I’ll Help you set aside judgment and get curious about what’s going on
You’ve found your way here because you are curious… curious about your life, about what goes on inside your mind, and about the potential of beginning therapy. Your curiosity is a strength!
I invite you to embrace your curiosity so that you may come to know yourself and to find relief along the way.
ABOUT DR. MICHELE GOMES
she/her
Michele is a psychologist (CA license # PSY23227) and psychoanalyst who splits her time between her two passions: working with a diverse group of adults and couples in her private practice and leading Wright Institute Los Angeles, a psychoanalytic non-profit community clinic and training site.
Her unique background in Multicultural Community Psychology, Women’s Studies, Psychoanalysis, and Computer Programming reflects the range of interests and skills she brings to her work. Prior to her clinical practice, Michele worked at her alma mater, UCLA, in the School of Public Health assisting with epidemiological research on sexual and racial minority health disparities.
Michele became a Psychoanalyst at the New Center for Psychoanalysis where she teaches, sits on the Board of Directors and is active on many committees including being a founding member of the Committee on Diversities and Sociocultural Issues. Michele is committed to a non-profit way of life and hopes, through WILA and NCP, to expand the reach and role of psychoanalytic ideas in the community.
PSYCHOTHERAPY
Our weekly sessions will allow you to explore your thoughts and feelings, life experiences, and any personal difficulties you are facing in order to identify the sources of your pain and symptoms.
We’ll start by creating an environment of trust and safety, so that you can be honest with me and with yourself about what’s going on.
This is a place where you can set judgment aside, build curiosity about your life’s meaning, develop a gentler mindset, and come to terms with who you really are and what you want out of life.
i will support you, challenge you, and pay attention to which you need most in the moment
PSYCHOANALYSIS
Different from weekly psychotherapy, psychoanalysis is a longer-term and more intensive endeavor.
We’ll meet frequently, 3-5x per week, and work together to form a deep understanding of who you are and how you came to be. We’ll get curious about your fears, longings, behaviors, and fantasies. We’ll find words for the long forgotten, but heavily felt life experiences that are still impacting you today.
Our relationship – the analytic relationship – will become a safe place of healing where you will learn to feel difficult feelings, gain comfort with intimacy and vulnerability, and practice finally creating the types of relationships you’ve been craving.
for me, psychoanalysis is a rigorous form of play and collaborative creativity
TEACHING & SPEAKING
Dissemination of knowledge on a one-to-many scale is vital in an otherwise one-to-one profession. I’m one who actually enjoys public speaking and have been an invited presenter on a variety of topics including diversities, flexibly applying psychoanalytic theory & technique, psychoanalytic supervision, and the process of practice building.
At Wright Institute Los Angeles, I teach a variety of seminars including Diversities, Theoretical Flexibility, Failure to Grieve: The Work of Dr. Martha Stark, and an annual survey course called Introduction to Psychoanalytic Theory.
I am also on faculty at New Center for Psychoanalysis where I co-teach Diversities as well as Infant Development: Reflecting on the Baby’s Experience.
For nearly 10 years I held an Adjunct Faculty position at the California School of Professional Psychology where I taught year-long courses including Psychodynamic Interventions and Professional Roles.
I believe I have a duty to share what my education and practice have taught me
CONSULTATION & SUPERVISION
I have a strong commitment to training the next generation. For over a decade I have devoted a significant portion of my time to providing supervision and consultation to pre-licensed and early career clinicians.
I began my supervisory career at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. I continue to actively supervise as a part of the Core Faculty at Wright Institute Los Angeles where I provide individual supervision and lead two weekly group supervisions for Psychology Interns and Postgraduate Fellows working toward licensure.
I also enjoy leading private consultation groups for newly licensed therapists, particularly those who want to work from a relational psychoanalytic model.
good supervision is a process of encountering and emboldening the natural therapist within
NON-PROFIT WORK
I spent five years as WILA’s Clinical Director and in 2016 stepped into the role of Executive Director. WILA gives me the opportunity to work in a variety of highly satisfying and stimulating roles: institutional administrator, teacher, individual and group supervisor, and mentor. Most rewarding is spending my days surrounded by others who share my passion for training competent and socially conscious mental health professionals.
WILA’s MISSION
WILA serves the diverse communities of Los Angeles by providing affordable high-quality psychotherapy services while training the next generation of socially conscious mental health professionals.
WILA’S VISION
WILA is at the forefront of a therapy movement, changing the ways people are treated when they need help but are held back by financial, cultural and systemic barriers.
LET’S CONNECT
Please reach out if you think I can be of help to you.
You can leave me a confidential voicemail at 310.895.6171 or send a brief message here. Please provide some times I may be able to reach you directly. If we decide I am not the right person to help, I will do my best to put you in touch with someone who is.