Dr. Danny Meza

Danny Meza, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist and proud Tucsonan now living in the Bay Area. Before moving to California and training as a psychologist, Danny was a public high school English teacher in New York City, specifically in the Queens and Manhattan boroughs. His dissertation research examined the positive psychological impact of participation in Chicanx Studies programs at the undergraduate level. Danny has worked professionally as an extern, intern, and staff counselor at several university counseling centers. He is also a Gottman Level 2 couples counselor and has certification in Advanced Diagnosis, Treatment, and Management of personality disorders. Outside of work, Danny enjoys spending time with his wife Madeleine, two cats Ronnie and Bagheera, and old vinyl records

I approach my work with patients in psychotherapy with a relational framework. What this means, and what research has shown, is that a trusting, supportive, and effective treatment relationship with providers is the single most important factor to improvement of patient mental health. I work to build an empowering and welcoming rapport with my patients, while also providing evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions. I integrate cognitive, behavioral, and experiential interventions to treat anxiety, depression, ADHD, OCD, relationship concerns, identity development, narcissistic abuse and antagonism, and those living with personality disorders, while also treating how these conditions have impacted a patient’s “sense of self.” For instance, when treating a patient for ADHD, it is important to consider how attention-regulation is impacting work and relationship functioning, but also how living in the world with ADHD has impacted the patient’s ability to see themselves as a consistent, responsible, and reliable human being. With ADHD, as with almost all other mental health diagnoses, often comes a lifetime of stigma and judgement from environments that do not understand that noticeable symptoms, such as procrastination or disorganization, are not character flaws but neurological experiences. In counseling together, we will work to reduce the frequency, intensity, and duration of mental health symptoms, while also improving your relationships with yourself and others.

In our first session, we will explore current mental health concerns as well as any relevant history of these condition throughout lifespan development. We will then collaborate on what interventions seem appropriate given the intensity of presenting concerns. For example, a patient may present with "anxiety" but it will be important to determine the developmental history as well as the intensity, frequency, and duration of anxious episodes. Sometimes temporary environmental conditions trigger anxious responses for patients, while others may experience incongruent anxiety in ANY stressful situation and have been experiencing them for years. These two basic presentation differences can determine the appropriateness of cognitive, behavioral, or even recommendation of medication supports. Our first session will explore mental health conditions as well as the urgency and scope of treatment interventions.