Exploring Identity & Sense of Self
A Depth-Oriented Therapy for
Understanding Who You Are Becoming
Dr. Scott Gordon • Clinical Psychologist
In-Person psychotherapy in Berkeley, California. Virtual services available statewide.
A Depth-Oriented, Embodied Approach to Understanding Who You are Becoming
Identity can begin to shift in ways that are not immediately clear or easy to name. What once felt steady or familiar may no longer feel the same.
Clients who seek therapy around identity are often thoughtful, self-aware, and engaged in their lives.
From the outside, life may appear stable or intact while, internally, there may be uncertainty, tension, or a growing awareness that the way they understand themselves is changing.
Identity work is rarely about finding a quick definition. It often reflects deeper questions of self, expression, belonging, and meaning which surface when the ways you have known yourself no longer feel like a complete fit.
In Embodied Depth Psychotherapy, we approach identity as a dimension of existence to listen to and understand over time, inviting clarity through awareness and integration.
When the Usual Ways of Working No Longer Create Movement
Some clients arrive at therapy naming identity directly. Others come with a quieter recognition that facets of who they are, or how they experience themselves, are changing.
You may recognize yourself if:
You feel uncertain about who you are or how you fit into your life or relationships
You are exploring questions related to gender, sexuality, or self expression
You feel tension between how you present externally and what you experience internally
Experiences around identity often reflect a deeper reorganization of how you understand yourself and your place in the world.
A Depth-Oriented, Embodied Approach to Identity Work
Our work together is grounded in Embodied Depth Psychotherapy, an integrative approach drawing from depth psychology, relational psychotherapy, and somatic awareness.
Together, we explore identity through thoughts and narrative, informed by lived, embodied experience.
Listening for what feels true in the present moment.
Exploring unconscious patterns that have shaped your sense of self over time.
Attending to how identity is experienced in the body’s tension, contraction, or expansion.
Making space for uncertainty without rushing toward premature definition.
Supporting the emergence of new meaning, direction, and self-understanding.
Not all experiences are accompanied by clear language. We allow them to unfold and integrate over time, with care and depth.
What Therapy Often Looks Like
Therapy sessions are relational and paced to allow for reflection and awareness. Sometimes we speak directly about identity, and at other times we slow down to notice what is happening beneath the surface.
Over time, clients report:
Clearer, grounded sense of who they are.
Greater comfort with complexity, uncertainty, and change.
Increased alignment between inner experience and outward expression.
Movement in identity work often comes from developing a relationship with yourself that allows for growth and continued evolution over time.
Who Will Benefit Most from Embodied Depth Psychotherapy for Identity Work
This approach is especially meaningful for people who:
Feel their sense of self is shifting or no longer feels stable.
Are exploring identity related to gender, sexuality, culture, or personal meaning.
Are open to reflection, emotional awareness, and embodied exploration
Clarity comes with the deeper work. Curiosity is enough to get started.
Common Questions About Identity Therapy
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Many people begin therapy with a sense that something is shifting without having clear language for their experience. Therapy offers space for that understanding to develop over time.
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Areas of gender and sexuality are welcome and often part of our work. At the same time, identity is approached more broadly as your lived experience of yourself, which may include personal, relational, cultural and spiritual dimensions.
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Part of our work is developing the capacity to exist with change, complexity and evolution, embracing the act of existing without rushing for resolution.
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An embodied depth approach supports deeper exploration and integration of identity. The goal is to move away from defining who you should be and create space for your experience to become clearer and more coherent within the context of your life.
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Feelings of anxiety, depression, or disorientation can accompany identity shifts. As your relationships with yourself deepens, these experiences begin to shift as well.
About Scott Gordon, PsyD
Scott Gordon, PsyD, is a licensed clinical psychologist whose work is grounded in Embodied Depth Psychotherapy, integrating psychodynamic psychology, relational psychotherapy, and somatic awareness.
His work includes supporting individuals navigating identity, meaning, and self-experience across personal, relational, cultural, and spiritual contexts. This includes work related to gender and sexuality, experiences of marginalization, and the integration of significant life or spiritual events.
Dr. Gordon brings a depth-oriented and experiential approach to therapy, helping clients develop a more grounded, flexible, and authentic relationship with themselves over time.