This month featuring

By Marge Riley, MFT

Walking into Steve Sheridan’s office, a faint whiff of incense greets your senses and more than one set of drums meets your eyes. The warmth that Steve himself emanates is echoed by these surroundings filled with character and color. His intensity, personal solidity and presence in the moment are reflected in his compassionate psychotherapy practices.

Steve has been in private practice for twenty years, and describes himself as feeling honored to do this work. His broad-based practice includes individual, couples and family work. He uses a systems approach when working with families or couples, believing that those caught up in dysfunctional marriages or families are rarely open to doing the deeper intra-psychic work out of which systemic imbalances grow. He also does long-term, depth psychotherapy with individuals, sometimes with the adjunct of Reichian breath and bodywork.

Fourteen years ago Steve created a men’s group that is still going strong today. The inspiration for this group actually came out of an EB-CAMFT meeting during the Robert Bly era, in which Steve and several other men attending voiced their longings for that sense of male community, and put it into effect. Steve has found, over years of experience that, given the opportunity, men thrive on connection.

Steve’s sense of community has been instrumental in creating the cohesive feeling that pervades our Diablo Satellite Group meetings, of which he is a founding member. He has also served as chair of the Diablo group twice; his most recent term having ended in 2003. In September he will present to that group on “The Significance of Suffering in the Personal Life of the Therapist.” (You can read more about that upcoming presentation in the Sept-Oct newsletter and on the Continuing Education page of this website.) Steve also served as President of the East Bay chapter of CAMFT from 1994 to 1997.

Steve’s own life is evidence of how suffering can be used to inspire personal growth. The product of an alcoholic, dysfunctional family, a paternal role model was sadly lacking during most of Steve’s growing up years. His father dropped out of his life completely with a successful suicide attempt when Steve was 18. Today Steve himself is a role model for others. His easy going confidence and warmth must inspire many a younger client, as his leadership has inspired our chapter throughout his professional career.

Steve has two adult children, a son who recently survived a serious bicycle accident, and a daughter who found the man of her dreams while serving in the Peace Corps in Africa. The most recent addition in his personal life is the product of that union, an infant grandson. Congratulations, Steve!