About me
The world of emotions has a powerful language of its own, often hiding in plain sight beneath the words that we speak. From a young age, I was drawn to psychology, a field that helped me find words to describe that invisible world of experience I longed to understand as a kid. Now I have the privilege of helping others find ways to understand their own emotional worlds and work through the emotional blocks that keep them stuck.
During my graduate training, I found that depth therapies such as psychodynamic and Existential-Humanistic approaches were particularly helpful in comprehending aspects of psychology that are more elusive. Depth therapies differ from many mainstream therapies (such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) in their recognition that as people, we are complex. Because of our complexity, it is important to have an attuned witness to illuminate the deeper, less obvious layers of our experience and help us see ourselves with greater clarity.
For the past decade, I’ve had the great privilege of working and consulting with renowned E-H therapists Orah Krug, Kirk Schneider, Nader Shabahangi, and Sonja Saltman (pictured above at an EHI training) at the Existential-Humanistic Institute (EHI). I’ve had the honor of serving as an instructor, consultant, and I recently served a three-year term as the Clinical Training Director.
I have also spent the past ten years honing my skills in leading therapy groups for men. I am a graduate of The Psychotherapy Institute’s year-long Group Psychotherapy Training and am a Certified Group Psychotherapist through the American Group Psychotherapy Association. I am passionate about group work, largely based on my own powerful healing experiences in groups. As a mentor of mine says, “we’re wounded in groups, and we need to heal in groups.” The potential for healing familial wounds and relational patterns is profound in long-term group therapeutic work. Find out more about my groups here; you can also visit my group website here.
I have specialized training working with unresolved wounds from childhood, complex trauma, anxiety, and relational conflicts. While I work with people from various age groups and backgrounds, my practice focuses particularly on working with men in their 30s-50s who have been in therapy before and are looking to take their healing to the next level. I offer effective, depth-oriented individual and group therapy that is tailored to your unique needs.
Lastly, I have dedicated several years more recently to exploring my own psyche with the help of plant medicines, and have begun to offer psychedelic integration work as part of my practice. I believe that integrating the experiences and insights that emerge during expanded states of consciousness into our daily lives is a crucial part of what makes this work transformative.
Contact me at troy.piwowarski@gmail.com or call (510) 878-4165. For more information about my practice or to book an appointment, click here.
“The existential-humanistic tradition is primarily about having the capacity to meet clients authentically. Presence and an appreciation for depth are the ideal ground from which any specific technique emerges. In the time I have spent working with Troy, he has demonstrated that these values are not only professionally, but also personally important to him. They are of great benefit to those with whom he engages.”
Featured
Recently, my business partner, friend, and men’s group co-leader Brian Thompson and I sat down with life coach and podcaster Shawn Buttner for a conversation about men’s work, the unique power of group therapy, and our own story of partnership that’s run in parallel with leading multiple groups and a group practice together.