(Note: I had too many good things to say so I exceeded the character limit and had to condense this)My godmother setting me up 11 months ago with Randy at Golden Gate Counseling was, undoubtedly, one of the best things that has ever happened to me. We spend most of our sessions brainspotting, a powerful psychotherapy technique I was not familiar with before working with Randy, and we also just talk like traditional therapy. I highly, highly recommend Randy/Golden Gate Counseling for multiple reasons.First, there’s brainspotting, which I THINK is Randy’s primary specialty. I don’t know much of the science behind it, but brainspotting is an incredibly powerful psychotherapy method derived from EMDR that personally I find to be exponentially more effective. You don’t have to know the science behind it to use this physiological tool that works in your brainstem to free up your mind, body, and emotions. It is perfect for trauma, but anybody with any type of issues (so everybody) can benefit from it. After a multitude of therapists and therapy styles throughout my life, brainspotting is the best. Period.Then, there’s Randy himself. Randy and I hit if off from the minute I walked into his office. He made me incredibly comfortable and at ease from the beginning. He is relaxed and unassuming yet clearly has mastery over his profession. He is amongst the best listeners I have ever met in my entire life, therapists or not, and is incredibly understanding just from his observatory, perceptive, high EQ nature. So I realized from day one that he’s able to relate to problems and traumatic experiences in my life that are unlike anything most people would ever go through because of his immense empathy. He is one of the most kind and compassionate individuals on the planet and I imagine he can connect to just about any walk of life. Even without brainspotting, I would 10/10 recommend Randy as a trauma and family therapist.We spent most of my first session just going over me and my life, and by the last 15 minutes we were already so much on the same page and I felt so much like I could trust him that we started brainspotting for one of the most traumatic experiences in my entire life. And in those 15 minutes, we made considerable headway! Did I have the faintest clue that in one 50 minute session I would have already:-made a new friend and ally-spilled my life out to him and realize that even without knowing me or having gone through what I have, he truly GOT IT-and partially worked through one of the worst memories of my life that has eaten away at me at a daily basis for years?Heck no! It was unbelievable. I attribute so much of my improvement and growth as a person over the last (not even one full) year to Randy, not just a therapist, but as an amazing person, ally, and friend. Honestly, he feels like family to me at this point. Even if it had taken a couple more sessions to get to that point, I certainly wouldn’t have looked back. This is getting cheesy but I definitely don’t know where I’d be without him. Since that very first appointment I’ve been instilled with so much more belief about my ability to heal from both emotional/psychological trauma and ALSO physical trauma from having an agonizing disease. I feel like I can work with him and move through anything that comes at me, and he’s also helped me understand that I have tools and power that aren’t solely dependent on my sessions with him.Please do yourself a favor and give Randy at Golden Gate Counseling (and brainspotting!) a shot if you are in need of help with just about any type of trauma possible, or even just if you need an incredible regular therapist. It blows my mind when I think of all the people in my life and just out there in the world who could potentially turn their lives around with such a talented psychotherapist. A talented therapist who is able to be so impactful because he is unmistakably just an amazing person with a lot of love and desire to make people’s lives better.