is so caring and smart and easily helped us navigate through our issues.”
“I learned that I need to ask for my needs and also take a break when I feel flooded.”
“I had an excellent experience, it helped me get clarity and learn valuable tools.”
“Dana was really effective at explaining the research, helping facilitate the conversation with figuring out how to address our biggest challenges.”
“Really pleased with the experience. Absolutely exceeded my expectations.”
“This helped lower the walls in our relationship.”
“Dana is superb, gracious, and kind. We’re very grateful.”
“I gained the clarity I was looking for!”
“Grateful to our extended therapist and her extended time! And of course, her dog!”
“The intensive process and longer sessions are incredibly helpful to push things further and get real work done.”
“The three-day package was necessary to enable the “emotional stretch” and that’s when we saw the best results.”
“This was a much needed intense session but helped promote healing and focus to decide where we go in life together.”
“This was well worth it and I’d definitely do it again!”
“This helped us sit and have uncomfortable conversations that were long overdue.”
“Exhausting but I loved everything about this!”
“This helped us have epiphanies and transformative thoughts.”
“Thank you so much for taking the time to really understand our issues and providing us with all the tools to use when future issues arise.”
“I feel like we have made huge progress on major issues with these three days.”
“Everything made me feel safe and comfortable here.”
“Therapist is great at listening and helping us with communication.”
“Absolutely, it was better than I expected and gave us great tools.”
“Empathetic and responsive.”
“Very accommodative and understanding.”
“I definitely feel Therapy Getaway helped with our relationship goals because it allowed a deeper dive in a structured fashion, with tools to continue improving our relationship.”
“Great session. They know their stuff and is really good at helping us find the language to effectively communicate.”
“They were incredibly instrumental in relating all the tools that my partner and I needed in areas where we struggle.”
“Therapy Getaway absolutely helped our relationship. They were amazing.”
“This was a very beneficial process. Dana made it easy for us to open up about every difficult issue we had been struggling with. We now have good tools.”
“It seemed at first that 2.5 days was long, but it feels so good to be in therapy that I wish it was 3-5 days!”
“Therapy Getaway immensely helped us talk about our problems in a safe place.”
“Dana is very experienced and sensitive to peoples situations and knows how to make you feel comfortable as if you were in your own home.”
“Learned a lot of coping tools. Dana was wonderful.”
