Today we’d like to introduce you to Ben Esch.
Hi Ben, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
There’s a lot of great things about being a therapist. You get to help people. You get to write off cardigans as a business expense. And, in my case, you get a great second act for your professional life.
For my first act, I was a writer. And, to be fair, I did pretty okay at it. I published a book, and I sold a lot of other books that were never published for reasons I still do not fully understand, and on rare, special occasions, I attended fancy parties with plentiful shrimp and the occasional celebrity appearance.
Unfortunately, rent cannot be paid in stolen party shrimp. And as much as I enjoyed (and still enjoy) writing, I knew it was time to make a professional change, so I went to grad school to become a marriage and family therapist. Thankfully, I almost immediately discovered that being a therapist was even more professionally and personally fulfilling than any book or screenplay I have ever written. Even without the free shrimp.
Currently, I am working as a therapist (AMFT #133743, under the supervision of Nick Bognar, LMFT #99915) in Pasadena, and specialize in creative professionals, senior citizens, childhood anxiety, and couples therapy.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There are a lot of challenges to being a therapist: you have to go to school, you have to earn three thousand hours of supervised experience to get licensed, you have to learn theories and diagnoses, and be present for people who are going through some of the toughest and most tragic periods of their lives.
I genuinely love being a therapist, and it’s a honor to help people who need it, but this work can also be hard at times.
Thankfully, I have a great resource to help with that, which is lots, and lots of my own therapy.
Now, I’m a therapist, so obviously I think this whole therapy thing is pretty great, but I believe it’s essential for therapists to have their own therapy.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
While I’ve been honored to work with a variety of clients and clinical presentations as a therapist, I feel like I have had the strongest connection with my clients who are senior citizens. The task of this developmental stage is referred to as “integrity versus despair”–which sounds a little needlessly intense, I know–but it speaks to the unique challenges of this age.
I won’t get into a whole lecture about the psychology of it all, but in basic terms, a lot of senior citizens are forced to confront a challenge of self-reflection and introspection for which they are usually pretty unequipped. As a result, a lot of people are spending their final years of life in a state of despair instead of feeling a sense of integrity for the unique–and in my experience, amazing–lives they have actually led.
It has been my honor and privilege to give these senior citizens a few more tools–and perhaps a little guidance–in this challenge of “integrity versus despair,” so they can see themselves, and their lives, in a much more accurate and helpful way.
I also specialize in working with child anxiety, which is an extremely common condition, that thankfully responds really well to a variety of treatments. In my work, I like to use SPACE, which is a treatment for childhood anxiety that can be delivered entirely to parents. I know that may sound a bit strange, but the research is really promising on this modality, and I have seen very positive results with my own clients using this method. If you have more questions, please feel free to reach out to me, or there’s a book called Breaking Free of Child Anxiety and OCD by Eli Lebowitz of the Yale Child Study Center, which explains it a lot better than I ever could.
I actually received my training in SPACE from Eli, so I can speak directly to how good this guy is at talking about childhood anxiety and supportive parenting techniques.
What makes you happy?
In my experience, the quickest route to happiness is a good burrito. Thankfully, we live in a great city for them.
Happiness Burrito Power Rankings:
1. The Surf and Turf at Cilantro in North Hollywood.
2. Carne asada at Angel’s Tijuana Tacos (the one by the little Target on Colorado)
3. Egg and chorizo from Tlayuda LA
4. Breakfast burrito from Pasadena’s own Andy’s Coffee Shop
5. Any burrito with a chile relleno at La Azteca Tortilleria
6. The 2.0 at Sonoratown
As a therapist, I know I should really say something about meditation or spending time with your loved ones or connecting with meaningful activities–and all of that stuff is great and all–but it’s hard to beat a good burrito.
Contact Info:
- Website: beneschtherapy.com
