Therapy for Men in San Francisco

Addiction and Porn

The modern world is designed to addict us. Psychiatrist Anna Lembke speaks on Hidden Brain about the ways we get addicted, the affects of addiction, and how to free ourselves. Her book Dopamine Nation is a great read or listen.

Sex, Desire, and Infidelity

Esther Perel is an amazing speaker and clinician who speaks eloquently about the nature of desire in long-term relationships and how we struggle with keeping our sex lives alive. I'd highly recommend the audiobook versions of both of her books: Mating in Captivity and State of Affairs.

Fatherhood

Pops - Fatherhood in Pieces. This collection of short stories by Michael Chabon speaks to the depth of relationships between fathers and sons. Also, Letters to My Son: A Father's Wisdom on Manhood, Life, and Love by Kent Nerburn is a moving tribute by the author to his father and a gift to his young son. For father's of daughters, I'd recommend: Strong Fathers Strong Daughters.

Packed with lots of information on become a new father (during pregnancy and after the baby is born), take a look at: The Expectant Father and We're Pregnant! The First Time Dad's Pregnancy Handbook.

For some humor about what it's like to be a father, Jim Gaffigan's Dad is Fat is great.

Marriage

In The New Rules of Marriage, Terry Real teaches about how to overcome those fights that can spiral out of control.

The All-or-Nothing Marriage by Eli Finkel. A great book about the ways we expect our partners to meet any and all of our individual needs.

An excellent, and entertaining, look into what Couples Therapy looks like can be seen on the Showtime reality show, Couples Therapy.

Prenups and Divorce

Contracts of Love & Money That Make or Break Relationships with James Sexton, a marriage and divorce lawyer who talks about prenuptual agreements on the Andrew Huberman podcast.

Office Politics and Strategy

Robert Greene gives voice to the necessity of understanding human aggression and self interest. He offers some of the best wisdom on how to strategically manage complex relationships and win. Thinking about how to navigate complex social dynamics in the workplace? I'd highly recommend both The 48 Laws of Power and The 33 Strategies of War.

Relationships

Attachment theory forms the core of how present day psychologists think about relationships. For a quick video primer take a look at these two videos by the School of Life. What is Your Attachment Style and The Challenges of Anxious-Avoidant Relationships.

Depression

In this classic book on depression in men, I Don't Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression Terry real writes about the how depression affects men and how to overcome it.

Andrew Solomon offers an artful, scientific, and moving personal account of living with and fighting depression. There is no better description of what it's like to have depression than the book The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression.

Meaning and Purpose

Cultivating Your Purpose. This 2021 episode from the Hidden Brain podcast interviews Cornell Psychologist Anthony Burrow about how purpose in life can be cultivated.

Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life. This 2016 book by Stanford product designers practically talks about how to use modern product design thinking to find direction in life and how you can iterate rapidly over your choices and directions. A quick and great read!

Life in your 20's

Graduating college was supposed to mean life would open up with endless opportunities, but no one told us we would find ourselves struggling to find meaning and direction and having difficulty making important choices about career and relationships. The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter and How to Make the Most of Them Now by Meg Jay is a great read for anyone in their 20's.