The Mental Gym is a collective of experienced, Board-certified therapists who share a belief in human potential.
We exude warmth, relatability, and humor and strive to bring these authentic qualities into each and every session.
About Therapy
Together, we’ll find ways to open up your true potential and develop your emotional muscle so that you can flourish and become the person you were truly meant to be.
Compassion And Connection
Comfortable and Confidential
We provide our in-person clients with a unique, safe, and connective environment. The Mental Gym is nestled within the private walls of an entertainment studio lot, not a medical building. Our clients value the protected perimeters of our unique boutique practice.
Our Creative Approach
An essential part of our philosophy is recognizing and implementing a wide variety of creative tools to help you address, assess, and empower your life. Here are a few examples:
The Mental Gym Customized Playbook: You’ll receive a personalized binder for collecting and working through between-session exercises and assignments. Although purely optional, revisiting, and further exploring the concepts we address during our sessions will only help accelerate your growth.
Articles and Archives: You may opt into our monthly newsletter. These articles detail timely topics and address a range of ideas and interventions – all designed to assist you in navigating the ins-and-outs of daily life. You’ll also have access to an archive of over 100 articles we’ve written as an ongoing resource for balanced and practical living.
The Canine Cure: We are avid animal-lovers who have researched the many clinically-proven benefits of Animal Assisted Therapy. We envision pets as “furry life coaches:” sharing our homes as always-on-call reminders to “pay attention” to our lives as they unfold. Because of this, your well-trained “best friend” is welcome to accompany you into our sessions (we can supply the water bowl).
Committing to a Mutual Goal
Let’s schedule a free 15-minute phone or video consultation to discuss your current circumstances and answer any questions you may have. We’ll get a feel for each other’s conversational style and, together, assess whether our practice is a good fit for overcoming your challenges and achieving your goals.
Working as a Team
We believe in “accessibility with boundaries:” You will have direct access to communicate with us between sessions. We’ll promptly return calls/texts/emails during business hours. We only ask that you consider the frequency and duration of this contact to maintain our mutually-respectful working relationship.
Why I Do This Work
About the Founder of The Mental Gym
I was a very active kid – experiencing both the wins and losses of competitive sports. Through these athletic experiences, I learned that succeeding or failing was not necessarily determined by a scoreboard or trophy.
As I matured, I became aware of my inner-dialog: I began measuring my performances by on how present I was – even if this meant not winning every race.
As an aspiring young adult, I lost sight of my adolescent wisdom: I envisioned what society considered award-winning and abruptly changed course. My focus quickly shifted to setting and attaining tougher goals before I could be happy or proud of myself.
This never-ending quest for satisfaction spiraled me toward physical burnout and emotional disillusionment.
Ironically, my disenchantment ultimately solved everything for me: Disheartened, I slowed-down and sought out therapy for the first time. The process dramatically helped me reassess my life, and remember the youthful principles that had once served me so well.
My new goals became purpose-driven, not proving-oriented. I enthusiastically found myself earning an advanced degree in Clinical Psychology.
Schooling completed and licensing accomplished; I opened a small private practice. The Mental Gym became my way to share what I’d learned during my journey into happiness and fulfillment.
Over twenty years later, we’re still helping our clients build better lives through an understanding that well-being is not something we win – it is something we realize from within, and then share with others.
Bill Benson,
LMFT, LPCC
“Choose a job you love, and you’ll never have to work another day in your life.”
~ Ancient proverb
Teaming with You
As a Board-certified Psychotherapist, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, I feel fortunate to have the training and experience necessary to assist you in identifying, understanding, and then eliminating whatever stands in the way of your intended life goals.
Together, we’ll find ways to open up your true potential and develop your emotional muscle so that you can flourish and become the person you were truly meant to be.
Let’s determine if we’re a good fit for teaming up.
Let’s Talk
Phone: (310) 849-9399
Email: bill@thementalgym.org
Meeting In-person?
1041 N. Formosa Avenue
Formosa Building #9
West Hollywood, California 90046