Quick Answer
Relationship Therapy at Angeles Psychology Group for Westwood is depth-oriented, affirming care for partners, polycules, and chosen families. Sessions work with the attachment patterns, character-level defenses, and unmet developmental needs underneath the recurring conflict — not just the surface argument. Care is delivered in person at our Mid-Wilshire office or by secure telehealth across California, and begins with a free 20-minute consultation with no obligation.
Key Takeaways
- Relationship Therapy at Angeles Psychology Group for Westwood is depth-oriented: it works beneath the recurring conflict to the underlying patterns.
- Affirming across relationship configurations — partners, polycules, throuples, chosen families — as a named specialty across the clinical team, not a disclaimer.
- Clinicians integrate EFT, IFS, depth psychology, and Orgonomic somatic work — matched to the specific relationship rather than defaulted to a single protocol.
- Delivered in person at our Mid-Wilshire office (6363 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 520) or by secure HIPAA-compliant telehealth across California.
- Care begins with a free, 20-minute consultation, with no obligation and no diagnosis required to start.
01 — OverviewInsight without change: the pattern that talk therapy alone doesn’t move
Academic and analytical couples work in Westwood surfaces a specific clinical pattern — extensive insight into the relational dynamics paired with comparatively little change from that insight. Talk-only therapy tends to circle the analytical layer, meeting the couple where their intellectual fluency already operates, and never quite reaches the material that would actually move the pattern.
Depth psychology grounds the work — the pattern below the presenting material is the clinical target. Orgonomic somatic work paired with depth psychology and EFT is specifically designed for cases where insight alone hasn’t produced change, and the material lives at a layer the analytical vocabulary can describe but not shift.
Insight without change. Insight without change is a common therapy pattern: the client understands the pattern accurately, describes it fluently, and continues to enact it. Depth clinicians read this as a signal that the pattern lives below the layer talk therapy is reaching — usually in character-level defenses or in the body’s held responses.
Research from the National Institute of Mental Health suggests that psychotherapy is effective for the range of relational and emotional difficulties couples and partners bring to therapy, and the American Psychological Association notes that the fit between client and clinician is one of the strongest predictors of outcomes. That is the reason matching — modality, clinician, format — is the first piece of clinical work at Angeles Psychology Group.
02 — ApproachWhere Orgonomic and depth work reach past the analytical layer
The theoretical container runs on a unified multi-modality framework under doctoral supervision. The Orgonomic somatic layer reaches chronic patterns of holding that shape how each partner shows up when the analytical apparatus is offline; EFT tracks the attachment work underneath.
Read against adjacent offerings, APG’s distinctive piece is a coordinated multi-clinician team. For academically-inclined clients the modality choice is often the decisive intake variable — a practice that can reach past the analytical layer offers something categorically different from one that meets clients at the layer they’ve already worked over. You can read more about the practice on our relationship therapy page.
All configurations
Affirming care for monogamous, non-monogamous, queer, and chosen-family relationships alike.
Beneath the conflict
Depth-oriented work with the patterns and unmet needs underneath — not just the recurring argument.
Coordinated care
Individual, couples, and group work inside one practice, coordinated with consent.
Whatever you’re carrying, there’s a place to begin. Book a free, 20-minute consultation.
Start a free consultation03 — In WestwoodWestwood’s academic-and-medical catchment
Westwood concentrates a specific demographic — UCLA-adjacent academics, medical center professionals, analytically-trained clients whose fluency with their own history is high and whose change from that fluency is often lower than expected. Depth work reaches that gap directly, at the layer where insight hasn’t yet translated to shift.
Weekly, the group gathers at Mid-Wilshire; secure video covers the weeks that don’t fit the in-person cadence. Westwood’s proximity to Wilshire makes weekly in-person cadence workable, and many clients settle on that rhythm.
04 — Getting startedStarting depth work if talk therapy has plateaued
For Academic Couples Therapy Past the Insight Plateau near Westwood, the first consultation often surfaces the specific pattern academic and analytically-trained partners tend to run into in couples work: extensive insight into the relational dynamics, comparatively little change from that insight. The 20-minute call is where you and the clinician check whether depth-oriented work that reaches past the analytical layer is what you’re actually looking for.
The framework the practice operates from — Orgonomic somatic work combined with depth psychology and EFT — is specifically built to reach material below the layer talk-only therapy tends to circle. Character-level patterns, body-held responses, developmental history all become clinical data rather than intellectual objects to analyze about. The APA page on choosing a psychologist is a reasonable starting point for the modality questions worth asking any consultation.
Sessions run in person at Mid-Wilshire (6363 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 520) or by secure telehealth across California; academic-schedule flexibility often makes a mixed format work well. Private-pay with superbills. Direct booking via (310) 866-0440 or through the online scheduling system.
Office hours are Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM–5:00 PM (additional times available as needed), with additional times arranged when the standard availability doesn’t quite fit. For Westwood clients specifically, the intake team can advise on current wait times, clinician availability, and whether the format that fits your schedule is in-person, telehealth, or a mix. The consultation is free, no diagnosis is required to start, and you can pause or end the work at any point without penalty.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Relationship Therapy at Angeles Psychology Group for Westwood?
Relationship therapy at Angeles Psychology Group for Westwood is depth-oriented care designed to move past self-analysis to reach the material the analysis is protecting — a lens built for clients whose talk therapy plateaued at insight without change. The clinical framework draws primarily on depth psychology and Orgonomic (Reichian) somatic work, integrated with EFT for the attachment layer.
Who provides the care?
Care is provided by a multi-clinician team including licensed psychologists, licensed marriage and family therapists, and associate (pre-licensed) clinicians working under doctoral-level clinical supervision. The practice is founded and clinically directed by Dr. Neil Schierholz, PsyD (PSY25154), a licensed clinical psychologist. Angeles Psychology Group is a psychology practice and does not prescribe medication — where medication is relevant, care is coordinated with the client’s own prescriber. All clinicians hold current California licensure or are registered associates working under supervision.
What if we already understand the pattern but keep repeating it?
That is the specific clinical situation depth work is built for. Insight without change usually signals that the pattern lives below the layer talk therapy accesses — in character-level defenses or in the body’s held responses. Orgonomic and depth work address the layer the analytical function has been defending against, rather than adding another layer of insight on top of the layers that are already there.
Is telehealth available for clients in Westwood?
Yes. Sessions are available in person at our Mid-Wilshire office (6363 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 520, Los Angeles, CA 90048) or by secure, HIPAA-compliant telehealth across California. Telehealth removes the commute barrier for clients in Westwood and is delivered with the same clinical depth as in-person work — the practice’s stated position is that depth-oriented care translates to the virtual format when the container is held accordingly. Clients often split between formats based on schedule and preference, keeping continuity with the same clinician.
How do we get started?
Begin with a free, 20-minute consultation — a conversation about fit before any commitment. A clinician helps you decide who should be involved (individual, couple, family, or group), what modality is likely to fit, and what the work might look like, with no obligation. You can book online or call (310) 866-0440. Office hours are Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM–5:00 PM (additional times available as needed), and additional times can be arranged by request.
About this page
This page reflects the practice of Angeles Psychology Group, a depth-oriented, affirming psychology practice in Los Angeles founded by Dr. Neil Schierholz, PsyD (PSY25154). Angeles Psychology Group provides psychotherapy and does not prescribe medication; where medication is relevant, care is coordinated with a client’s own prescriber. Claims about psychotherapy are framed as research suggests and cited to primary sources below.
Reviewed by Dr. Neil Schierholz, PsyD. Last updated September 2026.
Sources & Further Reading
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