Patrick Cleveland, Founder & Clinical Director

Cerritos Counseling and Therapy

Patrick Cleveland, M.A., L.M.F.T.
Founder & Clinical Director

Greetings! I am the founder and clinical director of Daybreak Counseling Center. I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at Long Beach City College. I first began to study psychology at California State University, Fullerton where I graduated with bachelor's degrees in both psychology and philosophy. My own struggles in life during my teen years led me to these areas of study as I began to ask questions as to why I had made certain decisions during some troubled teen years and what illusory force was driving these decisions?  Through encountering and studying psychoanalysis, I was intrigued by Freud’s discovery of the unconscious mind as a potential answer.  It is my continued fascination with the activity of unconscious mental life and a deep passion to help others with the knowledge I've learned that still drives my work and research to this day.

After my undergraduate studies while working in community mental health with at risk youth doing behavioral counseling I was inspired by one of my supervisors, after witnessing the unique skills she possessed, to pursue a master's degree in counseling psychology and become a licensed psychotherapist. I attained a master’s degree in Integral Counseling Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco which emphasizes a unique approach of utilizing and integrating both Eastern spirituality and Western psychology to facilitate holistic healing and growth. I then went on to achieve a second master’s degree in Philosophy as A Way of Life from the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom. My openness to philosophical questions and existential themes is essential to my work as a psychotherapist. I am open to discussing any of life's difficult questions, spirituality issues, and existential themes that may be running through your mind.

Through studying contemporary psychoanalysis I came across the work of French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan.  It was Lacan’s emphasis on desire, language, and how they relate to understanding unconscious motivation that drove me to specialize in Lacanian psychoanalytic therapy. I have traveled for many years to Quebec, Canada to attend annual seminars at the Ecole Freudienne du Quebec (G.I.F.R.I.C.) for continued education and training in Lacanian Psychoanalysis. I also utilize the evidenced based cutting edge approach developed by Richard Schwartz, PhD known as Internal Family Systems. This approach helps us to connect with different parts of ourselves, uncover hidden blocks, and focuses on helping us to get to know our internal world on a much deeper level. I mainly utilize an eclectic foundation and approach to therapy focused on meeting clients where they're at with the best therapeutic intervention, modality, and style that suits them and facilitates personal growth and healing and in doing so I draw from various schools of thought such as self-psychology, object relations, relational psychotherapy, Jungian psychotherapy, Gestalt therapy, internal family systems, inter-subjectivity, dialectical behavioral therapy, mindfulness, narrative therapy, solution focused therapy, humanistic-existential psychotherapy as well as various other psycho-dynamic approaches to psychotherapy. For more information about how I view and practice therapy, please visit the what is psychotherapy? page on this site. 

I have worked in the mental health field for over 20 years with various populations including men on parole with substance abuse issues, the chronically mentally ill in both inpatient and outpatient settings, at risk youth, adolescents, college students, teens, children, families, couples, and adult individuals. In my practice now I mainly work with high functioning adults and professionals on areas of personal development, stress, anxiety, depression, life transitions, and relationship issues. After having overcome so much in my own life and personal struggles I am thankful to now be in a position to help others. I remain committed to my own personal development so that I can keep learning and continuing to do all I can to reach my potential and be the best therapist and human being I can possibly be. To inquire about setting up an appointment with me please call our office at 562-566-4257

Here is a List of Issues I Commonly Work With:
· High Functioning Depression & Anxiety 
· Work Stress and Career Transitions
· Toxic Parents
· Family Estrangement 
· Childhood Emotional Neglect
· Relationship Issues 
· Navigating Life Transitions
· Personal Development & Knowledge of Self
· Social Anxiety & Self-Esteem
· Trauma, Physical & Emotional Abuse
· Spirituality & Loss of Meaning
· Motivation, Creativity, & Performance
· Addiction and Substance Use
· Grief and Loss

Education:

M.A. Philosophy As A Way of Life, 2011
University of Liverpool ( Liverpool, United Kingdom )

M.A. Integral Counseling Psychology, 2010
California Institute of Integral Studies (San Francisco, CA )

B.A. Psychology &  B.A. Philosophy, 2005
California State University, Fullerton (Fullerton, CA)

Additional Training:
- Ecole Freudienne Du Quebec, Canada (G.I.F.R.I.C.) Ongoing training in Lacanian Psychoanalysis with training psychoanalysts Willy Appollon, Danielle Bergeron, & Lucie Cantin
- New Center for Psychoanalysis, (NCP) Los Angeles - Ongoing training in subjects relevant to the practice of psychotherapy 
- Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalysis (LAISPS)
- Newport Psychoanalytic Institute (NPI)

Professional Activities and Memberships

  • Member of the California Psychoanalytic Circle (San Francisco and Los Angeles) of the Ecole Freudienne du Quebec, GIFRIC ( Groupe Interdisciplinaire Freudienne de Recherche et d'Intervention Clinique et Culturelle)
  • Psi Chi National Honors Society in Psychology
  • American Philosophical Association
  • Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California
  • American Psychological Association
  • California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT)
  • London Society of the New Lacanian School of Psychoanalysis
  • New Center for Psychoanalysis, Los Angeles
  • Newport Psychoanalytic Institute, Tustin

To view academic articles published on my academia profile click here
Instagram: @pclevelandpsychotherapy | Facebook: www.facebook.com/PatrickClevelandCounseling

Daybreak Counseling Center Long Beach California 90808

4182 N. Viking Way,
Suite #201 & #202,
Long Beach, CA 90808

17315 Studebaker Rd. #209,
Cerritos, CA 90703

Long Beach

Monday

9:00 am - 8:00 pm

Tuesday

9:00 am - 8:00 pm

Wednesday

9:00 am - 8:00 pm

Thursday

9:00 am - 8:00 pm

Friday

9:00 am - 8:00 pm

Saturday

10:00 am - 6:00 pm

Sunday

Closed

Long Beach

Monday
9:00 am - 8:00 pm
Tuesday
9:00 am - 8:00 pm
Wednesday
9:00 am - 8:00 pm
Thursday
9:00 am - 8:00 pm
Friday
9:00 am - 8:00 pm
Saturday
10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Sunday
Closed

Cerritos

Monday

9:00 am - 8:00 pm

Tuesday

9:00 am - 8:00 pm

Wednesday

9:00 am - 8:00 pm

Thursday

9:00 am - 8:00 pm

Friday

9:00 am - 8:00 pm

Saturday

9:00 am - 4:00 pm

Sunday

Closed

Cerritos

Monday
9:00 am - 8:00 pm
Tuesday
9:00 am - 8:00 pm
Wednesday
9:00 am - 8:00 pm
Thursday
9:00 am - 8:00 pm
Friday
9:00 am - 8:00 pm
Saturday
9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Sunday
Closed