About Us
FREE ASSOCIATION CLINIC FOR EXISTENSIAL PSYCHOTHERAPY AND PSYCHOANALYSIS
Therapists
Stephen Mosblech, MA, AMFT
Sophie Whynacht, Ph.D.
Clinical Supervisors & Therapists
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Stephen Mosblech, MA specializes in working with gifted and highly sensitive children, teens and adults to navigate histories of complex trauma and chart authentic, new expressions of creativity and desire. He has worked as a clinician at RAMS Child, Youth and Family Clinic, Ruth Asawa School of the Arts (SOTA) and The Clinic Without Walls, a free psychoanalytic clinic serving marginalized populations of San Francisco. He has held leadership positions as a core Editor and Editorial Board Member of the European Journal of Psychoanalysis. His psychoanalytic texts have been published in Vestigia, DIVISION/Review, Critica and the European Journal of Psychoanalysis. Recent painting and photography work around the dynamic unconscious have been exhibited at Rotterdam Photo Festival 2024,CICA Museum in South Korea and Der Greif Guest Room. He is a popular international workshop leader on topics that blend art contemplation and Buddhist awareness practices. He has taught in this capacity at: Esalen Institute in Big Sur; the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; California Institute of Integral Studies; New Life Foundation, Thailand; and Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche’s Deer Park Institute in Northern India. He received a Scholar Award from the Psychoanalytic Division of American Psychology Association (2022-23) for his work on Freud. He is a member of the “Freud Research Group” of the International Society of Psychoanalysis and Philosophy. He is a graduate of the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), program in Integral Psychology and of Brown University (2004). Currently, he is completing training as a psychoanalyst at the Lacan School of Psychoanalysis.
Stephen is an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT135417), supervised by Dr. Michael Guy Thompson (LMFT21927).
Stephen Mosblech, MA specializes in working with gifted and highly sensitive children, teens and adults to navigate histories of complex trauma and chart authentic, new expressions of creativity and desire. He has worked as a clinician at RAMS Child, Youth and Family Clinic, Ruth Asawa School of the Arts (SOTA) and The Clinic Without Walls, a free psychoanalytic clinic serving marginalized populations of San Francisco. He has held leadership positions as a core Editor and Editorial Board Member of the European Journal of Psychoanalysis. His psychoanalytic texts have been published in Vestigia, DIVISION/Review, Critica and the European Journal of Psychoanalysis. Recent painting and photography work around the dynamic unconscious have been exhibited at Rotterdam Photo Festival 2024,CICA Museum in South Korea and Der Greif Guest Room. He is a popular international workshop leader on topics that blend art contemplation and Buddhist awareness practices. He has taught in this capacity at: Esalen Institute in Big Sur; the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; California Institute of Integral Studies; New Life Foundation, Thailand; and Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche’s Deer Park Institute in Northern India. He received a Scholar Award from the Psychoanalytic Division of American Psychology Association (2022-23) for his work on Freud. He is a member of the “Freud Research Group” of the International Society of Psychoanalysis and Philosophy. He is a graduate of the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), program in Integral Psychology and of Brown University (2004). Currently, he is completing training as a psychoanalyst at the Lacan School of Psychoanalysis.
Stephen is an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT135417), supervised by Dr. Michael Guy Thompson (LMFT21927).
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Sophie Whynacht, Ph.D. specializes in eating disorders and body image, substance use and addiction issues, and LGBTQ+ identities. She has nine years of clinical experience with adolescents and adults in a variety of settings, including the Brandeis University Counseling Center, the Johns Hopkins University Counseling Center, Haight Ashbury Psychological Services, and the Bedford VA Medical Center. Dr. Whynacht primarily practices humanistic psychotherapy, utilizing techniques of person-centered psychotherapy, motivational interviewing, emotion-focused psychotherapy (EFT), and existential psychotherapy. When treating eating disorders, Dr. Whynacht uses a weight-inclusive approach that is based on the principles of intuitive eating and Health at Every Size (HAES). She recognizes that shame and fear of vulnerability are at the core of many of her clients’ struggles and she brings a warm, nonjudgmental presence while helping clients explore their emotions and experiences.
In addition to being a psychotherapist, Dr. Whynacht is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Dominican University of California, where she teaches Abnormal Psychology, Statistics, Addiction and Recovery, Human Sexuality, and Counseling and Communication. She has published several research articles on bisexual identity and leads the Body Image and Stigma (BIAS) Research Lab at Dominican. Dr. Whynacht is also the author of the Body Image and Stigma Blog in Psychology Today.
Dr. Whynacht received a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies in 2017 and a doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Boston in 2023.
We are thrilled to have Dr. Whynacht as part of our clinic and value her clinical and academic expertise in addiction and eating disorders.
Registered Psychological Associate, California – PSB94028026. Supervised by James Norwood, California – PSY33379.
Sophie Whynacht, Ph.D. specializes in eating disorders and body image, substance use and addiction issues, and LGBTQ+ identities. She has nine years of clinical experience with adolescents and adults in a variety of settings, including the Brandeis University Counseling Center, the Johns Hopkins University Counseling Center, Haight Ashbury Psychological Services, and the Bedford VA Medical Center. Dr. Whynacht primarily practices humanistic psychotherapy, utilizing techniques of person-centered psychotherapy, motivational interviewing, emotion-focused psychotherapy (EFT), and existential psychotherapy. When treating eating disorders, Dr. Whynacht uses a weight-inclusive approach that is based on the principles of intuitive eating and Health at Every Size (HAES). She recognizes that shame and fear of vulnerability are at the core of many of her clients’ struggles and she brings a warm, nonjudgmental presence while helping clients explore their emotions and experiences.
In addition to being a psychotherapist, Dr. Whynacht is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Dominican University of California, where she teaches Abnormal Psychology, Statistics, Addiction and Recovery, Human Sexuality, and Counseling and Communication. She has published several research articles on bisexual identity and leads the Body Image and Stigma (BIAS) Research Lab at Dominican. Dr. Whynacht is also the author of the Body Image and Stigma Blog in Psychology Today.
Dr. Whynacht received a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies in 2017 and a doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Boston in 2023.
We are thrilled to have Dr. Whynacht as part of our clinic and value her clinical and academic expertise in addiction and eating disorders.
Registered Psychological Associate, California – PSB94028026. Supervised by James Norwood, California – PSY33379.
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James Norwood, PsyD – Clinical Director graduated from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) with a doctorate in clinical psychology. His dissertation focused on psychedelic therapies. James has studied existential philosophy and psychoanalysis with Michael Guy Thompson for the past seven years. He has also been a principal organizer for the Gnosis Retreat Center, a project to open an R.D. Laing style house for people experiencing extreme states in the Bay Area of California. James runs a private practice at jamesnorwoodpsyd.com, while also working as a psychotherapist at the Berkeley Therapy Institute and the Free Association Clinic and has served as adjunct faculty at CIIS. Thus far, he has presented papers at Esalen Institute, CIIS, and other public forums on: Spirituality and Death: What Carlos Castaneda tells us about how to live with death; The Pursuit of Gnosis Retreat Center: How trying to create a home for extreme states supported authenticity; The Romantic-Tragic Vision of Happiness; Altered States and Extreme States: How psychedelics and psychosis can occasion breakdowns and breakthroughs.
Licensed by State of California – PSY33379.
James Norwood, PsyD – Clinical Director graduated from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) with a doctorate in clinical psychology. His dissertation focused on psychedelic therapies. James has studied existential philosophy and psychoanalysis with Michael Guy Thompson for the past seven years. He has also been a principal organizer for the Gnosis Retreat Center, a project to open an R.D. Laing style house for people experiencing extreme states in the Bay Area of California. James runs a private practice at jamesnorwoodpsyd.com, while also working as a psychotherapist at the Berkeley Therapy Institute and the Free Association Clinic and has served as adjunct faculty at CIIS. Thus far, he has presented papers at Esalen Institute, CIIS, and other public forums on: Spirituality and Death: What Carlos Castaneda tells us about how to live with death; The Pursuit of Gnosis Retreat Center: How trying to create a home for extreme states supported authenticity; The Romantic-Tragic Vision of Happiness; Altered States and Extreme States: How psychedelics and psychosis can occasion breakdowns and breakthroughs.
Licensed by State of California – PSY33379.
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Michael Guy Thompson, PhD – Director received his psychoanalytic training from R. D. Laing and associates at the Philadelphia Association in London, and served as the organization’s administrator from 1973–1980. He is Personal and Supervising Analyst and Faculty Member, Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California, San Francisco, and previously Adjunct Professor at the California School of Professional Psychology, San Francisco, and the California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco. He is the author of numerous journal articles, book chapters, and reviews, as well as six books, The Death of Desire: A Study in Psychopathology (1985), The Truth About Freud’s Technique (1994), The Ethic of Honesty (2004), The Legacy of R. D. Laing: An Appraisal of His Contemporary Relevance (Ed., 2015), The Death of Desire: An Existential Study in Sanity and Madness (2017, 2nd edition), an extensively revised and expanded edition of the original, and most recently, Essays in Existential Psychoanalysis: On the Primacy of Authenticity (2024), published by Routledge. Michael is founder and director, New School for Existential Psychoanalysis, and founded Free Association, Inc. in 1988 to further the legacy of R. D. Laing. His current project is a book on the relation between love and happiness: The Heart of the Matter: Essays on the Trials and Tribulations of Love Relationships. He lives in Berkeley, California. www.mguythompson.com
Licensed by State of California – LMFT21927.
Michael Guy Thompson, PhD – Director received his psychoanalytic training from R. D. Laing and associates at the Philadelphia Association in London, and served as the organization’s administrator from 1973–1980. He is Personal and Supervising Analyst and Faculty Member, Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California, San Francisco, and previously Adjunct Professor at the California School of Professional Psychology, San Francisco, and the California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco. He is the author of numerous journal articles, book chapters, and reviews, as well as six books, The Death of Desire: A Study in Psychopathology (1985), The Truth About Freud’s Technique (1994), The Ethic of Honesty (2004), The Legacy of R. D. Laing: An Appraisal of His Contemporary Relevance (Ed., 2015), The Death of Desire: An Existential Study in Sanity and Madness (2017, 2nd edition), an extensively revised and expanded edition of the original, and most recently, Essays in Existential Psychoanalysis: On the Primacy of Authenticity (2024), published by Routledge. Michael is founder and director, New School for Existential Psychoanalysis, and founded Free Association, Inc. in 1988 to further the legacy of R. D. Laing. His current project is a book on the relation between love and happiness: The Heart of the Matter: Essays on the Trials and Tribulations of Love Relationships. He lives in Berkeley, California. www.mguythompson.com
Licensed by State of California – LMFT21927.
