Secular Therapy
Erik Anderson, LMFT
In-person in Playa Vista +
telehealth across California
I’m an atheist with a background in philosophy, modern literature, and the Rationality community.
My work helps people examine their inherited beliefs, understand how they affect their lives now, and decide what they actually want to believe.
Are you looking for a therapist who doesn’t push a religious framework?
Doubting your beliefs?
Questioning changing or leaving your faith?
Did the family and faith you grew up in come with conditions?
Do you still struggle with early messages you received about morality, sexuality, relationships?
Other clients come questioning your purpose, carrying shame around sexuality, or struggling with family members whose religious beliefs conflict with your own.
I help people build meaningful lives without relying on religious answers.
Clients Come To Me When They
Are looking for a secular therapist
Have had negative experiences with faith based therapy in the past
Leave religion and question their purpose
Carry shame
Redefine their moral values
Struggle with family
Feel existential anxiety
Find Meaning Without Religion
Identify clear guideposts for building a fulfilling life on your own terms.
What Secular Therapy With Me IS Like
Therapy starts with understanding how you got here. We’ll look at early messages about religion, spirituality, sexuality, relationships, and moral behavior, then examine how those ideas still shape what feels right or wrong to you today.
From there, we’ll work toward something more useful: clarity on what values you want to orient around now and a plan for living a meaningful life that fits those values.
The goal is not to replace one set of rules with another.
It’s to help you develop greater clarity, confidence, and direction
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Explores how early experiences shape beliefs, relationships, and meaning making; helps you understand the patterns that still influence your choices.
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Examines the thoughts and core beliefs that shape your understanding of yourself, other people and the world; helps you question the beliefs and attitudes that no longer serve you.
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Focuses on your experience, values, and capacity for personal growth; supports a stronger sense of authenticity and fulfillment.
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Helps you face life’s ultimate realities to live more authentically. Works to acknowledge and face fears rather than running from them to live a deliberate and meaningful life.
We don’t need religious answers or supernatural beliefs to lead ethical lives that have depth and fulfillment. We can work together to understand what you believe, what you value, and where you want to go.
We Work Towards
Feeling more certainty and agency
Feeling less anxious and better able to take on responsibilities
Better sleep
Feeling more authentic
Clarity on what matters
Clearer direction
A better capacity to find meaning in life
The goal is not to have every answer but to be more confident in your ability to deal with uncertainty, make good decisions, and live a meaningful life.
About Erik Anderson, LMFT
I borrow knowledge from a number of different fields to help people understand how their minds work and what to do with that information.
Together, we’ll work towards developing values, direction and meaning in life.
Before becoming a therapist, I studied modern literature, tutored math and science, and earned a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I’ve also been active in the Rationality community since 2018 where we work on noticing where we’re wrong and changing our minds using evidence in order to accomplish our goals and have more accurate beliefs.
If you’ve had therapy before and came away without much, this is a different experience. If you’re ready to get unstuck, I’d be glad to help.
Availability: I provide In-person therapy in Playa Vista + telehealth across California.
Education, Credentials, & Trainings
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, California
M.S. in Counseling, California State University, Long Beach
B.A. in Modern Literature, University of California, Santa Cruz
Advanced training in psychotherapy outcomes research, Scott D. Miller, PhD
Post Graduate training in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy
Active in the Rationality community
Curator of the Astral Codex Ten Psychiat-list
Getting Started in 3 Steps
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Fill out the contact form and share what brings you to therapy.
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We’ll talk about what you’re looking for and see if working together makes sense.
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We’ll get to know your history, beliefs, and goals and begin deciding what you want to change.
Ready To Figure Out What Matters To You?