Michael Y. Simon

Michael Y. Simon is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice in Oakland, California (Lic. MFC 38305). Michael is a sought-after local and national speaker on teens and families who has worked with thousands of children, youth and families since 1990. He has also taught psychology, philosophy and religious studies at several American universities and colleges and in 1998 founded Practical Help for Parents — a support organization for parents, educators and mental health professionals who work daily in support of pre-adolescents and adolescents.

Michael began his career in psychology by working closely with Joseph Weiss, M.D. and Harold Sampson, Ph.D., as Executive Director of the San Francisco Psychotherapy Research Group (SFPRG). The organization conducted groundbreaking research on the psychotherapeutic process in order to more deeply understand just how and whether psychotherapy really worked. Michael's tenure at SFPRG helped advance the professional identity of the organization, growing an international following of researchers, clinicians and others interested in psychotherapeutic process research and education. In the early 2000s at Parents Place in Marin, California, he helped to develop a broad range of programs for parents of children (birth to 18), and brought many of these programs into the workplaces of busy professionals. In 2003 he consulted with a local independent high school and then was asked to develop a counseling program for the school. He founded the program and served as Director of Counseling for close to 6 years. Michael continues to speak around the country, write and publish on adolescents and adolescent development and sees children, teens, adults, couples and families in private practice. Perhaps most importantly, Michael is the proud parent of kind, former teenager who is busily engaged in trying to make the world a better place.