John Keay

I am John Keay, a licensed psychologist practicing in Utah and California. I started out in information technology because I loved computers and making sense of data, but over time I found I enjoyed working with people more than working with machines, so I went back to school and earned my doctorate in clinical psychology (PsyD). Since then I have worked in counseling centers, outpatient clinics, hospitals, and schools, and I have really enjoyed applying the science of psychology to help people understand themselves and navigate the challenges of everyday life. I see teens, young adults, adults, and older adults for concerns including depression, anxiety, grief and loss, trauma, life transitions, relationships, men's mental health, and questions of religion and spirituality.

My work is exploratory and insight-oriented. Most people who come to me have been to therapy before, got relief that did not hold, and want to know why the same thing keeps happening; my working assumption is that underneath the symptoms we all run a few old patterns that made sense once and keep running long after the conditions that required them are gone. I draw on psychodynamic therapy to understand where those patterns came from, cognitive behavioral methods when something concrete needs to change this week, and mindfulness, which grew out of my own daily practice, to help you notice what is happening while it is happening rather than reconstructing it afterward. I am not a blank screen: I talk, I ask direct questions, I tell you what I am noticing, and I try to keep enough air in the room that serious work does not have to feel grim.

We begin with a free fifteen-minute phone call to see whether I am the right fit, and if we move ahead you will complete intake paperwork beforehand so the first session is a conversation rather than a form-reading exercise. Sessions are currently held by video and run about forty five minutes, and we will cover what brought you in now, the history of the problem, what you have already tried, and the parts of your life that are working. In the last few minutes I will tell you how I am starting to understand things and what working on it would involve, and we will settle logistics like frequency, fees, and cancellation policy. You are under no obligation to continue, and if it does not feel right I will gladly help you find someone else, because fit matters more in this work than almost anything.