David Bowman is a Los Angeles-based, licensed psychotherapist, originally born and raised in Canada. After years of experience in the business world, he attended Antioch University Los Angeles, where he received an M.A. in Clinical Psychology in 2010. He did his practicum years at AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA Health), Valley Community Clinic, and the Los Angeles LGBT Center, places where he helped clients deal with anger, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, PTSD, homelessness, questions of sexuality, relationships, and personal acceptance, and basic survival behavioral health competence. Later he affiliated with Pacific Coast Psychiatric Associates (now LifeStance Health) and saw clients ranging from troubled teens to studio bosses.
David Bowman immigrated to California for graduate school (M.A. in English Lit, Stanford University) and a career in publishing. As editor, senior editor, and editor-in-chief, he had a 30-year career as in-house or freelance editor and publishing consultant. In California, he wrote a monthly, statewide column on the arts, and for many years he created, curated, and helmed program books for many companies, including Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Center Theatre Group, San Francisco Symphony, and Performing Arts Magazine, where he was Editor-in-Chief.
Writing and editing led to another interesting career in elementary education. David wrote and/or edited social studies textbooks for Houghton Mifflin Co. and created a Teacher Training course for multisensory learning (6th Grade Ancient History) at The Galef Institute. This led to many hours in the classroom and the observation of developing children’s issues that would likely later bring them into a therapist’s office.
David Bowman works with a number of different modalities: CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy), Mindfulness, and especially, psychodynamic. Using a Jungian lens, he helps clients find the childhood roots of maladaptive behaviors and replace them with a new awareness of the real need that lies underneath the behavior. His online course and e-book Father Figures: Re-fathering for Gay Men, is a guide for gay men to examine their fathers’ respective roles in their lives and replace negative teachings with positive encouragement, understanding, and self-love.