William Peters, MFT
(805) 882-2424 x 110
wpeters@ftisb.org
Perspective on Therapy
William has found that effective therapy begins with a sense of connection and trust between the client and therapist. William assists clients in clearly defining their goals for therapy. William is skilled at assisting individuals to identify negative patterns, unfold innate strengths, and learn new skills; all of which can lead to a more fulfilling life and healthier ways of relating to self and others. Some clients need only a few sessions to gain insights and acquire new tools to achieve their goals. Others may need more time to explore current or past relationships, reflect on undesirable behaviors or personality traits, or examine past events or traumas that may be adversely influencing their current life.
Approach to Therapy
William’s approach is direct and active attempting to gently facilitate an experience whereby the client can access his/her deepest truth. He believes that therapy is most effective when the client can open to his/her whole self (mind, body, spirit). To this end he provides a safe and secure environment where the client has the freedom to explore and share those parts of his/her self that he/she chooses.
Professional Specialties
William works with individuals, couples, families and groups in English, Spanish and Portuguese. William’s practice has a focus on couples and families. His work specializes in grief/loss/bereavement, end-of-life, anxiety, shame, psycho-spiritual development, Eastern and Western spirituality, mystical experiences, paranormal experiences (near death, shared death and out of body experiences), discernment about important life decisions, life transitions, cultural reintegration from living in foreign environments, young adulthood, men’s issues. William facilitates a weekly Men’s group.
William is the founder of the Shared Crossing Project whose mission is to raise awareness and educate people about the profound and healing experiences available to the dying and their loved ones at the end of life. For more information go to SharedCrossing.com.
Clinical Experience
William has worked as a Marriage and Family Therapist since 2002. His clinical experience includes three years at the Integral Counseling Center in San Francisco where he facilitated Gestalt therapy groups, counseled individuals and couples, and trained new therapists. He worked at the Berkeley Men’s Center Foundation facilitating men’s groups and counseling individuals and couples.
Related Experience
Williams’ wide breath of experience working with individuals has greatly influenced his approach to psychotherapy. William has been counseling and teaching people in various capacities since 1985. He served as a hospice worker to the terminally ill and their families at the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco. He was a counselor and teacher for youths and their families in each Belize and Peru. William taught middle school in Oakland, CA for Teach For America. Finally, he worked at the St Anthony’s Foundation in San Francisco counseling families in transition, persons with HIV, and individuals in recovery.
Education
William has a B.A. from UC Berkeley, an M.A. from Harvard Graduate School of Education focusing on Human Relations and Systems Theory, an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. He also did extensive course work in Mysticism and Psycho-Spiritual Development at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley.
Professional Training
William has received training in Client-Centered Therapies (Rogerian Therapy and Gestalt Therapy), Transpersonal Psychotherapy, Family Systems, Communication Theory, Existential Therapy, Field Theory, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Object Relations, and various Somatic Therapies. His counseling is influenced by his practice of Buddhist Meditation since 1992. He has worked with Robert Hall, MD and other teachers and therapists in the Spirit Rock Meditation Community to integrate Western Psychology with Eastern Mindfulness Practices. William is also a Certified Past Life Regression Therapist by the Weiss Institute.
Teaching and Lecturing
In his capacity as director of the Shared Crossing Project William created and facilitates the Life Beyond Death group and the Shared Crossing Training Program.
William lectures locally and nationally on the Shared Crossing Project’s various programs. For more info go to SharedCrossing.com
William taught Couples Therapy as an Adjunct Professor at Antioch University in the MA in the Counseling Psychology Program.
William teaches Mindfulness Meditation in the Buddhist Tradition.
Personal Life
William loves exploring the world with his family. He adores Latin American and indigenous cultures. Thoughout his life, William has passionately explored various spiritual traditions. He was raised as a Catholic and studied in the Jesuit tradition. While working in Latin America he explored Shamanism and Spiritism. He has studied and practiced Christian and Eastern Mysticism. While today he practices Vipassana Buddhism, he continues to blend various spiritual practices and has found that this endeavor brings him meaning, balance and peace of mind.
ESPANOL
William Peters, certificado MFT, se unió en el ano 2009 al Instituto de Terapia Familiar de Santa Barbara luego de mudarse desde el Area de la Bahía de San Francisco a la ciudad. William tiene un B.A. de la Universidad de California en Berkeley, un M.A. de la Escuela de Educación de la Universidad de Harvard en Relaciones Humanas y Teoría de Sistemas y un M.A. en Asesoramiento Psicológico del Instituto de Estudios Integrales de California en San Francisco. William también ha realizado estudios de posgrado en Mistisismo y Desarrollo Psico-Espiritual en la Unión Teológica de Berkeley.
La experiencia clínica de William incluye tres años en el Centro de Consejería Integral (ICC) en San Francisco donde asistió grupos de terapia Gestalt, hizo terapia individual y de parejas y entrenó nuevos terapistas. Trabajó en la Fundación Centro de Hombres en Berkeley asistiendo grupos de hombres y aconsejando individuos y parejas. Sirvió como voluntario dando apoyo a enfermos terminales y a sus familias en el Projecto de Hospicio Zen en San Francisco. Asesoró grupos de jóvenes y a sus familias en Belize y Perú. Finalmente, trabajó en la Fundación de St. Anthony en San Francisco aconsejando familias en transición, personas con SIDA y personas en recuperación.
William cree que una terapia efectiva empieza con un sentimiento de conexión y confianza entre el paciente y el terapista. Él ayuda a sus pacientes a definir las metas de la terapia claramente; algunos pacientes solo necesitan algunas sesiones para adquirir las herramientas necesarias para lograr sus metas, otros necesitan más tiempo para explorar sus relaciones presentes y pasadas, reflexionar sobre comportamientos o aspectos de su personalidad indeseados, o examinar eventos del pasado o traumas que puedan afectar negativamente sus vidas.
El acercamiento de William con sus pacientes es directo y activo, intentado asistir amablemente una expeciencia donde el paciente pueda encontrar su mas profunda verdad. William cree que la terapia es más efectiva cuando el paciente puede abrirse a todo su ser (mente, cuerpo, espíritu), y para esto William provee un ambiente seguro donde el paciente tiene la libertad de explorar y compartir las partes que el paciente decida.
William trabaja con individuos, parejas, familias y grupos en Inglés, Español y Portugués. Tiene una afinidad especial por parejas, familias y grupos debido a su capacitación en sistemas familiares y la complejidad de estas relaciones. Se especializa en ansiedad, aflicción/pérdida/duelo, traumas, dolor/enfermedad/incapacidad crónica, lástima, desarrollo psicoespiritual, espiritualidad Oriental y Occidental, experiencias místicas, experiencias paranormales (cercanas a la muerte), agonía y muerte, dicernimiento acerca de las decisiones importantes, transiciones en la vida, vida y reintegración cultural en ambientes extranjeros, adolescencia, adultez joven, problemas de los hombres, relaciones/problemas laborales, addicón y rehabilitación.
William está casado y tiene una hija; ama explorar el mundo junto con ellas. Practica la meditación Vipassana Budista, adora América Latina y sus culturas indigenas. Desde hace treinta años, a raiz de un accidente de ski, aprecia las bediciones y los retos del dolor crónico y la incapacidad. Toda su vida ha estado en busca de la espiritualidad.