About Me

Life is about RELATIONSHIP - whether this is connecting within our selves, with family, people we love, or people we are forced to deal with in life. Play is a natural healing power we discover as children and use to work through everything. As we get older, we forget how to play, we forget we are creative beings, we forget we are filled with strengths and capabilities that are laying dormant for our use. We are social creatures in a postmodern work that is chaotic and many times unreal, or so it seems. We are all trying to figure it out together. Trauma has been one of the hallmarks of recent decades that nearly everyone suffered in some way, and we all need to work through and resolve our hurts to be able to reach out for and meet our wants. We are all becoming!

Dr. Gregory Walston is a Marriage and Family Therapist who is licensed in California, specializing in individual (child/teen/adult), couples, family, and group therapy, using both a brief therapy and long - term systems approaches to treatment. Dr. Gregory Walston has completed his Ph.D. from Fielding Graduate University with an emphasis in Clinical Psychology, and a Master's Degree from Phillips Graduate Institute with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy. Dr. Walston completed his doctoral dissertation on Mental Health Recovery and Schizophrenia where he succesfully proposed a new model to undersand how recovery works in schizophrenia. He also completed just over 2100 hours of predoctoral internship in working with LGBT clients in an inpatient setting, many of whom were in early substance use recovery, and a mjaority with a diagnosis if HIV. He completed 1800 hours of clinical practicum focused on neuropsychological and psychological testing at a community mental health center. He also completed 3200 hours of clinical work in order to obtain his license to practice as a Marriage and Family Therapist. He has worked in community mental health over 30 years, providing clinical services to people with serious mental illness and their family members. He has also trained over 1000 staff in PSR, working in aspects related to community mental health, Mental Health Recovery, Recovery from Substance Use, and many other topics. He completed a Master's Thesis on Parental Mental Illness and Its Impact on Family Systems. Dr. Walston has been published for an article that summarized findings of his Masters thesis and recently for an article with a colleague regarding Recovery - Oriented Supervision. Dr. Walston maintains a private practice in Los Angeles, CA in Burbank.

With over 30 years experience in community mental health, and 10 years licensed as a marriage and family therapist, he is currently serving as private practitioner working with a broad spectrum of clients. He has endeavored on to gain critical experience in play therapy, Sandplay, sand tray, trauma therapies, and evidence - based practices to expand his ability to bring play and creativity into therapy and help people of all ages recover from life issues, including trauma. Among his areas of expertise and interests are brief therapies with life transition issues, using play and creative expression to help expand and resolve traumatic events, working with LGBTQIA+ clients and their families/significant others in a gender- affirming and empowerment model, cognitive processing with trauma and PTSD, interpersonal relationship therapy and CBT therapy with adults who have ADD/ADHD, CBT with depression, anxiety, trauma issues, and regaining a positive life vision after being diagnosed with HIV. He is also skilled in working with adults with co-occurring medical conditions who have emotional issus in reginaing life mastery. Lastly, Dr. Walston is skilled in working with addictions and recovery.

In addition to being a prominent relationship therapist, Dr. Walston has presented at State and local conferences and to general audiences speaking on the topics identified above.

Dr. Gregory Walston is an interactive, creative, solution-focused therapist. His therapeutic approach is to provide support and practical feedback, cut to the chase and get unstuck, process and resolve emotional upsets, and use play as well as creative problem solving to help clients effectively address personal life challenges, gain acceptance, and become more empowered. He integrates complementary methodologies and techniques to offer a highly personalized approach tailored to each client. With compassion and understanding, he works with each individual to help them build on their strengths and attain the personal growth they are committed to accomplishing.

Education
Fielding Graduate University - PhD in Clinical Psychology
Master's In Clinical Psychology
Phillips Graduate Institute - Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy
National Honor Society Member, Phi Kappa PHI and Alpha Epsilon