About James
Dr. James Wood is a licensed marriage and family therapist with 34 years of experience. He helps people who are struggling with stress, anxiety, addiction, trauma, and depression.
He aims to make the first steps toward change feel manageable and real. He creates a calm, nonjudgmental space where clients can talk through difficult thoughts and feelings. Sessions focus on practical tools and clearer thinking so people can handle day-to-day pressure.
Background and approach
He also offers coaching-style support for people who want focused direction as they work toward goals. Dr. Wood mixes several therapeutic methods to match what each person needs.
He draws from cognitive behavioral techniques to identify unhelpful thinking. He uses acceptance-based ideas to help people live by their values even when symptoms persist. Many clients come for help with relationship and attachment concerns, codependency, family of origin issues, or the emotional fallout of adoption and foster care.
He also supports those facing control issues, communication problems, and the long-term effects of isolation or shame. He has worked across a wide range of life challenges, including coping with natural or human-caused disaster, HIV/AIDS, and recovery from heavy drinking or drug and alcohol addiction. He also brings experience helping people navigate divorce, forgiveness work, and eating or food-related issues.
Dr. Wood practices in California and conducts sessions in English. He describes his coming memoir Different Drummer as a personal account of recovery, service, and a life reshaped by meaning and creativity.
Using evidence-based approaches in online sessions
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice difficult thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them, then clarify personal values and take small committed steps. This approach can be useful for anxiety, stress, and patterns that keep someone from living the life they want. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thinking and shifting behavior patterns through concrete exercises and homework, which is often helpful for anxiety and depression. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early relationships shape current trust and connection, and it can be helpful for codependency, relationship struggles, and attachment issues.Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to pick methods that match their goals and preferences. Over several sessions the plan can change based on what helps most, and techniques from different approaches may be combined.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to give flexibility. Video sessions let you use visual cues and longer conversations. Phone sessions are useful when bandwidth is limited or a quick check-in fits a busy day. Live chat and text-based messaging can support shorter updates, ongoing coaching, or moments when writing feels easier than speaking. These options make it simpler to fit therapy into a weekly routine while working with licensed professionals.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Adoption and foster care
- Attachment issues
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Family of origin issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- HIV / AIDS
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Personality disorders
- Post-traumatic stress
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexuality
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trichotillomania
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Existential Therapy
- Gottman Method
- Jungian Therapy
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
- Experience
- 34 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English
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